Braised Lamb Shank with Olive Polenta

Now we are talking seriously good food that belongs more in the comort food zone. Something that takes a long time to prepare, mainly because of the cooking tim, but then when it is finished it is something absolutely beautiful that is best shared with a bunch of good friends with a bottle of seriously good red wine. Yes the lamb shank needs a powerful wine that goes all the way, a great Montepulciano , a Super Tuscan or a aged Barbaresco and you will have a meal that is remembered for a long time

The cooking of the shank is important, you want it soft and tender, but it needs to be juicy, something that is not that easy to achieve as to make meat tender it needs heat, to keep meat juicy it needs no heat.......mmmmm so basically all you need is time.

Often lamb shanks are nowadays cooked sous vide, meaning seared in vacuum bags, already with seasoning and then cooked gently at low temperature up to 24 hours.....something we can do at hoem? Most probably not. But we need to be prepared to incerst 3 to 4 hours at least to really give it a slow simmer.

So, here is the recipe, you will love it when you try it out and don't be afraid, it looks very long, but is actually really easy to prepare

5 KG Lamb shanks
100 Ml Oil
20 G Salt
10 G Pepper
500 G Onions
250 G Carrots
150 G Celeriac root
150 G Leeks
100 G Tomato paste
750 Ml Red wine
10 G Thyme
2 G Bayleave
1 G Cloves
10 G Rosemary

Season lamb shanks with salt and pepper heat oil and roast shanks till browned all round
Add Mirepoix Roast some longer, then add tomato puree
Roast till it browns, deglacer with red wine
Let completely reduce, then repeat decglacer with water
Add leeks and water and spices
Simmer till lamb is tender
Take lamb out and finish the sauce

70 G Shallots
50 Ml Red wine
25 Ml Balsamic vinegar
10 G Sugar

Peel shallots, add sugar, wine and balsamic
Simmer slowly till all liquid is gone

50 G Garlic
50 Ml Olive oil

Simmer the garlic in olive oil till soft and slightly translucent

25 Ml Olive Oil
70 G Onions
2 Each Garlic Gloves
500 Ml Water
500 Ml Milk
15 G Salt
200 G Polenta rough
50 G Parmesan
50 G Olives, black

Cut the onions and garlic in a very fine brunoise
Shallow-fry in the olive oil without color
Add water and milk, boil up
Add the polenta while stirring all the time
Season with salt
Boil up, then put on the smallest flame
Add the black, sliced olives
Mix in the parmesan just before serving