Lamb Shanks

I am sitting on my back verandah in Canberra with a cold mother of a wind blowing. The sun is like the light in the refrigerator and I fear even that is going to disappear pretty soon. I think there is a bit of slow cooking coming on!  What will it be? A trip to Belconnen Markets will solve the dilemma. I am thinking lamb or goat. Lamb might win out as I have had a craving for my mother's lamb shanks. Now these aren't your normal ones with all the flouring and browning going on. These are something I believe my Mum made up many years ago (she can't remember any more) and I haven't changed them much at all. I cook lamb shanks all sorts of ways but this recipe requires so little work with so much reward that it is something I come back to and it never fails to hit the spot.

I have tried several variations - fresh grated ginger, stock rather than water and I have used Stone's Green Ginger Wine in the marinade. The idea is to cook them slowly. The result should be lovely and sticky but with enough juices left to form a sauce. Lovely with good mash but I have also served it with couscous (the normal and the Israeli) sprinkled with coriander.

This is the original recipe my Mum used.
NOTE, in all honesty this is the first time I have written down the recipe. Go easy on the soy sauce if you aren't too keen on salt. I go by taste.

Ingredients
6 lamb shanks
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 small wineglass white wine
1/2 cup soy sauce (I use Kikkoman)
1 large sprig rosemary
2-3 cups water



Combine all ingredients except the lamb shanks and then pour over the shanks. If possible marinate for a few hours or overnight. I marinate them in the pot in which they will cook. They can be cooked slowly on a stove top but I now prefer to start them on the cooktop and then cook them covered in a slow oven 160 degs C for 2-3 hours or until nearly falling off the bone. Check during the cooking time to make sure you don't need to add more liquid. If the liquid is too thin at the end of cooking time, just take the shanks out, put the pot on the stove top and boil down to reduce. If you make them a day ahead and refrigerate you can easily remove the fat from the surface before gently reheating or, alternatively I put the juices into a small diameter container and then just lay paper towel over the surface and after a few goes all the fat has been sucked up!

These were large shanks and so this recipe would feed 3-6 people depending on the greedy scale. They were tender about 2 hours after they went into the oven however I pushed it a further 30 minutes, took the shanks out, reduced the sauce down a bit and I was pleased I had let them cook longer. I think my Mum would be happy with the result.