Braised Lamb Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
• Place carrots, onion, and celery in an even layer in a roasting pan. Season lamb with 2 teaspoons salt and pepper. Set lamb on top of vegetables. Transfer to oven and cook for 6 hours.
• After about 5 1/2 hours of cooking, place Pinot Noir in a medium saucepan and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 1 1/2 cups.
• Remove roasting pan from oven and add wine to pan, along with stock and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover roasting pan with parchment paper-lined foil and return to oven. Continue cooking until meat is almost falling off the bone, about 4 hours more.
• Remove lamb from braising liquid and use a fork to scrape meat away from bones. Divide meat among 4 plates and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Coat a large Dutch oven generously with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Season the shanks generously with salt and add them to the pan. Brown well on all sides. This is an incredibly important step; do not rush it.
• Meanwhile, puree the onions, carrots, celery and garlic in a food processor until it becomes a coarse paste. Remove and set aside.
• Remove the shanks from the pan to a sheet tray. Discard the excess fat from the pan. Add a little more oil to coat the bottom of the pan and add the pureed veggies. Season with salt, to taste. Saute the veggies until they are very brown and aromatic, about 20 minutes. The brown veggies should form a sort of crust on the bottom of the pan, do not let this burn; it is where a lot of the flavor is! Don't rush this step either, since this is where you will develop the brown color and flavor.
• Add the tomato paste and brown for 5 minutes. Stir in the wine, chopped rosemary and thyme bundle. Stir frequently and cook until the wine has reduced by about half.
• Add the shanks back to the pot and pour in 3 to 4 cups of water. The shanks should be submersed, if they are not, add more water. Add the bay leaves to the pan, cover and put in the preheated oven. The cooking time will be about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Turn the shanks over about halfway through the cooking time. Check the shanks every 45 minutes or so. If the liquid has reduced too much add more water. Defat as you go.
• Remove the lid during the last 30 minutes of cooking time for maximum browning. When the shanks are done the meat should be incredibly tender and flavorful. Transfer to serving plates and garnish with Gremolata. Serve with Hard Polenta Cakes, if desired,
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• In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and set aside until ready to use.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper and cook, in batches if necessary, turning with tongs, until well browned, about 10 minutes each batch. Remove the lamb shanks with tongs to a plate and set aside.
• Stir the onions, carrots, rosemary, bay leaves, and garlic into the dutch oven and cook, stirring, until the onions are very soft, about 5 minutes. Add 2 1/2 cups of the wine and deglaze the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning.
• Return the lamb shanks to the pot and braise the mixture, tightly covered, in the oven for 1 hour. Uncover and braise for 2 more hours, turning the shanks every 30 minutes. Stir in the turnips and the remaining 1/2 cup of the wine, and continue to braise, in the oven for 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• While the lamb shanks are braising, make the gremolata: chop together the rosemary, orange zest, and garlic. Place each lamb shank on a serving plate, top with the vegetables, sprinkle with gremolata and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Melt the fat in a heavy pot.
• Add the breast and brown lightly on both sides.
• Sprinkle with thyme and add water.
• Add carrot, clove-studded onion, turnip, and pepper.
• Lower heat, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
• Remove as much fat as possible with a spoon and salt to taste.
• Cut ribs into serving pieces.

Steps:

• heat oil in large pan on stovetop, med hi heat.
• add onions and garlic, cook to soften.
• combine spices, rub on both sides of chops and brown on both sides.
• remove from pan.
• add wine, to deglaze the pan, reduce to half.
• add water, bring to boil.
• add chops and juices back to pan, cover, simmer 1 hour.

Steps:

• Toss lamb chunks in seasoned flour, then shake off excess.
• Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan and fry lamb chunks all over to brown. Do this in batches. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a flameproof casserole.
• Add 2 tbsp more olive oil to the pan and fry onion to soften but not brown. Add to lamb. Next add carrots and celery and lightly brown. Add to lamb with garlic. Pour over stock and wine and bring to bubbling. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Turn down to simmer, then cook over lowest heat for around 1 ¼ hours, or until lamb is tender. Sprinkle with parsley.
• Meanwhile, cook potatoes in lightly salted boiling water until soft to the point of a knife. Mash with extra virgin olive oil and egg to fabulous creaminess. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Briefly toss spinach in a pan with a little salted water to wilt. Drain.
• Serve lamb with mash and spinach on the side. Drizzle mash with more extra virgin olive oil.

Steps:

• Using a sharp knife, trim the skin and as much fat as possible from the lamb. Smear lightly with olive oil and season. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a very large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Brown the lamb thoroughly on all sides, turning it with a big pair of tongs, then put it in a large, but fairly snug-fitting, casserole (a 4.8 litre/8 pint oval one is ideal). Reserve the pan.
• Slit lengthways through the first two layers of the leek, remove leaves and wash them. Put the bay leaf, thyme and celery inside one leaf and wrap with the other, to enclose the contents. Tie this 'faggot' with kitchen string and set aside. Rinse the rest of the leek and slice finely.
• Put the reserved frying pan over a low-medium heat and melt the butter. Tip in the onion, carrot and sliced leek and cook gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the vegetables have softened. Add them to the casserole, draining off any fat first. Reserve the pan.
• Preheat the oven to 150C/Gas 2/fan oven 130C. Break the garlic into cloves and place in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water and leave for 1 minute, then drain, run under cold water and peel: the best way is to place a clove on a chopping board, nick off the root end and, without lifting the blade, pull the clove away. This removes the first bit of skin and the rest should come away easily. Set the cloves aside.
• Discard any fat from the frying pan and put it over a very high heat. Pour in the wine, scrape up any bits from the bottom and boil furiously for 5 minutes. Pour the wine and stock into the casserole. Add the garlic cloves and leek faggot, making sure they are immersed - the lamb should be at least half-covered. Do not add salt.
• Cover the casserole and put it into the oven. Braise for 4 hours, reducing the temperature to 140C/Gas 1/fan oven 120C for the last 2 hours and turning the lamb every hour. Remove the lamb, put it on a heated dish, drape loosely with foil and keep warm for up to 30 minutes.
• Strain 1 litre/13⁄4 pints of the cooking juices into a pan and bring to the boil over a very high heat. Bubble madly for 8-10 minutes until the liquid has reduced by half. Meanwhile, tip the vegetable debris (but not the faggot) into a food processor and whizz to a smooth purée. Whisk this into the reduced liquid to make the sauce. Check the seasoning, then keep the sauce at a bare simmer until you are ready to serve.

Steps:

• The day before you are planning to serve the lamb, trim all surface fat from it. Select a heavy oven-proof skillet large enough to hold it. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Heat three tablespoons of the oil in the skillet. Add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic and parsley and saute until the vegetables begin to brown. Remove the vegetables from the pan, add the lamb and cook on both sides until it is lightly browned.
• Return the vegetables to the pan along with the thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns, wine and stock. Cover and place in the oven for about two-and-a-half hours, until the meat is very tender when pierced with a fork.
• Remove the lamb from the skillet and immediately pull out the bones. They should slip out easily. Place the lamb on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with another piece of parchment paper and weight with a board or a dish topped with a few tin cans. Refrigerate overnight.
• Simmer the cooking liquid down until it is reduced to about two cups, then strain and degrease it. You will need a third of a cup of this liquid; the rest can be frozen for another use.
• Mix the one-third cup of lamb liquid with the remaining ingredients except for the mache to make a sauce.
• To serve, cut the lamb into squares, strips or triangles. Broil or grill the pieces of lamb on each side until warmed and lightly seared. Serve with some of the leaves of mache on the side and drizzle the sauce on top.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Pour the oil in a casserole dish or roasting tray large enough to fit all the shanks. With the pan set over a high heat on the hob, spend a good 10 mins browning the lamb all over.
• Remove the lamb, add the onion and carrot and cook for 10 mins until starting to brown. Stir in the herbs and garlic and cook for a few mins more. Stir in the flour and tomato purée, season well then pour over the wine and stock.
• Return the lamb shanks to the pan. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid or tightly with foil and cook in the oven, undisturbed, for 1½-2 hrs until lamb is tender. Remove the lamb from the sauce and set aside.
• Put pan back on the hob and bubble the sauce down for about 15 mins until rich and glossy. Pass through a sieve into a jug. The lamb and sauce can be stored in the fridge for two days or frozen for one month. To serve, reheat the lamb in the sauce, adding a splash of water if the sauce is too thick.