Ever since my less than successful first attempt at cooking lamb shanks, I have revisited preparing the traditionally long cooked cut of meat twice. Both times either produced shanks whose meat that was too soft or too firm. Neither attempt employed mushrooms. So, when Leela (@sheshimmers) of the She Shimmers and Melody (@gourmetfury) of the Gourmet Fury blogs announced February's vegetable for their Beet & Squash "Veggie Celebration Contest", I decided to attempt the only preparation of lamb shanks I have encountered that had the texture I wanted, braised lamb shanks with mushroom bolognese. That preparation was actually a frozen entree from local fine food store Epicuria (419 Mackay Street).

Given that I missed "Battle Napa Cabbage", due to other happenings this past New Year, I pulled out all the stops.

First, I went looking for the source recipe and its originator: Italian Master Chef Michael Chiarello. Then, I chanced upon Epicuria's recipe and took note of their intepretation of Chef Chiarello's recipe.

Having read up on the recipes and armed with tips from an ex-Epicuria Chef, I went shopping for lamb shanks. Before, I purchase frozen New Zealand lamb shanks from the local supermarket. This time, I sourced the lamb shanks from my neighbourhood butcher's Saslove's (1333 Wellington St. W). They turned out to be fresh Canadian lamb shanks. Mushroom-wise, I picked up two Asian varieties from a local (non-T&T) Asian supermarket, the New 168 Market, just outside of Chinatown (1050 Somerset Street W).

Now, tradition has it that a "bolognese" is a meat "ragu" that is a staple of the Bologna region of Northern Italy. It is a full-bodied meat sauce that is tomato based and flavoured with wine and mirepoix vegetables: 2 parts onions, 1 part carrots, and 1 part celery. At times, it includes milk or cream. For reference, think of the filling in a classic Bolognese lasanga. Here is one I made several weeks ago:

Bolognese Lasagna
Substituting mushrooms for meat, while bucking tradition, makes a good deal of sense. Mushrooms can be good and meaty. Though, they have to be carefully cooked or will come out rubbery.

Here is what turned out:

Braised Lamb Shanks with Mushroom Bolognese
I served it with onion polenta and yu choy.

Recipe
Here's what you'll need:

2 796 mL Cans of Low Sodium Plum Tomatoes

Approximately 230 g (1/2 lb) of one variety of mushroom

Approximately 230 g (1/2 lb) of another variety of mushroom

3 Medium to large lamb shanks

• 1 cup of chopped onion
• 1/2 cup of chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup of chopped celery
• 2 cups of dry red wine (Ours: a 2007 Jackson-Triggs Cabarnet Franc/Cabarnet Sauvignon from the Niagara Peninsula)
• 3 cups of low sodium chicken broth

According to the notes in Chef Chiarello's recipe, the shanks can be made a number of ways: braised for 2-4 hours in an oven set to 300F or braised for 6 hours in an oven set to 250F. While the shanks can be made in a covered pot on the stove top, "there is caramelization of flavors in oven braising that stove top cooking does not replicate." We went the super long route in a low oven. But first, we need a braising liquid and, since we're braising overnight, the liquid can be refrigerated during the day thereafter so the fat can rise to the top, solidify, and be easily lifted off. The braised shanks can also be aged in the refrigerator alongside.

Prep:

Strained tomatoes that are later seeded

Canned tomato liquid and juiced, reduced to a syrup

Finely chopped mirepoix, sweated until tender

Tomato syrup, mixed with mirepoix vegetables

Broth and wine mixture, slow simmered down by half

Lamb shanks unwrapped and dried

Lamb shanks gently seared

Sliced and sauteed hanalogo mushrooms

Whole and sauteed oyster mushrooms

Roasted Canned Tomatoes

Completed Braising Liquid

Braised Lamb Shanks

Braised Lamb Shank Close Up

Lamb shanks ready to age

Lamb Shank Close-up

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
2. Strain the tomatoes from the canning liquid and juice, reserving the liquid and juice
3. Seed the tomatoes. Cooking tomato seeds make tomato sauces bitters
4. Add a splash of olive oil to a pyrex glass baking pan and add the seeded tomatoes to it. Why pyrex? Tomatoes tend to discolour and/or take on metallic flavours from metal roasting pans.
5. Slow roast the tomatoes until they slightly colour and dry. For me, this took 1.5 hours. The goal is to concentrate flavours.
6. Meanwhile, place the canning liquid and tomato juice into a non-reactive pot, bring it to a simmer on medium heat, and simmer on medium-low until it thickens into a syrup
7. finely chop the mirepoix vegetables (onions, carrots, and celery)
8. Gently sweat the mirepoix in a metal pan.
9. Add the mirepoix to the finished tomato syrup, reserving the pot
10. Pour the broth and wine into the tomato syrup pot and stir the liquid to rinse the pan.
11. Bring the broth/wine to a simmer on medium heat, and simmer on medium-low until it reduces by half.
12. Thinly slice the mushrooms, sautee them on medium heat until they brown on each side. For me, this took 1 minute/side. After each batch, de-glaze with the reducing or reduced broth/wine mixture.
13. Season the lamb shanks with kosher salt and let them sit 5 minutes
14. Add a splash of canola oil to a metal pan and sear the lamb shanks on each side until they develop a slight crust and take on colour. For me, this took 2 minutes/side.
15. Again, deglaze with the reducing or reduced broth/wine mixture.
16. Once the tomatoes have finished roasting, remove them from the oven and turn the oven down to 250F.
17. Carefully dice the tomatoes and add them to the mirepoix/tomato syrup mixture
18. Add the tomatoes/mirepoix/tomato syrup mixture to the broth/wine mixture and bring it up to simmering
19. Choose a pyrex glass baking pan that will allow the resulting braising liquid to come up slightly more than halfway up the lamb shanks
20. Add several spoonfuls of braising liquid to the pan to serve as a base and lay the seared shanks on top
21. Pour over the rest of the braising liquid over the shanks.
22. Cover tightly with alluminium foil and bake at 250F for 6 hours.
23. At the 3 hour mark, pull the baking dish, gently turn over the lamb shanks, baste the tops with the braising liquid, and return the lamb shanks to the oven.
24. After the meat is braised, carefully remove the lamb shanks to a separate dish and refrigerate both sauce and shanks for at least another 6 hours.

Now that the braise is done. The method is nothing more than an elaborate re-heating procedure.

Method:

Braising liquid after a night's refrigeration

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. De-fat the braising liquid.
3. Return the shanks to the braising liquid and top with sauteed mushrooms
4. Gently spoon over some of the braising liquid onto the mushrooms.
5. Cover tightly with alluminium foil and bake until everything heats through. For me, this took 45 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, cook up a batch of polenta. Any polenta recipe will do.
7. Plate and serve.

Done!

Served

This time, the meat fell off the bone. The sauce took on a mushroom flavour. The mushrooms took on a meaty texture. The wine added its tanins and a little brightness. The tomatoes added sweetness. Everything came together to produce a lamb shank dish that exceeded my expectations.

Update: Ottawa Tonite's in-house sommelier, Nancy Thompson (@nancyztaste) graciously suggested a wine pairing:

I'd pair a nice, earthy Pinot Noir to go with the mushrooms and lamb. The Stoney Ridge 2006 Warren Classic Pinot Noir should go great as it has the earthy and meatiness that you need to go with it.

Go check out her blogs on wine and food in Ottawa Tonite. She's a great read!

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