Within any domain of expertise, a given individual generally has a core repertoire that is relied and called upon with great frequency. I believe cooking is no different: a chef will generally have a set of dishes that falls in the comfort zone, regardless of the difficulty or the time required. Unsurprisingly, I have my own portfolio of recipes that I fall back upon. One of these recipes is braised shanks. This usally involves seasoning + browning the shanks, adding some liquid, tossing in some chopped veggies and then shoving the whole concontion into the oven at low heat for an extended period of time. Although the contents vary depending on what ingredients are readily available at cooking time, the basics remain the same.
Today, I decided to fudge with the details of making braised shanks a bit. After reading the One Pot Dishes cookbook my mother picked up for me for Christmas, I ended up altering the preparation to incorporate some of the techniques and flavors used by some of the recipes I perused. I started with lamb shanks seasoned with sea salt, black pepper and paprika. Then I dredged them with flour before browning. Next, I deglazed the pan with red wine and combined the remainder with more red wine and chicken stock for the braising liquid. A very basic bouquet garni of garlic, black peppercorns and a bay leaf was added to the liquid for richness. That was followed up with coarsely chopped chunks of carrot and onions. For an interesting twist, I added dried cranberries in the hopes that they would function similarly to apricots, prunes or other dried fruits added to stew-like dishes. Finally, the whole shebang was shoved in the oven at 325 deg. F for 2 hours.
The end result was wonderful. The shanks themselves were *very* tender. The same could be said about the vegetables, but they were not overcooked to the point of mush and blandness. The braising liquid ended up being nicely rich and slightly sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. Overall, I am extremely pleased with the results. I think this might be the best variant I have made on braised shanks ever.
