Cooking meat on the bone is always the best way to slow cook meats, like with slow cooked Beef Short Ribs and Osso Bucco. The meat is juicier and I’m 100% convinced it’s more flavourful too! Welcome back to PERSIAN WEEK! This week it’s all about the aromatic smells and flavours of Persian food, the bright colours and the chest puffing as you airily tell your family and friends “oh, we’re just having a Persian Feast tonight.” (Their eyes boggle, they clap their hands with glee, they think you are the most amazing cook ever and we tell no one that all the recipes are actually quite straightforward to make. So here’s what’s on the menu for your Persian Feast:
Today’s Persian Lamb Shank recipe – the main event! Braised until fall apart tender in a beautiful aromatic broth. Incredibly easy with every day spices you’ll find at any supermarket!Persian Saffron Rice – that golden, crispy beauty… and it tastes as amazing as it looks!!!Persian Cucumber Tomato Salad (see notes of this Lamb Shanks recipe)- lovely and fresh, with a little sprinkle of Sumac for a touch of Persian exoticness; andPersian L♥ve Cake – made with semolina and almond meal, it’s soaked with a lemon-rosewater syrup with a hint of citrus and spice flavours. Officially in loooove with the Persian Looooove cake!
EASY BRAISED LAMB SHANKS
I promised easy, and easy you shall get. There’s nothing tricky in the steps and nor are there any hard to find ingredients in this, you’ll find everything at everyday supermarkets. The only step below you might be wondering about is step 5 where the liquid is covered with parchment/baking paper. This is called a cartouche and it’s a cheffy technique of using paper as a lid for slow cooked recipes. Like a lid, it slows down the rate of liquid evaporation but in addition to this, it encourages the even distribution of heat and stops a skin forming on the surface. It’s used commonly in some cuisines – including Japanese cooking! It’s an optional step in this recipe that I recommend only if the liquid level doesn’t cover the lamb shanks.
AND I PROMISED FALL APART
I promised easy and I promised fall apart, because that’s the only way lamb shanks should be. They are a tough cut of meat so they have to be cooked slowly to break down all those fibres! The sauce for these lamb shanks is the braising liquid that is reduced down for quite some time once the lamb shanks are removed so the flavour is intensified. I love the golden hue of the sauce from the saffron! And in case you are wondering (because I was), the sauce is not thickened in anyway and that’s the way it is supposed to be. 🙂 I love a good lamb shank, and I have to say, this Persian Lamb Shank recipe is definitely a shank worthy. Persians know good food!!! – Nagi x
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Sometimes it’s helpful to have a visual, so watch me make this Persian Lamb Shank recipe!
LIFE OF DOZER
Photo from the golden retriever dog boarder. Apparently Dozer is crushing on a curvy lab called Crystal. He likes her so much, she makes his ears flap like Dumbo.
