The Saint Lamb Shanks (Serves: 4)
Ingedients
- 4 Lamb shanks
- Sea salt & black pepper
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- Virgin olive oil
- 2 carrots, peeled & chopped
- 2 celery stalks. Chopped
- 2 leeks, cleaned and sliced
- 2 shallots, peeled and minced
- 750 mL Crispin The Saint - Artisanal Reserve, Cloudy Hard Cider, with apple wine fermented using Belgian Trappist beer yeasts, and smoothed with organic maple syrup.
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- ½ cup dried figs, stem removed and quartered
- 1 teaspoon whole coriander
- 3 whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
Preparation
Wash each lamb shank under cold water to remove any blood or fat. Pat dry.
Sprinkle each with salt, liberal black pepper, and flour. Coat evenly on all sides.
Place in a heavy cooking pot or large sauté pan over medium heat: add olive oil to coat pan, and 2 lamb shanks. Brown evenly on all 4 sides, about 4 minutes per side.
Remove and repeat with remaining shanks and set aside on a plate.
Add more oil to the pan if needed.
Add carrots, leeks, shallots and cook until vegetables are slightly browned, about 8 minutes.
Deglaze the pan with The Saint hard cider, then chicken stock, removing any of the food with a wooden spoon.
Add thyme, figs, coriander, cloves and cinnamon stick, mixing well.
Preheat oven to 300F.
Add Lamb shanks back in the pot, submerge into vegetables.
Bring the whole mixture to a low simmer.
Turn off the stove, cover the pot and place into the middle of the oven for 3 hours or until the meat is fork tender, and almost falling off the bone.
Sauce Preparation
Carefully remove lamb shanks and place on a large plate.
Cover with foil to keep warm.
Using a strainer, remove the vegetables and whole seasonings from the stock/cider and place remaining liquid in to a saucepan over low heat.
Simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, adjust seasonings to taste.
Serve shanks over a celery root puree with sauce poured on top.
