recipe: lamb lemonato

I discovered the following (naturally gluten free) recipe on the beautiful Greek food blog Kalofagas. "[It's] simple to prepare, offers a wonderful presentation, lamb shanks are affordable and the taste vs. ease to prepare ratio makes it an easy choice for a Sunday dinner or on the occasion of entertaining guests."

(serves 6)

6 lamb shanks
1 1/2 cups of dry white wine
1/4 cup of olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 T. fresh lemon verbena (2 t. dried)
2 T. fresh lemon thyme (2 t. dried)
1 heaping t. of dried Greek oregano
sea salt and ground pepper to taste
enough water or vegetable stock* to just cover the meat

Pre-heated 350F oven

Rinse and pat-dry your lamb shanks. Season with salt and pepper and place your Dutch oven (or other oven-safe vessel) over medium-high heat. Brown in all sides of the shanks (in batches). Reserve.

Take the the Dutch oven off the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes. Add your wine into the vessel, place back on to the stove’s element and reduce at medium heat while scraping up the brown bits with a wooden spoon. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add your lamb shanks back into the vessel, along with the lemon verbena, lemon thyme and enough water or low-sodium stock to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Place the cover on your Dutch oven and throw into your pre-heated oven.

Braise your lamb shanks for about 90 minutes and check the meat for tenderness (meat should pull off the bone). Place back in the oven uncovered for another 15 minutes if you would like the liquid to reduce some more.

When the lamb is done to your liking, remove from the oven and add the lemon juice and the dried Greek oregano. Gently shake the vessel back & forth to amalgamate all the flavors. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve on a bed of roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

*Make sure vegetable stock is gluten free.