If you had been invited to my house for dinner in the last few weeks, you would have been served slowly braised rosemary lamb shanks with creamy oven-baked polenta and crispy roasted asparagus. It's my standard springtime menu and a cornerstone of my cooking repertoire.
Amanda Hesser writes about the "cooking repertoire" in her book, Cooking for Mr. Latte: A Food Lover's Courtship with Recipes, and when I first read it, I was sure she was speaking to me:
A few months ago, when visiting Tad's parents, I noticed one of his mother's cookbooks lying on the kitchen counter. It was open to a recipe for slow-roasted turkey. The book was old, the pages a dull yellow. In the margins were notes, some in pencil, come in faded ink. Over the years, Elizabeth had kept a record of her efforts to refine the recipe: "1977," one note read, "12 lb. turkey took 4 hours including 1/2 hour browning." Another read, "Make a tent of foil over all." She had originally followed the recipe and spread shortening on the bird, then substituted margarine in the 1980s. Now she uses butter.
I mentioned this to Tad. "I hope someday I'll have recipes like that," I said. "You know, ones that I'll want to return to for years and years."
Tad nodded. "it's a good idea. You don't really seem to have a repertoire."
Ever since reading Hesser's book, some five years ago, I've been accumulating recipes for my own repertoire, making a note of seasonal dishes that are easy to make and fun to serve.
The lamb shank recipe I use, from Donna Hay's Modern Classics series, is just that. Not only does it require little active prep time, but if you make it a day in advance, it will taste even better. Plus, any leftovers freeze beautifully. And in a happy coincidence, both the polenta and the asparagus can be cooked in the oven at the same time.
The fact is, having a cooking repertoire makes it easier to entertain, and I'm all for that.
Lamb Shanks with Tomato and Rosemary
Ingredients:
8 shanks, trimmed*
Plain (all-purpose) flour for coating
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 cup (8 fluid ounces) red wine
2-1/2 cups (1 pint) beef stock
400 grams (14 ounces) can tomatoes, lightly crushed
1 tablespoon rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Directions:
1. Toss the lamb shanks in flour, shaking off any excess. Place half of the oil in a large, deep frying pan over high heat. Add the shanks and brown well. Remove and set aside.
2. Add the remaining oil to the pan and cook the onions and garlic until golden. Return the shanks to the pan. Add the wine, stock, tomatoes and rosemary and bring to the boil. Reduce the hear, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Remove the shanks and continue to simmer the sauce, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until reduced and thickened. Return the shanks to the pan with the parsley, salt and pepper. Mix through and serve with mashed potatoes.
Serves 4.
Modern Classics Book 1, Donna Hay, HarperCollins, 2002
*Ask your butcher to trim both ends of the shanks for you. Although not essential, it makes them easier to handle and they fit better into the pan.
Cook's Hints: Like Tad's mother, Elizabeth, I've adapted this recipe over the years. I buy meaty hind shanks, about 1-1/2 lbs. each, from my local grocery store nd need only two shanks for this recipe, which easily serves 4-6 people. I use more olive oil for searing the meat, and add more liquid (red wine and chicken stock, which I use instead of beef), so the lamb is covered completely as it cooks. I cook these heftier shanks longer, about 2-1/2 hours, to be sure they are cooked through and tender, and I simmer the sauce longer for a thicker, headier gravy. To serve, I remove most of the meat from the bone and ladle the meat and sauce onto a mound of polenta. Two lucky people get the bones.
--Tracy Schneider
