Lamb Shanks With Fruited Couscous

Submitted by MarraMamba

"from starchefs"

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 30mins
• Ingredients: 21
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• Lamb Shanks

• 8 lamb shanks (front leg shanks)
• 1 carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 celery, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 bouquet garni (1/2 garlic clove, 1 sprig parsley, 2 sprigs fresh thyme, 1 bay leaf, tied together in cheesecloth)
• 2 cups dry white wine
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 4 garlic cloves
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

• Fruited Couscous

• 2 cups couscous (1 package)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1⁄4 lb almonds
• 1⁄4 lb golden raisins or 1/4 lb dried fig
• 1⁄4 lb diced dried apricot
• 1⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 sprigs parsley, chopped
• 3 sprigs mint, chopped

directions

1. Season the shanks with salt, pepper and cumin.
2. In a sauté pan, heat vegetable oil on high heat and brown the shanks on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside. Using the same pan, heat two tablespoons of olive oil, add diced vegetables and cook until browned. Add flour and cook for about 5 minutes. Add wine and simmer, reducing liquid by half.
3. Put shanks in a large pot. Add the liquid with vegetables, tomato paste, and bouquet garni. Cover shanks with water and season with salt and pepper. Let simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the shanks are very tender and the meat can be easily separated from the bone.
4. Just before serving, place rosemary and 4 remaining garlic cloves in a mortar and make a paste. Add mixture to the sauce.

5. Couscous:

6. In a large bowl, mix couscous with olive oil, almonds and dried fruits. Bring chicken stock to a boil, pour stock over the couscous, cover, and allow to sit for 20 minutes, undisturbed. Using a large fork, fluff couscous and sprinkle with herbs before serving.

Reviews

[I'mPat]

I scaled this back for 3 lamb shanks but got confused in step 3 as I usually cook as 1 pot and added 3/4 cup of chicken stock (which was for the couscous) and then once reading properly went OH BUGGER but soldiered on and covered the shanks with water and as there was so much liquid I initially simmered for the first hour and half with the lid askew to reduce the liquid and after 2 hours the lamb was definately falling off the bone so removed and tented in alfoil and put the sauce up to full boil to reduce for 5 minutes and then added a slurry of cornflour/sornstarch and water to thicken the sauce but it was still thin but served and it was delicious with sweetness of the couscous. The only changes I made was to add sweet basil to my bouquet garni and I omitted mint from the couscous. Thank you MarraMamba for a delicious lamb shank recipe, made for Everyday A Holiday.