Tags
Best Lamb Shank Recipe, Cook, Eveleigh Markets, Jamie Oliver, Lamb Shanks, Moobi Valley Farm, Naked Chef, Slow Food, Tony Bilson
I know, I know – this ain’t no food blog and today I’m going to give you the second recipe in a week but, hear me out. Please…
1. We’ve been buying some of our meat from Tony Bilson at Home by Moobi Valley Farm. It’s very good – albeit expensive – and my usual man at Eveleigh Markets on Saturday mornings is both gorgeous and enthusiastic about his product. The thing is – when we tried the lamb shanks, LM said mine were better. (Go me!)
2. It’s almost brass monkey weather here – by Sydney standards, anyway. That means I’m busy making stocks and soups and nothing beats a great lamb shank meal in cold weather.*
3. In this world of fast food and jumbo soft drinks, I reckon Jamie Oliver’s quest to educate kids into becoming more aware of what they put in their mouths is laudable. He’s fighting an uphill battle. Some mornings he must get up and wonder why he’s bothering, given the reactions he has received from some communities. Yet, he believes in what he’s doing and so he sticks at it. Go Jamie!
Give your kids a bloody knife and fork and let me put some fresh food in front of them they can eat. (Jamie Oliver)
And, you know what? His recipes work. Every time. They’re not fussy or complicated but they taste great. I’m a believer…
So, with that in mind. Tonight I’m making Jamie’s Spiced Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks for LM. THEY ARE SO GOOD! The recipe is from his first ever cookbook, ‘The Naked Chef’. I’m possibly showing my age when I say it was first published in 1999 and I’ve been cooking from it since then. (It’s official – I’m old!)
If Obama wanted to make radical changes to America’s health long-term, all he has to do is treble the price of sugar and salt. (Jamie Oliver)
Jamie Oliver’s (BEST EVER Pukka) Spiced Slow-Cooked Lamb Shanks
4 x lamb shanks
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 x teaspoon coriander seeds
1 x small dried red chilli (or 2 teaspoons fresh chilli)
1 x tablespoon fresh rosemary (chopped)
1 x teaspoon dried oregano or marjoram
1 x tablespoon flour
1 x tablespoon olive oil
1 x clove garlic, finely chopped
1 x large carrot, quartered, finely, sliced
6 x sticks celery, quartered, finely, sliced
2 x large onion, finely chopped
1 x tbsp fresh rosemary
2 x tbsp balsamic vinegar
170 ml dry white wine
6 x anchovy, fillets
2 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes
1 handful fresh basil, roughly, chopped (I prefer continental parsley)
- Season the lamb with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Smash up the coriander seeds and dried chilli and mix with the dried marjoram. Roll the lamb in this mixture, pressing it in well. Dust the lamb with the flour.
- Heat a thick-bottomed casserole pan, add the oil, brown the meat on all sides and then remove from the pan.
- Add the garlic, carrot, celery, onions the chopped rosemary and a pinch of salt and sweat them until softened.
- Add the balsamic vinegar and allow it to reduce to a syrup.
- Pour in the white wine and allow to simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add the anchovies (these really seem to intensify the lamb flavour) and then add the tinned tomatoes, kept whole. Shake the pan and return the lamb to it.
- Bring to the boil, put on the lid and simmer in the oven at 180 C/350 F for 1.5 – 2 hours, then remove the lid and cook for a further half an hour.
- Skim off any fat and taste for seasoning. Finally, stir in a handful of roughly chopped fresh basil, marjoram or flat-leaf parsley.
NB – If you don’t have any white wine handy, I use a mixture of verjuice and stock. The cookbook says it serves four, but if you take the meat off the bones and shred it, it will easily make it to five. I serve this off the bone with either mash, cous cous or rice.
Enjoy!
‘The Naked Chef’ is available from Amazon here.
*For all you readers from the Northern Hemisphere who would rather a summer mango daiquiri recipe – sorry! Maybe you could bookmark this for six months time?
birdcagedesign said:
Yes so when are you inviting me for dinner! 😉
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This Sydney Life said:
LM said “Yes, when are you?”
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Theadora Brack said:
Scrumptious tip!! Here’s number 4: Jamie Oliver is a looker. Both the chef and his dishes are easy on the eyes! Dashing. I’m now off to check out his recipes. Merci!! T.
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This Sydney Life said:
Bonjour T! Try those shanks – it’s an unbeatable recipe. I even shared it with the market stall holder I buy my shanks from!
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crazytraintotinkytown said:
Another good man with a scooter!
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This Sydney Life said:
Indeed! – Not sure you would have the same language or cultural challenges, tho’, Crazy Train…
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barbaraelka said:
I need to go on a bit of diet…
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This Sydney Life said:
Nothing bad about these, B. I subbed the wine for home-made stock and a splash of verjuice (wrote this post yesterday) and LM said it was even better!
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imemine said:
Thank you …..lamb shanks are peter’s favourite and i bought some just this week ….wasn’t really sure what to do with them ( he usually cooks them ) so now i can surprise him! x d
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This Sydney Life said:
Hi D – I promise you won’t be disappointed! LM loves ’em.
Let me know Peter’s verdict!
Sent from my iPhone
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marinachetner said:
This looks like a lovely dish, especially for winter! Too heavy for summer but I can imagine eating that around Xmas time in NYC 🙂
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This Sydney Life said:
It was scrummy, M. But, yes – too heavy for the height of summer!
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Shira said:
I totally adore Jamie Oliver of course J – and of course this is what we love about visiting your blog, you just never know what is up next! As you know, I am not a meat eater, but I am sure my husband would be very pleased to be served this….. 😉 I wonder who could do that?
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This Sydney Life said:
You gorgeous woman – you always say the right thing! Tell you what – when you two come to Sydney AND assuming it’s not the height of summer (when most people prefer to visit), I will make shanks for him!
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theglobalgarnishgeek said:
Absolutely agree that J Oliver deserves his celeb chef status. His recipes are sound but workable, creative and lean toward the healthy side.
If it wasn’t a blistering 97 degrees (37 C) outside, I’d be making those lamb shanks myself. The recipe sounds great.
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This Sydney Life said:
It is a great recipe for shanks, GG. Bookmark it for winter, maybe? Good old Jamie – gotta’ love him!
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susartandfood said:
Lamb shanks are seriously on my favorites list. Looks great. Thanks for following my blog, I’ll enjoy doing the same on your end. Susie
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This Sydney Life said:
Hey ho Susie! This is my tried and true shank recipe that I have been going back to for years. It’s a real winner. 🙂
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Chris said:
Absolutely superb!! I odd mine in the slow cooker, yummy!!
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This Sydney Life said:
Hey Chris – thanks so much for coming back to comment!
It is best recipe for lamb shanks (in my humble opinion!). I have yet to find anything that comes close to matching it (although my AIP-friendly number is a pretty good substitute according to LM)
I can recommend the Luke Mangan’s Osso Buco recipe. Seriously good!
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Feast Wisely said:
I love Jamie Oliver and some of his oldest recipes are still stand-outs years later. My go to dish from the “Return of the naked chef” is “Peter’s lab curry” – once you’ve made this no other lamb curry tastes as good….
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Julie said:
Still one of my favourites Most of my cookbooks are in storage because we just sold our house so thank you for putting the recipe up. Perfect Melbourne winters day to cook this for dinner
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