If your home-cooked meals consist primarily of beef, chicken, or fish, then lamb might be a little off the beaten path from your usual meals. For home cooks interested in exploring new territory, there are plenty of different cuts of lamb to consider. In the search for more affordable meats, this gamier option could seem out of reach, price-wise, but this actually isn’t the case. Tasting Table consulted with expert chef and partner at Geyserville, California’s Cyrus Restaurant, Douglas Keane, to get his opinion on the best cut of lamb that you can easily learn to prepare in your home kitchen. Per Keane, “Lamb shank is a great, affordable option” to start with for leveling up your cooking.
The shank is a cut that comes from the leg of a lamb in the area below the knee. When preparing shanks, one per person is a reasonable serving size, particularly when paired with a coordinating side dish of a complementary flavor, such as mashed potatoes or roasted vegetables. Keane advises keeping your seasonings and cooking method simple, recommending “salt, pepper, and a slow braise in stock with mirepoix, mushrooms, and whole garlic cloves.” He also adds, “After it’s cooked, I like to puree all the ingredients in the stock into a coulis and serve it over the top of the shank.”
Making a braised lamb shank at home
Following Keane’s expert advice, you can make your own slow-braised lamb shanks recipe at home with an affordable cut of meat and a little bit of time and patience. Braising a lamb shank is one of the best ways to cook it, as it allows you to vary the ingredients to suit your tastes. Start by searing the meat on all sides before adding the shanks, aromatics, and stock to a crockpot and letting time do the rest of the work. Keane’s suggestion of mirepoix – a mix of diced celery, carrots, and onions in a 1:1:2 ratio — and whole cloves of garlic ensures the presence of rich vegetables and aromatics that will cook alongside your lamb. Mushrooms also provide additional protein and nutrients and bring more of an umami flavor to the dish.
Depending on your taste preferences, you can really get creative when it comes to seasonings and braising liquids. In a recipe for Moroccan lamb shanks, the ingredients include fresh ginger, cumin, coriander, paprika, and harissa paste as well as chicken broth, honey, and a cinnamon stick. The process of braising can take just over two hours or so, which will be determined by the size and amount of lamb shanks you’re using and whether you choose to use a slow cooker or a Dutch oven. With this accessibly priced cut of lamb, you can feel free to try new combinations of flavors and discover favorite meals to make in your home kitchen.
