Oregano Braised Lamb Shanks Recipes

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• 2. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season shanks with salt and pepper, dredge in flour, and shake off excess. Add oil to pan and brown shanks all over, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
• 3. Add celery, onion, and carrots to pot and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and brown, about 20 minutes. Stir in garlic, thyme, and rosemary and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add wine, increase heat to high, and scrape up browned bits in pan with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat and cook until wine lightly coats vegetables. Return shanks to pot, add broth, and bring to a simmer. Transfer pot to oven and cook, uncovered and turning shanks once about halfway through, until fork-tender, about 2 1/2 hours.
• 4. Transfer shanks to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Let sauce settle on stove top, about 10 minutes; skim fat. Bring to a boil, and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Return shanks to sauce; turn to coat and heat through. Spoon sauce and vegetables over meat, scatter parsley on top and serve. Serve shanks with polenta if desired.

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,
• Call yourself a superstar!!!
• In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and set aside until ready to use.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In large roasting pan drizzle oil and add onions. Place lamb shanks in pan. Cover with tin foil and roast for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and add tomatoes, oregano, a dash of salt and pepper. Toss ingredients to combine. Cover and roast for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Add orzo and heated stock. Cover and roast for another 20 minutes. Serve hot.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
• Season the lamb generously with salt. Coat a large sauté pan with olive oil and bring to medium-high heat. Add the lamb to the pan and brown well on all sides; this may take up to 20 minutes. This is an incredibly important step-it's where all the big brown flavors start to develop-DON'T rush it.
• While the lamb is browning, put the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in a food processor and purée to a coarse paste; reserve.
• When the lamb shanks are very brown on all sides, remove them from the pan and transfer to a roasting pan. Ditch the fat, add a bit of fresh olive oil to the sauté pan, and add the puréed veggies. Season generously with salt, and cook until the veggies are very brown and a crud has formed on the bottom of the pan, 8 to 10 minutes. Scrape the crud and let it reform. Don't rush this step.
• Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until it starts to brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add the wine, bring it to a boil (BTB), and stir frequently to scrape the crud from the bottom of the pan (this is the big-money flavor). Continue cooking until reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add 3 to 4 cups water to the pan and stir to loosen the mixture. Taste to make sure it's delicious and reseason if needed. It will by no means be done, but it should taste good. Pour this over the shanks in the roasting pan. The liquid should come two-thirds of the way up the shanks; if it doesn't add more water. Toss in the rosemary, bay leaves, and thyme bundle, cover with aluminum foil, and cook in the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Check the shanks every 45 minutes, turn them, and if the liquid has reduced significantly, add more water. When the meat is done, it will be very tender but not falling off the bone.
• Remove the foil for the last 30 minutes of cooking time for maximum browning and to allow the liquid to reduce and thicken up. Serve with lots of sauce.
• BROWNING AND BRAISING: Because Brown Food Tastes Good!
• When I was in culinary school, I didn't get braising; it seemed like a pain in the neck. I had to go through so many steps to get started and I just didn't think it was worth the trouble. Now that I get it, it's my favorite cooking technique by far. Trust me: Braising is the technique that will showcase your skill as a cook! It doesn't matter what you're braising-if you follow my method you will make a beautiful, brown braise every time.
• First, season generously and brown your protein well-whether it's a shank or a short rib, take your time. This is where the first big brown flavors develop and it takes patience-so don't rush it. What's important at this point is what's happening in your pan, not on the clock.
• Once your meat is nice and brown, remove it, ditch the fat, add a splash of fresh olive oil to the pan, add your puréed veggies, and season again. These vegetables are what we call soffritto and they're the base of almost all braised dishes. Like the meat, you want to brown the crap out of the soffritto. Cook it until you see a crud start to form on the bottom of the pan, then scrape off the crud and let it form again. This is where we take things to the edge of disaster and yank them back. Food is the most flavorful one step before disaster!
• After the soffritto is nice and brown, add your wine and tomato paste. Let the wine reduce by half, toss the protein back in the pan, and add enough water to cover it by about two-thirds-it should be nice and soupy. Then toss in a thyme bundle and bay leaves, bring it to a boil (BTB), reduce it to a simmer (RTS), and cook until things are nice and tender, usually a couple of hours.
• Properly braised food should be very tender but still maintain its integrity and shape-it should NOT be falling off the bone. So check your braise along the way, and if the liquid level gets low, add a bit more water until the meat is perfectly tender and the sauce is super-flavorful. Follow this basic braising technique and your brown food will taste great . . . every time!

Steps:

• Sprinkle shanks with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook shanks until brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer shanks to plate.
• Add onions, carrots and garlic to pot and saute until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in wine, tomatoes, chicken broth and beef broth. Season with rosemary and thyme. Return shanks to pot, pressing down to submerge. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover, and simmer until meat is tender, about 2 hours.
• Remove cover from pot. Simmer about 20 minutes longer. Transfer shanks to platter, place in a warm oven. Boil juices in pot until thickened, about 15 minutes. Spoon over shanks.