Rosemary Lamb Shanks
 

“Rosemary” is a whimsically beautiful word.  “Shank” is…um…not.  However, when you throw “lamb” between those two, you get a lusciously braised, earthy Greek potlatch. 

 

With my brother Colin, sister-in-law Kathleen and nieces Jackie and Ellie visiting DC for an incredibly special, fun-filled week (including the below-pictured snowman building), we (including the incomparable Kathleen Galvan) couldn’t resist making this sumptuous dish as our farewell feast.


Kissing our new friend aptly named "Olaf" by Jackie and Ellie.  Pay particular note to Jackie's and Ellie's boots and short sleeves.  We grow them tough, smart and adorable in Oklahoma!



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My mother first started making Rosemary Lamb Shanks in the mid-90s – about the time we all looked like this (i.e. more fit, less old and, um, more hairy)…



Colin, Chris/Canon, Cason, Mom

This photo has assumed an almost iconic stature in our family (in fact, we even tried to replicate it a few times).  It was snapped in Seattle during a family trip to visit Cason.  Among other amazing highlights of the visit was our inaugural “Big Sammy” competition.  You see, my family loves allegedly friendly competitions.  These aren’t just competitions though.  There is pride to be won or lost, humiliation to be suffered or avoided…and, of course, hardware to be won in the form of ridiculous trophies (in the case of our Oscar competition, a life-size gold-hued Oscar trophy (which yours truly won this year)). 

The Big Sammy competition was the first of such competitions and was born out of a simple challenge between Colin and me as to who could make the better unnecessarily large submarine/hoagie/grinder sandwich.  With much fanfare, the sandwiches were prepared and sampled by the panel of judges.  Colin’s was a mess of mayonnaise, hot sauce and grilled chicken (kidding--it was very good) and mine was an Italian delicacy I learned to concoct during my illustrious three month tenure at Chuck E. Cheese during high school.

After the votes were tallied and dramatically unveiled, I emerged victorious…but not without controversy.  The allegation has been made but never proven that mom changed her vote to my sandwich because she thought I would be more devastated if I lost.  True or not (and, yes, I would have been an absolute boor if I had lost), it only demonstrated how loving everyone thought my mom was – sometimes to a fault.  Although I have not since won the sandwich contest again, that inaugural Big Sammy victory continues to be my life's greatest achievement--too bad I fizzled out at 27.

But I digress…

Rosemary Lamb Shanks are surprisingly easy to prepare.  You can find lamb shanks in most decent grocery stores or on www.dartagnan.com (where I bought the shanks used for this recipe).  My only recommendation as a change to mom’s recipe (a sacrilege, I know!) is a lower oven temperature (325 degrees, perhaps) and a longer amount of time in the oven (as long as it takes the lamb to come up to an internal temperature of about 150-160 degrees...probably 2 hours).

Experiment, expand, enjoy!

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Mom’s Recipe

Just the best!!!  I serve with roasted new potatoes or mashed potatoes and a fresh fruit salad [for our preparation Colin made absolutely incomparable mashed cauliflower).

2 Tbs. olive oil
6 (12-14o) lamb shanks, trimmed
2 carrots, cut on diagonal into 1/4” thick slices
2 celery stalks, cut on diagonal into ¼” slices
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 C. dry red wine
1 C. low-salt chicken broth
1 C. canned beef broth
2 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary or 2 tsp. dried
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375.  Heat oil in heavy large Dutch oven [I used a roasting pan over two burners given the size of the shanks] over medium high heat.  Season shanks with salt and pepper.  Working in batches, add lamb to Dutch oven; brown on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch.  Transfer lamb to plate.  Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic to Dutch oven; sauté until light brown, about 4 minutes.  Add 1 ¾ C. red wine; bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits, about 2 minutes.  Add both broths, rosemary and bay leaves.  Return lamb to Dutch oven; cover.  Cook in oven until lamb is very tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour 30 minutes.

Transfer lamb to platter.  Tent with foil.  Strain cooking liquid, reserving vegetables.  Discard bay leaves.  Return liquid to Dutch oven.  Boil liquid until reduced to 1 ½ Cups, about 10 minutes.  Mix remaining ¼ cup wine with corn starch until smooth.  Add to cooking liquid and simmer until thickened, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.  Return lamb and vegetables to Dutch oven (can be prepared 1 day ahead.  Cover and refrigerate.)

Simmer lamb until heated through.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Arrange lamb and vegetables on platter.  Spoon sauce over.  Garnish with fresh rosemary sprig, if desired.

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Our Greek friends Aristotle, Hippocrates, Archimedes, Pythagoras, Socrates and Homer surely philosophizing about the meaning of their soon-to-be short lives (cauliflower, carrots, celery, onions and other accoutrement joining them):

 

Always on the diagonal, per mi madre:

 

 The initial sear on any braise is key:

WINE and vegetables join in the festivities:

After our Greek friends returned to the bath, the finished product just out of the oven:

 

 

 A wonderful cheeseboard composed by Kathleen Galvan as an apertif:

And then the feast begins!

 

Italian Sausage and Peppers

This dish is another one that Mom would make for me when I was home. It is very easy and can be put together without much work. Makes a delicious but not diet friendly pasta.

Mom loved sausages...could be Italian sausage or kielbasa from the 7/11 she was a fan. I think one of her favorite meals was kielbasa and ranch beans. Someday I will put that "recipe" up on here.

This recipe combined her love of sausage and Italian food.

Italian Sausage braised with Peppers and Onions (4)

1/4 C. olive oil
8-10 Italian sausages (hot or sweet)
2 red bell peppers, cut into strips
2 green bell peppers, cut into strips
2 small onions, sliced
1/2 lb mushrooms quartered
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1 14 oz can of tomato sauce
Salt and pepper
1 lb pasta


In a frying pan, heat olive oil and brown sausages on all sides. Might want a splatter screen as this gets messy. Remove sausages and set aside.





Add pepper, onions, mushrooms and garlic and saute until pepper are barely cooked. Add vinegar and tomato sauce. Return the sausages to the pan. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook about 30 minutes or until sausages are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. This makes lots of sauce and I serve over pasta with Parmesan cheese.

Oscar Night

Movies... My Mother loved movies. I think some of her happiest moments were in a dark theater with a big bag of popcorn and a Pepsi. She and I would often go to lunch and a movie when I was home from college and always had a great time. We joked until she passed about going to the Carebear movie together. She fell asleep after about 1 minute.

With this love of movies she was a big fan of the Oscars. We would all get together or call each other all night debating who should have won and who had a terrible dress. Then in 2000 we decided to start a family contest. We got serious about this and have this trophy.



It travels and reads that the winner must have seen and understood a majority of the movies. (This is for Bill but now he is the only one who sees all the movies) Mom however was too honest and would vote for what she thought was the best picture and not what she thought would win. Therefore, the family favorites trophy was created. You could vote your heart and there is a separate trophy. The last year that we played Mom won the family favorites and was so happy. The trophy now resides in AZ and hopefully that is where it will remain.

The contest was renewed for this year's Oscars and Canon won the family trophy after not having seen a single movie and Jorie won the favorites.

In honor of Oscar night I am giving the recipe for one of my favorite dishes of Mom's. She would make this all the time when I came home.

Chicken/Veal Scaloppini Beausejour (4)

Another one of Colin's favorites. Can also be done with chicken. Slice chicken breast in half horizontally and pound to about 1/4' thickness.



1 lb chicken or veal
2 tsp table salt
Ground pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup water
1 can diced tomatoes
1 C. sliced mushrooms
1 lb pasta



Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. Heat oil in skillet and when it starts to smoke add meat. Cook for 30 seconds per side. Place pieces on a plate and cover with foil.

Remove remaining oil from the pan and add butter, garlic, thyme, bay leaf and mushrooms. Add wine, scraping and stirring to dissolve any solids (fonde) on the bottom of the pan. Add water and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add meat back to pan to warm and serve with buttered pasta.