The "shank" of the matter: lamb shanks

Ingredients come in and out of fashion just like, well, fashion. One of the ingredients that is enjoying a justifiable wave of popularity now, is the lamb shank.
When I was growing up, I had no idea what a lamb shank was. I remember someone on a television show, seeing them offered as lunch at the school cafeteria where she worked, and smiling broadly because she hadn't had them in so long... Then she got called away for a meeting and never had them. I remember her saying "bye lamb shanks" with this sad look on her face.

I asked my Nana if we could have them, and she looked at me like I was crazy. I think she didn't know what they were. It may have also been that , at that time, lamb shanks were considered "poor people food," and my grandmother just could not understand why any of us would want to eat like poor people. She would cry about the money she spent on food, but when we ate lamb, we ate chops, or we ate leg of lamb. We NEVER ate the cheaper cuts.

"Cheaper" cuts. HAH. I paid 8 bucks a pound for the lamb shanks in this recipe. I guess that's cheap for lamb, but if my Nana ever paid 8 bucks for meat, she got way more than a pound.

Lamb shanks are good for those of us who want little work, are willing to let the food cook away for a long time, and like good flavor. If you think about it, everyone , or just about everyone, loves osso bucco. Well, that's veal shank. Lamb shanks are as good, in a different way.

As it happened, last week I came across two recipes for lamb shanks, going in different directions. One used chick peas. Hmmmm. The other one used prunes. Hmmmm. I put it to plebicite. The prunes won.

This recipe appeared in the NY Times. I want to repeat it here, in case you dont' read the "paper of record," or don't read the food section. I DID make some changes (now there's a surprise), and there is an unusual ingredient that is worth hunting down.

The night before you are going to make the dish, take 2 cups of pitted prunes (more than half a pound), and soak them in two cups of dry red wine. If you are really "off the stuff," use pomegranate juice. It will surprise you how much liquid the prunes pick up, even if they are nice and soft. Also, the night before, sprinkle eight small lamb shanks with salt and pepper, and let them sit, uncovered, in your fridge.

The day of cooking, bring your oven to 300, and let the shanks come to room temperature. Chop up two cups of onions. You don't need surgical precision here. For me, this was three medium onions. You should also peel and mince, twelve - that's right, TWELVE cloves of garlic. You'll thank me. Get a jar of red peppers in oil, and slice three of the peppers into thin slices. Have ready, as well, two teaspoons of ground cumin, and a teaspoon of smoked paprika. That's the unusual ingredient I told you about. Buy some. You'll be glad you did. Then, pour some olive oil into a big heavy casserole (use a BIG one), and brown the shanks. Take your time. This is where you're gonna get your color for this.
Put the meat off to the side. Note that you'll have to do this in batches. There isn't a pan in the world that can handle 8 shanks at once (at least not on the retail level, where you and I can get them). You'll have a little fat left. Leave it, and sautee your onions and garlic in this, just until
they begin to soften. Then add the peppers and the spices. If you let this cook a few minutes, you will notice a wonderful smell coming up. That's the smoked paprika and you'll now know why I insisted on you getting this. Then add the lamb back, and the prunes, with the juice. You'll have to layer these on top of each other and that's fine.

The original recipe called for stove top cooking. I did most of it in the oven, however. I covered the pan, and put it into a 300 degree oven, for an hour and a half. At the end of that time, I moved the shanks around so that the ones underneath were on the top, and vice versa. After an additional hour, I checked them and decided to finish the dish on the stove. I put the whole pot on the stove, at medium low heat, and let it cook away for another thirty minutes. By that time, the meat was tender, falling off the bone, and the whole house smelled wonderful.

This stores beautifully, which is a good thing, because we have plenty. With Paula's potatoes, doesn't this sound like an extravagantly good dinner? It's up for dinner tomorrow. Maybe I'll save some for you....