Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Lamb Shanks with roasted beetroot

The surprise in this dish was how well the beetroot and lamb went together. I also experimented - using some of the Asian spices I found while learning how to make Beef Redang curry, the outcome was fragrant and lightly spiced.
I made this quite a long time ago, so this is from memory.



Lamb Shanks with roast beetroot

4 lamb shanks
1 Onion chopped
2 celery sticks chopped
Garlic to taste squashed and chopped
2 cans tomatoes in juice
A couple of tablespoons tomato paste (if you open a can save the rest by freezing in ice cube trays)
1 L stock - chicken, beef, whatever you have
Ginger - a good thumb grated (straight from the freezer)
Galangal - as above. this is alight fragrant ginger type spice.  mmz
Cinnamon - 1 T
Paprika - 1 T
Bay leaves

Beetroot, one per person, skin on chopped and boiled for 10mins.

Potatoes, prepped as usual for mash

Pre-heat over to 180.  Fry off the lamb shanks in a large pot with oil, to get some colour on them. Place in a cassarole dish that will comfortably hold them.
 Using the same pot, add some more oil, onion, garlic, celery, ginger, galangal,  paprika and cinnamon fry off over a low heat for a good 5-10mins.  We want the spices to be cooked.  Add the tomatoes and bayleaves and cook till the mixture is simmering.  Check your seasoning. Pour over the shanks and top up with the stock and then boiling water if needed.

Cook for a good 1.5 hours.

At this point toss your beetroot in oil, rosemary, salt and pepper and place in the oven on a baking dish for an hour next to the shanks.















Twenty minutes out cook your potatoes and make mash to your tastes. My fav is a roughly mashed chunky style with butter and oil.

Serve.