Braised Lamb Shanks

I'm a member of some other sites and a few of them are BBQ / Cooking sites. A member from one of those other sites (goes by keeperovdeflame) “loves Lamb Shanks and he cannot lie”. Of his many lamb shank cooks was this one called "[FONT=&quot]Braised Lamb Shanks (Kokkinisto me Manestra)[/FONT]” that is from a Greek resturant in San Fransico. I’m presenting my version of this in this thread.

Here are most of the ingredients:

Keeper posted the full recipe (for 6 shanks) and reduced the amounts down for 2 shanks. I ended up cooking 3 so I cut it back to what I thought would work for three shanks. Here are the amounts I used:

Spice Rub:
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice,
1 1/2 tsp ground toasted cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp Spanish smoked sweet paprika
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder.
1 tsp ground cinnamon

I applied the rub to the shanks.

I them wrapped them with cling wrap and refrigerated for 4 hours.

Here are the ingredients for the braising liquid and the veggies that went in with the shanks. (Not shown are the Rosemary and the Thyme)


Ingredient list:
3 lamb shanks
sea salt / fresh ground pepper
1/8 cup virgin olive oil
2 yellow onions quartered
1 whole garlic clove pealed and separated into individual cloves
11/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup tomato paste ( I didn’t have any paste so I used some diced tomatoes)
4 bay leaves
6 inch sprig rosemary
8 sprigs fresh thyme

I don’t have a CI braiser like keeper does so I picked out a an 11" heavy bottom SS skillet I had. After the 4 hours, I started out by placing in a bed of sliced onions.

I poured in the OO and placed the shanks on top of the onions.

Keeper browned his shanks in a CI skillet and then transferred them over to his braiser. I decided to brown / roast my shanks in the skillet on my Weber OTS for 30 minutes at approximately 450 degrees.

After the 30 minutes were up I moved the skillet over to my preheated (to 210 degrees) Primo. I added the braising liquid, the veggies and the herbs

and covered with the lid.

I let this slow braise for 2 1/2 hours and then checked it for tenderness.

It was ready for the next stage so I removed the lid and turned the shanks over and opened up the vents.

I took the heat up to 350

and let them cook for approximately another 30 minutes (or until it’s fork tender) turning every 10 minutes. I also made some mashed potatoes and steamed some carrots while this was happening.

Once they were fork tender I removed the shanks to a bowl and reduced the sauce a little to thicken it up.

While the sauce was thickening I broke out some good Cabernet Sauvignon

and put together my place setting. Here it is plated.





Here’s a few more shots. Shank with some meat removed.

Fork Shot.

The "OMG that was good" Shot!

Wow! I now know why keeper loves them.

Thanks for looking.