Monday 18 June 2012

Guinness Lamb Shank

Guinness Lamb Shank 
Guinness stew was one of the items in my 'Cooking Wish List', just because it sounds whacky and I've never tasted anything with Guinness Stout as an ingredient. Plus, my sister cooked Guinness Beef Stew a few months ago and she was bragging about it, so I assume it must taste pretty good.

Came across a Guinness Lamb Shank recipe in one of Jamie Oliver's facebook post and I thought I might give this a try. I like reading through recipes and giving my own tweak to it according to the ingredients I have in my fridge and pantry, because most of the times I could save some money and time out of it and what better way to clean up my pantry! Most of the times my inventions work, other times my combination of ingredients are just ...... appalling :(

But don't worry! This meal turned up pretty yummy! The lamb shanks were so tender that you could use a fork to pull the meat apart, and the gravy had an interesting depth of flavour, although mine wasn't as thick and sticky as Jamie's because I didn't have a stick blender to whiz up the onions that was in the gravy. 

This is a great dinner meal, especially for cold winter nights where you need a warm hearty meal to warm you up. I had this with two handfuls of salad veg, which will wilt when you pour the hot gravy on top of it. The gravy had a layer of oil , which you can scoop it out with a ladle/spoon. This oil is from the fats of the lamb that has melted over the hours of simmering. You should have as little of these as possible because these fats (saturated fats), are bad for your health as they can clog your arteries and cause high cholesterol and a wide range of heart problems. Saying that, red meat such as lamb and beef are good sources of iron and zinc, and it is recommended that you eat 3-4 serves (150g raw weight per serve) per week (1 lamb shank is about 1.5 serve). So just remember to choose the lean cuts of meat and trim off any visible fats and you'll be fine :)

Here's my version of the recipe. Try this out and let me know how it goes. :p

Ingredients (serves 2)



  • 1 brown onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 medium sized washed potatoes
  • 2 carrots
  • 2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 1 heaped tablespoon tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons Jack Daniel's spicy barbecue sauce (or Worcestershire sauce)
  • 4 tablespoons mint sauce
  • 1 litre chicken stock (preferably salt reduced)
  • 300 mL of Guinness stout
  • 2 lamb shanks, cleaned and pat dried, with visible fat trimmed off
  • olive oil
  • ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • salt (optional)
Method

 1. Crush garlic cloves with the back of your knife and dice the onions finely.

2. Roughly chop the carrots and potatoes into cubes.

3. Heat up 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Pan fry lamb shanks until all sides are slightly brown in colour. When the lamb shanks are done, leave them on a separate plate. 
(I rubbed the shanks with paprika before frying it. Not a good idea as it will burn in the oil)


4. In a separate pot (use a Casserole dish if you have one), fry the rosemary sprigs in 1 tablespoon of oil for a few seconds under medium-high heat, then quickly pour in the onions and garlic. Once the onions and garlic are caramelised, pour in the carrots and potatoes and move it around for around 5 minutes under high heat.

5. Pour in around 300 mL of Guinness stout (You'll hear a sizzling sound). Let it boil for a few minutes.

6. Arrange the lamb shanks in the pot.


7. Add in the mint sauce, Worcestershire sauce (I used Jack Daniel's barbecue sauce), 1 teaspoon of ground smoked paprika and a few turns of ground black pepper. Top it up with chicken stock (or more Guinness if you like) until the lamb shanks are submerged in liquid. Be careful of the amount of chicken stock you use as it might be too salty (I suggest that you use a salt reduced stock so that you can add more salt to it if it isn't tasty enough. I used around 600 mL of Maggie Beer's stock and no salt was needed.)

8. Let it boil for a few minutes. Turn the stove to low heat, cover the pot and let it simmer gently for 3 hours.



2 comments:

  1. That looks great and yay for using something in your fridge or freezer already too! :D

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    1. Thanks Lorraine! hoping to improve my cooking and photography skills..Still have lots to learn from you and all the other great food bloggers out there :p

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