braised lamb in red wine sauce

[pafufta816]

this is the first dish that i've made where, i thought of an idea, built a recipe, and then tried to make it, and it didn't turn out funky/nasty/odd/whatever. my eventual success inspired me to share it with you guys. it's not hard to make and just takes a couple of basic cooking techniques, the end result is well worth the cooking time it takes too.

just cooked this up today, and it's a KILLER dish. i more or less improvised it, but it is based on a couple of recipes i reviewed (to get a general idea of what needed to be done), so it's certainly not my creation. i used lamb shanks, but you can substitute the lamb for beef or pork, just bear in mind that braising is ideal for cuts with lots of connective tissue and fat. depending on the meat it might take less or more time to cook the chewy fibers out of the meat.


ingredients:

2 lamb shanks
enough flour to lightly coat the shanks
1 cup dry red wine (i like it dry so that the sweetness of the wine doesn't overpower the dish)
2 cups beef broth or vegetable stock
1 onion diced
1 shallot diced
1 carrot chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
black olives (as many as you like)
salt and pepper to taste
also optional: any vegetable you like really. bell peppers, mushrooms, anything, just remember that it will cook for several hours which may render some choices really mushy. to avoid this you might add your vegetable of choice after an hour in the oven, or prepare it seperately and add it in the end.

start by preheating your oven to 300F, (or 150C). heat a skillet over high heat with a light amount of oil. lightly coat the lamb in the flour and put on the skillet, this is to sear/brown the meat (which adds alot of flavour). cook each side about 3-4 minutes, or until brown. after all the sides are browned transfer to a plate. lower the heat on the skillet and add the vegetables to it, letting them cook for 2-3 minutes, or until they let out an aroma. add the wine to the skillet (make sure it's not too hot though or it might splatter from the heat) and scrape the burned pieces of lamb from the bottom. transfer vegetables/wine to a stew pot, and add the stock or broth. place the lamb in it the pot, you will want the liquid to come about halfway up the side of the shanks. set in the oven for 2.5 to 3 hours. in this time the tough connective tissues and fat will dissolve into the dish, giving the braising liquid extra body and flavor.

to finish the dish i strained the liquid, and picked out the olives. the celery, onion and carrot might have become very soft so i picked out the olives and lamb, and discarded the rest (but you could puree any veggies that became to soft, and then add the puree back to the liquid). next i boiled the liquid until it was reduced to about 1/4-1/5 it's original volume, and put the lamb and olives back in. the meat should fall apart with gentle pressure, mixing in with the sauce. i served it on top of pasta with fontina cheese. DELISH