Lamb Ragu on Potato Gnocchi

Sunday's are the perfect day to put a pot in the oven all afternoon and let it ruminate so you can enjoy the aroma and anticpate the outcome. Last night's effort had both of us groaning and moaning in delight...I'm not kidding either. 

Inspired by a Gourmet magazine recipe via epicurious.com (hit the link and see the original), I used lamb shanks and meaty neck bones combined with red onion, garlic, tomotoes both canned and sundried as well as celery, mushrooms and fennel in another example of the perfect braise.  Flavored with thyme and spiced up with red pepper flakes, the surprise in this one is the addition of bourbon and I'm not talking a tablespoon or two either.

Don't worry, I didn't use the Knob Creek but I sure hit the Maker's Mark bottle pretty hard. A few more ingredients and after 3 hours on ignore in the oven, the fall off the bone tender meat left the pot while the sauce got a little more attention. Hey, I messed up and didn't check the pot during the cooking time so there wasn't much sauce left.

It was just an excuse to crank it up a notch by adding more bourbon and chicken stock, a little tomato paste to improve the color, a little more stock and some heavy cream. I can't imagine anything better which proves that sometimes a screw-up is the best thing that can happen. Served on a bed of little potato gnocchi dumplings dressed with butter and parmesan cheese, the bourbon taste is definitely there but not overpowering and the addition of cream adds another dimension to the sauce as well. 

As you know, we're really into flavor in this house and while there's a lot of pretty darn tasty things coming out of JBug's Kitchen I can usually find something wrong but not this time. To steal a quote from a fellow blogger, it's so good it made my socks go up and down!

Lamb Shank Ragu (from JBug’s Kitchen inspired by Gourmet via epicurious.com)

1 pound lamb neck bones as well as 2 lamb shanks, OR 4 lamb shanks (2 pounds total)

Salt and coarse ground black pepper

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 cup chopped red onion

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup drained diced canned tomatoes

2 tablespoons chopped sundried tomatoes

2 stalks celery, chopped

4 large white mushrooms, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup chopped fennel bulb

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Coarse ground black pepper

1-1/2 cups bourbon (divided)

4 cups chicken stock (divided) and more as needed

1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon honey

2 tablespoon tomato paste

2 tablespoons flour (I used instant blending flour)

1/3 cup cream

Heat oil in heavy Dutch oven (I used cast iron) over medium high heat until oil is shimmering. Meanwhile wash and dry lamb and season well with salt and pepper. Brown well on all sides (about 8 minutes total). Remove from pot and set aside. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350.

Add onion, garlic, canned and sundried tomatoes, celery, mushrooms, fennel, thyme and red pepper flakes to pot. Season well with black pepper. Cook, stirring often until vegetables are softened – about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup bourbon, 3 cups chicken stock, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and honey to the pot. Stir well to combine. Return browned lamb to the pot, bring to a boil, cover and place in preheated 350 oven for 3 hours or until meat is very tender. Check pot towards the end of the cooking time and add additional stock as needed to keep ingredients from burning. When meat is falling off the bone tender, remove from the pot and discard bones. Set meat aside. Combine flour with remaining 1/2 cup bourbon and add to sauce in the pot. Add tomato paste and stir until sauce has thickened and come to a boil. Add more chicken stock as required for a medium thick consistency and boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and return meat to the pot. Stir in heavy cream. Serve over gnocchi, pasta or polenta. Makes 4 servings.

A year ago - Beef and Pepper Panini Sandwiches

Two year's ago - Orange Chicken

 

Comments

[Lea]

Oh - my, talk about fall off the bone! Oh - my 1 1/2 cups of Bourbon!!!!!!! Nice! I bet all of those flavors did meld perfectly! Great Sunday evening feast!

[June]

Lea - I know! It's a lot of booze but boy, it sure is good...tasted even better because booze doesn't come out of my budget. LOL

[Shaun]

This is next sundays dinner, lamb is expensive over here but this sounds lovely!

[June]

Shaun - it is here too, terrible in fact so this is a great way to make a couple of pounds go a long way. I never would have thought of using neck bones before but they had quite a lot of meat on them and of course the shanks left us with bigger pieces too. It is amazing! What kind of whiskey will you use? Can you get bourbon?

[Shaun]

Even lamb shanks here are £6 for a pair of small ones! Yes of course I can get bourbon but to be honest never drink it, I usually get Scotch or Irish(being half Irish I prefer the latter), but I might try some. By the way whiskey is how the Irish spell it, Scottish is whisky..lol! Will bourban be better, sweeter?

[June]

Shaun, thanks for the "whiskey/whisky" education. I had no idea! Bourbon has a unique flavor all its own and yes, it is slightly sweeter so you could substitute something else and increase the honey I suppose, but it'll be different...good but different.

[Shaun]

Got a bottle of Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon, not tried it yet, hope its nice as my favourite whisky was on offer...lol

[June]

Oh my goodness Shaun - you did well. We buy it quite often. I sure hope you like it or you'll be swearing at me; however, if you don't you can always use it to make homemade vanilla. LOL

[Lorraine]

1 1/2 cups...now that got my attention. Happen to have a bottle of Maker's Mark in the pantry. I will half to give this one a try. Did you get the gnocchi from trader joes?

[June]

Lorraine - it is a lot of bourbon, but holy cow is it ever good! As for the gnocchi - you betcha, although I really wanted to make it from scratch, I ran outa' steam.