Braised lamb shanks

This was an excellent template. I did not have some of the ingredients and others I switched out. I am not used to some of the methods used for cooking this dish, so I made slight deviations to the cooking process; no browning in the casserole dish or sautéing vegetables. First, I had two lamb shanks (from a local Safeway 50% off) and I used a propane torch and seared the outside of the shanks. The fat shriveled and crackled and spat as I crispified each shank in it's entirety. I had already set the oven to 425F (220C) and placed the shanks in the greased casserole dish then I sprinkled clove and sage powder and some bay leaves on them then put fresh cut up onion, bell pepper, pickled carrots, cilantro, and minced garlic on top. Then finally some Rosé of Pinot Noir (Oregon) from King Estate Vineyard's own Acrobat line. Instead of some EVOO I used bacon grease and drizzled across the entire dish and sprinkled fresh cracked Mediterranean salt and peppercorns. Covered the top with tin foil and placed in the oven. Set timer for 2 hours. This prep time took longer than the recipe's b/c my ingredient deviations and searing, though in all prep took ~35 min., cook time 2 hours, then a short cool off period before eating. Such a long process to only devour the product in minutes but it was worth it. The vegetables served as the side to the shanks and the bone was able to be pulled out of meat with minimal adherence to the knuckle. In my opinion this was a delicious dish and have saved it to my list. Enjoy. No leftovers!

Stunning! I used 2 onions, 3 carrots, 2 sticks of celery, 2 leeks, red wine, home made chicken stock and a bunch of thyme. Didn't need oil or flour. Removed the bay leaves, cooled and wizzed up the veg and stock to a delicious gravy. Reheated the next day for Sunday lunch and served with buttery mash (used my ricer), whole roast carrots and steamed broccoli. An absolute winner with the whole family...and they had no idea how much veg (or garlic) was hidden in the sauce!! A great way to get veg into the kids.

First the negative: Trying to follow this recipe was slightly confusing. You are first talking about roasting in the oven and, suddenly a pan appears from no-where. However, now the Positive: I roasted the lamb shanks to brown - about twenty minutes (ish). Hindsight, should have put the carrots and onions in at the same time. I then added the stock, wine, puree, flour, garlic, rosemary, salt & pepper (couldn't get any Bay Leaves!) to a large pan and brought to a simmer. Added the carrots, onions & two lamb shanks and left it to simmer for about an hour & half. Absolute delight - my wife was extremely pleased with my efforts. I'm now going for Kleftico for Sunday Lunch.

This is a firm favourite dinner party dish in our house. It's minimum effort as I use the slow cooker rather than a pan. I generally cook it the day before, remove the shanks and refrigerate everything overnight. The flavours really develop and you can then skim the fat off the gravy & strain out the veg. Then the whole lot goes in a large casserole dish in a low oven when our guests arrive. Always served with a huge dollop of buttery mash, green beans and roasted baby carrots and a jug of the delicious gravy (sometimes needs reducing depending on how thick you like your gravy). It's so quick to prepare, cooks away all by itself & then reheats when your guests arrive! Absolutely delicious, fool proof and never fails to impress. Cooking it again this Saturday!

Made this on Saturday night for 4 people. I used 6 lamb shanks and it was a huge success, after a couple of little tweaks. I braised the shanks for about 3.5 hours in total at 160 in a fan assisted oven. When it was time to take the shanks out and make the sauce, they didn't look very appetising at all - still quite fatty looking - I put them in a roasting tray and put them back in the oven. This was a great idea as it melted away the last of the outside fat and gave them a lovely roasted look. They were very tender and full of flavour. For the sauce, I gave it a good mashing first to get as much flavour out of the veggies & herbs as I could; it was quite watery so to thicken it up I put a chicken Oxo cube into a saucepan, drained the juice in on top and also added a large tablespoon of mint jelly then let it simmer away for a good 15 minutes. It was to die for, everyone commented that they could have quite happily drank the gravy out of a mug! I do feel that without the mint jelly addition it would have been quite bland so I'm very glad I put it in. A really delicious meal that. Clean plates all around. I served with creamy mash, carrots and peas - simple, but you don't want anything complicated on the side as the lamb and gravy really are the stars of the show. Will most definitely be making this again :-)

Superb dish. Like many others I adapted it for two, though I would imagine the above recipe might be lacking in sauce if you prefer more than a glaze on the lamb. Did it in a pressure cooker and it took 40 minutes.

Made for the first time tonight for two and it was very good. Adjusted the ingredients to suit and sauce was lovely. Did not put through a sieve. I blitzed it instead. Cooked for about 3 hours at 150 degrees and meat fell off the bone. This one will be on the menu in the future.

I have made this recipe for numerous dinner parties and always have happy and satisfied diners! The lamb is Devine and just falls off the bone. I have made the recipe using red and white wine and thoroughly enjoy both. I tend to remove the bay leaves then use a hand blender to blitz the sauce rather than sieve it and it always gets the thumbs up!