Recipe: Smoked & Braised Lamb Shanks

Last night had a group of fellow eaters in for a going-away feast (I'm off to join TODG in Whitewater, thence to remove to Montreal). Thought I'd do one of my signature items. It worked pretty well, so here I am to report the process to all of you in fond hope you might find it.... well, worth thinking about, anyway.

Here's the story:

SMOKE-BRAISED LAMB SHANKS

4-6 lamb shanks
3 cups decent dry red wine ("Don't cook with anything you wouldn't
drink." --Julia Child)

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
half a small turnip, finely chopped
pinch of rosemary
pinch of thyme
salt, pepper to taste

Prepare bbq or smoker. Put shanks directly over medium coals to sear and lightly (but seriously and thoroughly) brown. Watch them carefully--a little bit of char is ok; more is not. Then, push shanks to one side, add soaked hickory or fruitwood chips to coals, and smoke over cool indirect heat for 30 minutes. [In actually fact, I put them in the Black Diamond for an hour at about 95°.] Rest shanks in the fridge overnite. Next day, briefly saute onion and garlic, then add finely chopped vegetables and wine, bring to bare simmer in pot. Put trivet or steamer over simmering vegetables, remove shanks from fridge, season with spices, and place on trivet over simmering wine mixture. Do not wet the shanks with the mixture. Keep on bare simmer for three to four hours. Remove shanks, decant most of the liquid from the vegetables, put mixture in blender, pulse firmly, use the result as a sauce for the shanks. Serve warm.

Again in actual fact, I strain most of the (quite fattly) liquid from the veggies before pureeing them. Then I put the liquid in the freezer, get rid of the fat, and later use the liquid as a soup/gravy base.

These shanks are decidedly smoky and quite dark and rich in flavor.

Geo