From Life and Lamb
errr, from limb
…republished from another platform
In the Dark and Alone
It was dark in the kitchen. The early spring morning hours not yet warmed by the sun. By the time I noticed him, he was only ten feet away. Quickly I snatched the kitchen knife from the table. “Hold up there, man!” I shouted, trying to sound more tough than scared. My voice shook as I immediately went into in ‘survival’ mode.
He kept approaching until he saw the knife in my hand. He stopped. I couldn’t place the look on his face but it didn’t look good. He turned, started to walk away, then turned back to me as if to rush in. Let me explain…
Open Invitation?
The dim pastel skies of winter had finally given way to something more cheerful so I opened both double doors of the restaurant to let her breathe a little. I call it ‘changing air’. All buildings need to do this occasionally. I came in early that morning to prep the lamb shank for dinner service. I completely lost track of what was happening around me. That’s just how I am when I cook. I kind of disconnect with everything.
This guy felt the open door was an invitation. Despite the dark interior, empty chairs and silent ambiance, he proceeded to march right up to me with my back turned, never once giving any indication he was there. Catching him in the corner of my eye I thought, “This is it. This is how I go down!”. We hurled some pretty intense language at one another, before he finally turned and walked out.
Following him to the parking lot, I turned and promptly closed and locked the doors. When my heart finally reached a normal rhythm, I returned to prepping the lamb shanks. The rest of the morning had me looking over my shoulder until lunch when my cooks trickled in. I can be pretty naive at times. This situation has an element of irony, I could have been the lamb.
What of Lamb?
Lamb is one of my favorite proteins. It’s a special treat as there are not many places in my area where you can procure it, and it can be extremely expensive to ship. I found a place close by that has started carrying semi-boneless leg. A large cut of meat that when smoked, brings everyone to the cutting board for a snack. It’s sad really, that we live in a time where the three main food groups are beef, chicken and pork. Luckily I live in an area with hunters, so occasionally you’ll come across venison. But lamb is an incredibly approachable protein, and doesn’t require anything special. It’s versatile, delicious, and somewhat available.
You can get lamb shank a couple of different forms, the fore-shank, which is the front legs, or the hind-shank, which obviously is the back. Either works with this setup but I prefer the larger, meatier hind shank for this preparation.
There are a number of cooking methods for shank, and while I love my smoked meats, roasting hind shank in the oven is crazy easy. Especially if you are having a lazy Sunday and don’t want to fire up the smoker and cook for a million hours.
Why This Works
Hind shank is tough, so a slow steady heat with plenty of moisture is important. While this preparation is a bit of a departure from what many are used to in French cuisine, I find it fits very well here in the south. Smokiness from the paprika, and little heat from Calabrian chili oil. At the end a squeeze of lemon over the top, cuts through the richness of perfectly roasted shank.
Build Notes
You can use whatever set of herbs and spices you prefer. If you go with a more French preparation Herbes de Provence works very well. Making Herbes de Provence is so easy. At the restaurant I used equal portions of dried thyme, basil, rosemary, tarragon, marjoram, oregano and a bay leaf or two. No reason this herb blend can’t be an available item in your pantry. If you are truly ambitious these herbs are super easy to grow, and fresh herbs are superior in every way.
Build Options
Feel free to use whatever stock you want; well, maybe not a fish stock. I like the dark stocks for this, but a light chicken stock works great. Preferably home-made.
I’m going to give two options for shank below, but again, feel free to experiment.
If you decide to go with fresh herbs understand that you will need to use twice as much compared to the dried.
Go easy on the Rosemary.
Dried thyme isn’t all that great, but I use it anyway. Fresh thyme is the way to go, and doesn’t smell like it’s been in a dusty casket for a year.
We are going for a braise here, not a dry roast, so keeping liquid inside the cooking vessel is important. You can use foil or a lid.
IMPORTANT: This dish is freaking amazing if you finish it off with the herb ‘bundle’ that I talked about in my last newsletter.
You can ‘French’ the bones on this, but I like the additional element of gelatin in the sauce to thicken it a bit. Frenching the bones does make for a prettier presentation however.
The Fox and Fork Version
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil 3-4 tablespoons of Calabrian Chili Oil (optional). 1-2 handfuls of dried porcini mushrooms (optional or use crimini). 2-4 cups of stock, your choice. I used elk because it’s what I had on hand. 1/2 cup of red wine (again optional you can use white). 1-2 tablespoons of Celtic grey sea salt. (I use ‘course’, if you use ‘fine’ cut this back to about 2 teaspoons). 1-2 teaspoons of freshly cracked black pepper. 1 tablespoon smoked paprika. (unless you are going the ‘French’ route). 1-2 tablespoons of dried oregano. 4-5 large shallots cut in half. 6 cloves of garlic (smash ‘em with the side of your knife). 1 lemon cut in half.
The Classic Version
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil 1-2 handfuls of dried porcini mushrooms (optional or use crimini). 2-4 cups of light chicken stock. (preferably home made). 1 tablespoon of Kosher salt. 1-2 teaspoons of freshly cracked black pepper. 2-3 tablespoons of herbes de Provence. 1-2 tablespoons of oregano
The Process
Put the oils, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika in a bowl.
Slather the mixture and evenly coat the lamb shanks.
Put the shanks in your oven-proof dish, but leave the cover off.
Put the dish in a cold oven and set your oven to 450 degrees.
Once the oven is up to temp wait another 15-minutes to really get the heat in the shanks.
After the fifteen minutes pull the shanks out, and add your stock, wine, shallots, garlic, mushrooms and oregano.
Leave your oven door open to cool it down a bit and set your oven dial to 325.
Cover the dish and return to the oven.
Braise for 2 hours.
You’ll know it’s done when you can peel the meat off rather easily with a fork.
Photo Bomb
Additional Notes
Serve the meat however you want. It goes really well with southern style grits (recipe from a previous email), with roasted potatoes, or a butter bean puree.
One of my favorite things to do with this, is to strip the meat off the bones and roughly shred it for a carbonara. Save the juices, and add to the noodles before adding the meat. Toss the noodles around, give them a good coat. It’s amazing!
Pro Tip:
Every oven I have ever used (I’ve used a lot) has varied dramatically in their temperature ranges. It’s annoying, so if you are working with pricier cuts of meat do yourself a favor a pick up one of these. You’ll want to order off their website because there are a lot of imitations on Amazon. Smoke Meat Thermometer. Don’t be put off by the ‘smoke’ part of the description, this thing works great in the oven so you can get real accuracy on your cooking temp. Most likely the dial on your oven is wrong.