#Chefathome Series focuses on some serious comfort food.
This rendition of a classic dish my from home country is packed with shredded lamb (cooked in an instant pot or oven), is combined with a wonderfully rich sauce. It is topped with three layers of thin potatoes and baked to finish, in the oven. The wow factor comes from using the cleaned lamb shanks.
Ingredients:
- 2-4 lamb shanks
- 1 tbsp. E.V.O.O. or beef tallow
- 1lb medium sized potatoes (i love to use Yukon Gold) - sliced thin
- 4 carrots (medium dice)
- 4 celery stalks (medium dice)
- 1 large onion (medium dice)
- 3-4 springs of thyme leaves, (leaves stripped off the stems)
- 1 pack of Nourish Yourself Beef or Lamb Broth
- 1 tin of diced tomatoes (optional - this isn't in the original dish, but I take a liberty to upgrade the dish with flavour)
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp. A.C.V.
- 1 tbsp. of good quality salted butter
- 1 bay leaf
- Sea Salt
- Black Pepper (freshly ground is way better)
Mise-en-place:
- Get your hands on some great lamb shanks. I use one shank per person, but you can easily halve that if you want to (by adding a few of your favourite vegetables). In this recipe i am using 4 lamb shanks (small to medium size).
- If you have an InstaPot, set it to saute mode and add 2 stalks of celery chopped into medium dice, 2 carrots chopped into medium dice, half an onion chopped into medium dice. Add a glug of olive oil and saute for 5 minutes until they are all translucent. If you don't have an instant pot, use a saute plan.
- In a bowl, combine 1 cup of flour and two teaspoons of your favourite salt. Add the lamb shanks and dredge in the flour and salt mixture.
- Place freshly floured shanks into the InstaPot with the sauteed vegetables. Brown the Meat. If using your stove top saute pan, use the same process. The goal is to seal the meat, and have it fully browned. This will leave residue on the base of your pan or InstaPot. This is called the "fond". It is the soul and essence of our sauce, so do not discard it.
- I also add the optional tin of diced tomatoes, thyme and the water at this point and cook the whole thing down on Stew Mode which takes around 35 minutes. If using a saute pan do the same thing, put into a 350F oven and cook for 3 hours and be sure to have a tight fitting lid. You want all the liquid to stay in the dish.
- When the meat is cooked, remove the shanks and set aside. Let them cool down and then remove the meat and clean the bones. Save for later.
- Add apple cider vinegar and deglaze the bottom. The fond will gradually disintegrate. Add the broth and reduce the sauce until its thick and delicious (about 7-8 minutes. Strain through a sieve, and be sure to push all the liquid you can into a bowl. Discard used vegetables.
- Meanwhile cook down remaining 2 carrots & 2 celery stalks and second half of the onion. Add them to your pot. They replace the veggies we took out, as they would have lost most of their flavour and nutrients.
- I usually use a new pot at this point, or a dutch oven works great too. Place all the meat and and vegetables and sauce in the bottom of your pot. Add thin slices of potato around your pot, with 3 layers of potatoes. Be sure to put your decorative shank bones in (see the photo), and I cut a potato slice with cross cuts and put directly over the bone holding it in place. This also keeps in the moisture under the potatoes. Use a pastry brush to colour the potatoes with a little bit of butter.
- Once your potatoes cover the all around the top, place in the oven for 35-45 minutes at 350F. Your potatoes should be cooked but not burned.
Let sit for 10 minutes, covered. Serve with a bowl of fresh peas with mint, and/or some brussels sprouts. Hit me up and tell me what you think, or take a photo and IG me.