Bones_ Recipes, History, and Lore - Jennifer McLagan [57]
Ask the butcher to french the shanks for you, or do it yourself. You want to expose about 3 inches (7.5 cm) of the shank bone. This allows you to tie the parchment paper to the bone. These packages won’t be airtight, so they don’t puff up like the Whiting en Papillote (page 185), but the technique concentrates the flavors and makes a great presentation. If it’s too fussy for you, just make the dish in a Dutch oven or flameproof casserole.
4 lamb shanks, about 12 ounces (350 g) each, frenched
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 medium onions, sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced 1 celery stalk, diced
4 large rosemary sprigs
1 bottle (330 ml) Guinness beer
⅓ packed cup (70 g) brown sugar
1½ teaspoons dry mustard
4 garlic cloves, halved
1 orange
1. Pat the lamb shanks dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and brown the lamb shanks on all sides. Transfer them to a plate. Add the onions to the pan, stirring well to coat them in the fat, then cover and cook for 10 minutes, or until soft, stirring 2 or 3 times and scraping the bottom of the pan each time.
2. Add the carrot, celery, and rosemary and cook, uncovered, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan from time to time. Pour in the beer and bring to a boil, deglazing the pan by scraping up the browned bits from the bottom. Add the sugar, mustard, and garlic and continue to boil, stirring from time to time, for 10 minutes, or until the beer becomes thick and syrupy.
3. Meanwhile, remove 4 large strips of zest from the orange with a vegetable peeler, and squeeze ¼ cup (60 ml) juice from the orange. Add the zest and juice to the pan and continue to cook until the liquid just glazes the onions. Remove from the heat and let cool. You will have 3 to 4 cups (750 ml to 11) onion mixture.
4. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Cut four 15-inch (38-cm) squares of parchment paper. Divide the onion mixture among the squares of parchment paper, placing it in the middle of each one; make sure that each square has a rosemary sprig, an orange zest strip, and two garlic halves. Stand a lamb shank on top of each one—it will lean to one side—and pull up the corners of the parchment paper to form a package, tying it with string around the exposed bone.
5. Stand the packages in a Dutch oven or baking of dish and bake for 3 hours.
6. Remove from the oven and place the packages on warmed plates. Cut the strings, but allow each diner to open his or her own package.
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Shanks, Necks, and Other Ideas
You can easily replace the lamb shanks in any of these recipes with pieces of neck. Just remember that the neck pieces will cook more quickly. Also think about substituting lamb shanks or neck in the game recipes. Try lamb shanks in place of venison in Venison Shank in Rosemary-Wine Sauce (page 234), for example, or lamb neck pieces in Venison Osso Buco (page 236). Again, the
cooking time for neck will be shorter.
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Lamb Neck with Lettuce and Dill
I began this recipe thinking of Irish stew, a dish I ate several times a month as a child, but I wanted to cook something lighter and fresher. In the end, the result bears no resemblance to my childhood original. Dill is an herb I tend to overlook and while it is not usually matched with lamb, it adds freshness, and with the lemon, cuts through the richness of the lamb neck. I love the French method of braising peas and lettuce together, and it brings a touch of spring to this recipe. If you can’t get lamb neck (see Lamb Neck Tips, page 121), use shoulder chops. The dish has quite a bit of sauce, so serve it in large shallow soup bowls.
8 pieces trimmed lamb neck, 1 inch (2.5 cm)