Braised Lamb Shanks

There's no doubt an Anne Burrell recipe is pretty well fool proof except this fool did her best to wreck it right from the get go.

Lovely meaty lamb shanks browned and braised in a veggie slurry of onion, carrot, celery and garlic, tomato paste and lots of red wine and baked covered for almost 3 hours should be simple enough to accomplish for a novice cook never mind one that has darn near half a century worth of experience; however, right from the start it was obvious I had the devil on one shoulder and Murphy on the other.

Too hot a pot meant the shanks almost burned and set the house on fire and then the pureed veggies tried to follow the same course of action. It was one thing after another but the final straw occurred when I checked the pot after an hour and a half in the oven. It seems the oven temperature was a hundred degrees higher than necessary which was a major boo-boo for sure. Darned oven takes so long to heat up I cranked it to the max and forgot to turn it down when the pot hit the oven. 

To top it off I forgot to make the gremolata and can only imagine the jolt of flavor we missed from the orange and lemon zest, parsley, garlic and horseradish garnish. Darn! Anyway, in spite of the many ways I tried to destroy the dish, the lamb was amazing, fall off the bone tender, richly flavored and perfect with pillowy little potato gnocchi.  I'll have to try making it again but I'll be checking my horoscope first just in case. Hit the link and head to foodnetwork.com for the original recipe. 

A year ago - Steamed Mussels with Red Pepper Aioli

 Two years ago - Porc au Vin

Three years ago - Red and Green Shrimp Enchiladas

Comments

[Lea Callais]

Wowsa - with all that bad luck and funkiness going on - you still got the touch! That "my hand tastes good" touch! Some people have it - some people don't... Hey - I found some lovely little lamb chops at the local grocery this afternoon - score - tomorrow's supper is planned!!! I want to marinate them in herbs de provence and olive oil and garlic and I am thinking oven roasted cauliflower - like you taught me!!!

[June]

It's been quite the week for goof ups. I think the cook might need a long vacation. LOL Sounds like a fabulous plan for the lamb chops and now you've got me craving roasted cauliflower too.

[Lorraine]

Just goes to show that even on one of your bad days your are still a better cook than most.

[June]

Ah thanks Lorraine. I've been looking back through the 1504 posts I've made and think I need some inspiration. I've been slacking off lately.