Lamb shanks

Lamb shank and potato mash

Posted by Gary

Dear Reader,

I hope you’ve had a good week.

Tonight’s meal isn’t anything special. Typically, I have some idea during the week what I’ll be cooking; however, this week, it wasn’t until I started grocery shopping that I decided to buy a pair of lamb shanks.

I reached a new minimum weight today, so I thought potato mash would be a nice treat.

Today's weight chart reveals a new minimum weight

Recipe

Equipment

  • Pressure cooker
  • Microwave radiation oven

Ingredients

  • Lamb shanks – two “drumsticks.”
  • Ginger marmalade – one tablespoon
  • French onion soup mix – salt-reduced version
  • Birds Eye potato mash – one packet
  • Carrot – one carrot cut into chunks.
  • Celery – a couple of stalks
  • A brown onion ­– one roughly chopped.

Instructions

Lamb

  1. Put the celery, carrot, and onion in the pressure cooker.
  2. Empty the French onion soup packet mix into the pressure cooker.
  3. Add the marmalade.
  4. Pour in some boiling water.
  5. Add the lamb.
  6. Cook for one hour under pressure.
  7. Remove the lid.
  8. Remove the lamb, keep one warm, and refrigerate the other.
  9. Sieve the cooking liquor and simmer to reduce it to syrup.

Potato

  • Prepare the potato mash as per the instructions on the packaging.

Plating up

  1. Spread the potato mash on a dinner plate.
  2. Place a lamb shank on the mash.
  3. Spoon some of the syrup over the lamb.
  4. Give thanks to the Lord.
  5. Eat with a fork.

Photographs

Lamb shank with potato mash and carrot served with Buderim ginger marmalade sauce
Lamb shank with potato mash and carrot served with Buderim ginger marmalade sauce
Lamb shank with potato mash and carrot served with Buderim ginger marmalade sauce
Lamb shank with potato mash and carrot served with Buderim ginger marmalade sauce
Lamb shank with potato mash and carrot served with Buderim ginger marmalade sauce
Lamb shank with potato mash and carrot served with Buderim ginger marmalade sauce

Final thoughts

Have a good week. Catch you next Saturday.

Extras

I recently bought an air fryer so I will try duck breast in the air fryer tomorrow.

Dry brining duck breast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder

I’ll cook this duck breast in a water bath sometime during the week. It’s currently in the freezer with some navel orange and golden syrup.

Duck breast with navel orange and golden syrup in a vacuum bag

Figs and pomegranate

Posted by Gary

Hello Reader, 

It’s Autumn, which means the 2023 footy season has started. 

It began well with the Storm winning Thursday night and the Broncos winning a nail-biter last night. 

It was so relaxing laying in bed, daydreaming about life’s pleasures and checking the NRL app for updates. 

The big game of the weekend is tomorrow arvo. The Dolphins are playing against the Sydney Roosters, and it’s the Dolphin’s first official NRL game. My eldest and youngest children will be in the crowd cheering for the Dolphins. The Dolphins supporters will be screaming #phinsup 

The Redcliffe Dolphins are a well-established club (founded in 1947) in Brisbane and have produced great players like Ian “Bunny” Pearce and Arthur “Arty” Beetson. 

I’ve been a Broncos fan since the team’s formation and entry into the National Rugby League (1987). When the NRL announced the 2023 entry of the Dolphins as an NRL club and Wayne Bennett would be the team’s first NRL coach, I decided to make the Dolphins my number one team. 

Check out more from Rupert McCall.

I wasn’t sure what to cook today, so I drew inspiration from two sources. Yesterday, Lorraine posted five recipes for figs. I saw a salad with figs and pomegranates. Long-time readers know my fondness for pomegranate arils. 

The second source is the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet Facebook support group. Last night I saw someone’s recipe for lamb shanks and marmalade. 

I’ve modified the recipe because I prefer a pressure cooker rather than a slow cooker. I also used shank meat rather than the whole shank. Buying shank meat means I can portion according to weight to ensure I only eat about 150 grams per serving. 

The diet is going well, I’ve spent the best part of this week under my goal weight, and this morning I reached a milestone I never dreamed possible. 

A tweet from @garydlum

In last week’s post, I mentioned I had spent the weekend in Melbourne attending and participating in a medical conference. The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia hosted it. 

Photographers were present and shot me during my talk on Friday morning. 

A tweet from @DrGaryLum

Recipe

Equipment

  • Pressure cooker
  • Saucepan

Ingredients

  • Lamb shank meat – I bought a 550 grams packet. This weight will give me four portions of <150 grams.  
  • Marmalade – I used some homemade whiskey and Seville orange marmalade. I also reduced the quantity of the recipe from the CSIRO TWD group.
  • French onion soup mix – I chose the low-sodium version. 
  • Rosemary – foraged from the sidewalk of my street. 
  • Orange
  • Peach
  • Pomegranate
  • Figs

Instructions

  1. Boil some water in a kettle and add two teaspoons of the marmalade and some French onion soup mix to a cup of boiling water. 
  2. Mix the soup mix and marmalade until it forms a loose slurry. 
  3. Add the shank meat to the cooking vessel and pour over the soup and marmalade mixture. 
  4. Add some fresh rosemary leaves. 
  5. Cook in the pressure cooker for 45 minutes. 
  6. Allow the pressure to equilibrate naturally, and transfer the meat to the refrigerator. 
  7. Sieve the cooking liquor and reduce it in a saucepan. 
  8. The reduced cooking liquor will form a sauce. 
  9. Wash the figs and divide them to create a star shape. 
  10. Remove the arils from the pomegranate by beating it with the back of a cook’s knife. 
  11. Quarter an orange and dissect out the flesh. 
  12. Wash the peach and cut it into small pieces. 
  13. Arrange the fruit and meat on a plate and drizzle the reduced cooking liquor over the food. 
  14. Give thanks to the Lord. 
  15. Eat with a fork or chopsticks. 

Final thoughts

The syrupy sauce from reduced marmalade, French onion, and rosemary was exquisite. 

Cooking meat on the bone will always bear more flavour. I believe that. Life, however, is about compromises, and I am willing to compromise a bit on taste to make it easier to maintain a habit. I rely heavily on routines to optimise my mental health. 

If I were cooking this and enjoying it with someone else, I would use a whole shank and pull the meat from the bone after it has cooked. 

I now have some lamb meat left for this week and half a pomegranate left to enjoy on Monday night with soy-flavoured poached salmon. 

I hope your week to come is peaceful, joy-filled and happy. 

Fig and pomegranate with lamb shank meat
Claire’s marmalade
Fig and pomegranate with lamb shank meat
Fig and pomegranate with lamb shank meat
Fig and pomegranate with lamb shank meat
Fig and pomegranate with lamb shank meat

Lamb shanks

Posted by Gary

I cooked this meal last month. It was the first large meal I cooked in a new pressure cooker whose cooking vessel had a larger diameter. Sometimes with the old pressure cooker, the bones from the lamb shanks would be longer than the diameter. A small-diameter bowl was not a problem for cooking but laying them flat made them look neater in the bowl.

Recipe

Equipment

  • Pressure cooker
  • Cast iron skillet
  • Stick blender

Ingredients

  • Lamb shanks
  • Flour
  • Oregano (dried herbs)
  • Rosemary (dried herbs)
  • Garlic powder
  • Salt
  • Pepper (ground, black)
  • Onion (chopped)
  • Carrot (diced)
  • Celery (diced)
  • Tomatoes (tinned)
  • Red wine
  • Stock
  • Butter
  • Flour
  • Packet potato mash

Instructions

  1. Mix the flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to make a dry rub for the lamb shanks.
  2. Brown the shanks in a skillet with some oil.
  3. Remove the shanks and sauté the carrots, celery, and onion.
  4. Deglaze the fond with the wine and stock, and then add in the tin of tomatoes.
  5. Bring the liquid to a boil and turn off the heat.
  6. Transfer the sauce to the pressure cooker and lay the shanks on top.
  7. Cook under pressure for 45 minutes.
  8. Make a roux with butter and flour and set it aside to thicken the cooking liquor.
  9. Remove the shanks with care to avoid the meat falling from the bone.
  10. Cook the packet of potato mash according to the instructions using microwave radiation.
  11. Spoon the potato mash into a bowl.
  12. Sieve the cooking liquor from the vegetables.
  13. Discard the vegetable matter.
  14. Thicken the cooking liquor to make gravy and spoon the sauce over the shanks and potato.
  15. Give thanks to the Lord.
  16. Eat with a fork.
Lamb shanks
Lamb shanks
Floured lamb shanks
Browned lamb shanks
Diced carrot, celery, and shallots
Sautéd carrot, celery, and shallots
Braised lamb shanks in gravy with potato mash
Braised lamb shanks in gravy with potato mash
Braised lamb shanks in gravy with potato mash

    Lamb shanks and laksa noodles

    Posted by Gary

    Dear Reader,

    Hi there friends. I hope you’re well. Well, what a week it’s been. 

    My week has been humming, with some challenges. Work, as usual, is busy, the pandemic continues to keep me, and my workmates occupied.

    I’ve seen my general practitioner a couple of times in the last week. It had been more than a year since my last check-up. 

    It turns out that despite losing some weight and exercising more, my blood chemistry suggests I need to make some changes to my diet. I’d be better off if I minimised mammal and bird fat, as well as having less cream and butter in my life.

    For tonight’s meal, however, I’ve been inspired by a dear friend who has been enjoying lamb shanks. It’s been an age since I cooked lamb shanks. 

    As I was shopping today, I thought of lamb shanks and pumpkin mash! However, as I walked down the Asian food aisle, I spied all the noodles. 

    Raw lamb shanks
    Udon noodles

    Ingredients

    • Lamb shanks
    • Laksa paste
    • Udon noodles
    • Coriander
    • Red onion
    • Fennel
    • Spring onion

    Instructions

    1. Place the lamb shanks into the pressure cooker.
    2. Cover the meat with some water and add a tablespoon of the laksa paste.
    3. Cook the lamb for one hour.
    4. When the lamb is ready, remove the bone that will likely slide out of its meat sheath and place it all into a bowl.
    5. Drain the liquor from the pressure cooker into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer.
    6. Add in the noodles and simmer until the noodles are ready.
    7. Chop the coriander, and slice the spring onion, fennel, and red onion.
    8. Drain the noodles and mix through the coriander, spring onion, red onion, and fennel.
    9. Transfer the noodles to a shallow bowl and place the lamb meat on top.
    10. Spoon some of the meat juices over the lamb and noodles.
    11. Give thanks to the Lord for the food and for friends.

    How was the meal?

    Okay, I confess, this is a peculiar combination of ingredients. I wrote in a file note at work yesterday an opinion on a form of words. I acknowledged I’m a peculiar person with strong views. A workmate thought it was hilarious and agreed that I am peculiar.

    The meat was tender, fall off the bone tender. 

    I’m not quite sure lamb shank and noodles would sell in a restaurant. That said, it was a tasty meal, and if you try it, let me know what you think.

    Final thoughts

    1. Have you ever had lamb with noodles and laksa flavours?
    2. Do you think lamb is suited to Asian cuisine?
    3. Do you like lamb shanks?
    4. How has your week been?

    Feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think.

    Udon noodles
    Cooked lamb shanks
    Pressure cooker lamb shanks with laksa flavoured Udon noodles, fennel, spring onion, radish, and coriander
    Pressure cooker lamb shanks with laksa flavoured Udon noodles, fennel, spring onion, radish, and coriander
    Pressure cooker lamb shanks with laksa flavoured Udon noodles, fennel, spring onion, radish, and coriander