Lamb Shanks With Madeira and Olive Sauce

"This is one of my favourite lamb dishes. It can be frozen. Used to be a cheap one until the chefs realised lamb shanks are the best part of the lamb."
 
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Ready In:
1hr 45mins
Ingredients:
13
Serves:
6-8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Heat oil in a flameproof casserole dish (12 cup capacity) add pepperoni, cook, stirring until browned; drain on paper towel.
  • Add lamb in batches and cook until browned, remove from dish.
  • Drain all but 1 tablespoon of oil from dish and add onions and garlic cook stirring until onions are soft.
  • Return pepperoni and lamb to dish, add olives, paste, tomatoes, stock Madeira and rosemary, bake, uncovered in a moderate oven 180dC for 1 1/4 hours or until lamb is tender.
  • Stir in cornflour and water cook stirring until mixture boils and thickens.

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Reviews

  1. Icelandic lamb is so wonderful, but they're a bit snobbish about it. Rack of lamb & leg of lamb are prime meats & shanks are pkg'd w/"stew meat"! So shhh, we must be very quiet about this dish & how good shanks can be or the price may go way up here too! I used my own lamb stock & cooked it in a "cooler" oven for a longer time as others did. The aroma was heaven & the gravy rich & full of flavor. My DH loved it, but said he could do without any tomato taste the next time & there will be many I'm sure. Thx for posting this!
     
  2. We enjoyed this dish cooked by Latchy, herself, when we visited her recently. It was superb - one of the best meals we've ever eaten! In the version Latchy cooked for us, she substituted the madeira with marsala, the pepperoni with Spanish chorizo and she also added some crushed anchovies to the sauce. She served the shanks with polenta and a simple salad of rocket dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. Truly a memorable meal! We had the leftovers the following night, reheated in the microwave and it was equally wonderful. Thanks Latchy - can't wait to cook this myself.
     
  3. We really enjoyed this. You know it's good when all conversation stops and everyone just concentrates on dinner. LOL. I did make a few changes, since I didn't have Madeira, I used about 1/3 brandy and 2/3 red wine. I also used canned roma tomatoes and fresh rosemary. This will go into my favorites folder. Thank you!
     
  4. This recipe appears to be a modern adaptation of an Iberian recipe - quite a good modernization of the original. To make it spicier, use a Spanish spicy chorizo or if you cant find one, a cabanossi. I also added peppercorns and a bay leaf like the original ones. This is a good recipe to use when running short of time in producing beef broth. I find that there is no substitute for Madeira wine (not even a combination of white and red wines) since the taste of dried fruits cannot be replicated by a mixture of plain white and red wine. Hence, it is important that only madeira wine be used in this recipe. Otherwise, that is no longer Iberian, but something else. Thank you for sharing, Latchy :)
     
  5. Latchy these are great lamb shanks. Love the flavour of the pepperoni and olives throughout the dish. I had the extra time so took Jan's advice and cook at 160c for around the 2 1/2hour mark. Instead of adding the cornflour at the end of the recipe I actually dusted the shanks with it before browning. Thanks for posting this recipe, it's now Dave's favourite shank recipe!
     
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Tweaks

  1. We enjoyed this dish cooked by Latchy, herself, when we visited her recently. It was superb - one of the best meals we've ever eaten! In the version Latchy cooked for us, she substituted the madeira with marsala, the pepperoni with Spanish chorizo and she also added some crushed anchovies to the sauce. She served the shanks with polenta and a simple salad of rocket dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. Truly a memorable meal! We had the leftovers the following night, reheated in the microwave and it was equally wonderful. Thanks Latchy - can't wait to cook this myself.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Our dear friend Latchy passed away from acute myeloid leukemia in August 2006, after being diagnosed with the disease in October 2005. She was a dear friend to many Recipezaar members throughout the world and she will be greatly missed. Latchy was a great chef; and her speciality was Asian food. She loved wine and cheese, but wasn’t fussed on desserts. She had a great sense of humour and was the life of any party. Latchy was her childhood nickname, and those of us who knew her real name still called her ‘Latch’. We loved her. With the permission of Latchy’s daughter, here is the eulogy read at her funeral (edited slightly to maintain the family’s privacy). Recipezaar and her Recipezaar chat group, the ‘Tipsy Tarts’ were represented at the funeral by Latchy’s close Zaar friends, Mummamills, Chrissyo and Liara: “Latchy, was born in Melbourne in 1939. In her younger years she led a very energetic life and was very involved in swimming and dancing. She had the opportunity to compete in the 1956 Olympics but couldn’t be fussed to do the training and preferred to enjoy herself instead. Latchy met her late husband, Bruce, in Melbourne. Bruce being with the army, they started their life of travel together and extended their family. Their first child was born in Perth, their second in New Guinea and their third child, in Melbourne. They also lived in Newcastle, Sydney, and Singapore before settling in Brisbane. It was in Singapore that her love of cooking, sewing and craft began. Latchy broke military protocol for dining-in nights. Women were finally allowed to attend. One day, Bruce was watching a TV program about sailing around the world. On the program when the wife was told of this plan she said “No Way”, but Latchy said, “When are you going to start?” So, Bruce retired from the army to begin building a 54 foot steel ketch in the back yard, learning as he went. Latchy worked for many years until they finally set off around the world in 1987. They got as far as Malaysia and loved it so much they didn’t go any further. They loved the lifestyle, the people and the food and only came back when Bruce fell ill. After Bruce passed away, Latchy developed her talents, such as painting, and became involved with her family and grandchildren. About 7 years ago, she decided to make her life in Hervey Bay, a beach-side retirement town in Queensland, Australia. She loved the lifestyle, the people and became very involved in the community life. Latchy started volunteering with tax help, then the multicultural respite where she put her cooking skills to use and then with Legacy (an organization which supports the widows of servicemen and ex-servicemen). Latchy opened up a new world by learning about computers and the internet and she met her great friends, the Tipsy Tarts through the website Recipezaar. Latchy was a strong, independent, funny, straight forward and loving mother, grandmother and friend, and we will miss her greatly.”
 
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