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Optional, and highly recommended:

• 3/4 cup raisins, soaked in sherry for a couple hours
• 1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves

2 Season lamb shanks with salt and pepper. Heat an oven-proof dutch oven or casserole pan with a tight fitting cover on medium high heat on the stovetop. Sear the lamb shanks in the casserole pan on both sides until golden brown. Remove shanks to a dish.

3 Heat oil in casserole pan until hot; add onions, garlic, and vegetables and saute for 5 minutes. Add shanks, boiling stock, seasoning, and raisins. Bring to a boil.

4 Cover the casserole pan and bake in the oven for 1 1/2 or 2 hours or until shanks are tender. Remove shanks, strip meat from bones and return meat to the pan.

Serve with fresh mint leaves as garnish.

Serves 4.

1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup white wine
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 Tbsp of fresh chopped rosemary or 1 Tbsp of dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil

Blend ingredients in a blender, just a few pulses until well mixed.

Lamb Roast

1 (6-pound) leg of lamb, bone-in or boneless. If boneless, the leg should be tied up with kitchen string by butcher.
Marinade
Salt

1 Place lamb and marinade into a plastic bag. Squeeze out as much of the air as possible from the bag and seal. Wrap again with another plastic bag to ensure that the marinating lamb doesn’t leak. Marinate for several hours, or overnight, in the refrigerator. Remove the lamb, still in its marinade bag, from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before putting in the oven to help bring the lamb closer to room temperature before roasting.

2 Preheat oven to 425F. Arrange two racks in the oven – a middle rack to hold the lamb, and a lower rack to hold a roasting pan with which to catch the drippings. Place the empty roasting pan in the oven while the oven is pre-heating. Note that this arrangement of racks and pans, with the roast sitting directly on the oven rack, will create a natural convection of heat in the oven, causing the roast to cook more quickly than if cooked the traditional method in a rack in a roasting pan.

3 Remove the lamb roast from its marinade bag (you may want to temporarily place lamb in another roasting pan, just to make it less messy to work with.) Pat dry the marinade off the lamb with paper towels. Generously salt and pepper all sides of the roast. Arrange fattiest side up, so while the lamb is cooking the fat will melt into the meat. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the roast, not touching the bone if your roast is bone-in. Place directly on middle rack of the oven, with a roasting pan on a separate rack a rung lower, to catch the drippings. You may also want to put some water (a cup or so) in the bottom roasting pan, so that the drippings fall into the water instead of burning in the hot pan and smoking up your kitchen.

4 Roast at 425F for 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 300F and roast an additional hour (for a 6 pound roast), about 10-12 minutes per pound. If you are cooking a roast bone-in, the bone will act as an insulator and will require a longer cooking time than a boneless roast.

Note that the method of cooking directly on the oven rack will mimic a convection oven and the cooking time/oven temp needed will be less than you would need if you cooked the roast on a rack in a roasting pan. If you are cooking the roast in a roasting pan, rack or not, start the roast at 450F and then reduce the heat to 325F. Also, the shape of the roast will have an impact on the cooking time. Our roast was rather long and thin, so it cooked up fairly quickly. A thicker roast may take longer than expected.

At this point start checking the meat thermometer. Note that every time you open the oven door, you’ll need 10 minutes or so to bring the oven back up to temperature, thus slowing down the cooking process. So, don’t check too often. Remove from the oven anywhere from 130F to 135F for medium rare. Lamb should never be cooked until well done or it will be too dry. Let stand for 15-20 minutes before carving. Cut away the kitchen string and slice with a sharp carving knife, 1/2 inch thick slices, against the grain of the meat.

5 While the roast is resting, use a metal spatula to scrape up the drippings in the roasting pan. Use the drippings to make a gravy, or use just the drippings themselves to serve with the lamb.

Serves 8 to 10. Serve with some homemade mint jelly for an added treat.

Optional (my addition to Maria’s recipe), marinate lamb pieces overnight.
Marinade: grind and mix with 2 Tbsp of olive oil

• 1 Tbsp of coriander seeds
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

*If cooking gluten-free, use homemade chicken stock or gluten-free packaged broth.

2 Add ghee (or olive oil with a little bit of butter) to pan, add curry powder, cook gently for a minute or two. Add onions and garlic and cook 5 minutes. Return meat to pan.

3 Add sliced lemon, apples, raisins, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Put pan, covered, in oven and cook for 3 hours. In the last 45 minutes, remove from oven and put in potatoes. Return to oven.

Serve with chutney and yogurt over rice.

Serves 6.

Gremolata

• 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

*If cooking gluten-free use homemade chicken stock or gluten-free packaged stock.

2 Add the unpeeled garlic cloves, celery, chopped carrots (half of your carrots, the other half are cut lengthwise to be used later in the recipe) and onion to the pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Add the wine; boil over high heat until the liquid is very syrupy, about 5 minutes.

3 Return the shanks to the pot and add the stock and orange zest. Bring to a simmer. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and braise the shank for 3 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone tender; turn the shanks from time to time as they cook.

4 Preheat oven to 350F. Put the root vegetables (turnip, rutabaga, parsnips, and lengthwise-cut carrots) in a large baking pan and toss with enough olive oil to coat. Season with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for about an hour, or until tender.

5 In a small bowl, mix the minced garlic with the parsley and lemon zest (the “gremolata”). Set aside.

6 Remove the shanks from the pot and transfer to a plate. Pass the sauce through a coarse strainer, pressing hard on the vegetables. Discard the vegetable pulp. Skim the fat from the surface of the sauce.

7 Return the sauce to the pan, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Separate the lamb meat from the bones. Add the lamb meat and root vegetables; simmer just until warmed through.

Garnish with the gremolata and serve.

Serves 4.

2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
? Tbsp curry powder
? teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2-4 lamb shanks (1 to 1? lb each)

6 cups chicken stock or low-salt chicken broth
4 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed

2 carrots, peeled, cut lengthwise and then and cut into 2 inch segments
1 pound red-skinned new potatoes, quartered lengthwise
4 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
2 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 Tbsp tomato paste

2 Preheat oven to 350F. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in heavy large ovenproof pot over high heat. Remove lamb shanks from marinade bag and place in heated pan. Discard remaining marinade. Cook lamb shanks until brown on all sides, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add stock and garlic; bring to boil, cover and transfer to oven. Cook 1 hour; remove from oven and turn lamb shanks over. Cover and continue cooking until lamb is tender, about 45 minutes longer.

Using tongs, transfer lamb to platter; tent with foil to keep warm.

3 Bring liquid in pot to simmer over medium heat. Add carrots; simmer 10 minutes. Add potatoes to liquid and simmer 5 minutes longer. Add tomatoes and zucchini to liquid and simmer until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to platter with lamb. Spoon off fat from braising liquid, reserving 1 tablespoon.

4 Heat reserved fat in heavy large skillet over medium heat. (If there is no fat, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil instead.) Whisk in flour; stir 2 minutes. Whisk in tomato paste and 1 cup of the braising liquid. Add back into the pot with the rest of the braising liquid. Boil for a couple minutes until slightly thickened. Add back the vegetables and the lamb shanks. If you want, use a couple forks to break away the lamb meat from the bones. Discard the bones.

Serves 4.

1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cup water

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cups chicken stock or water
1 1/2 cups dried apricots, roughly chopped, or raisins
1 1/2 cups almonds, whole and blanched
1/3 cup honey
1-2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (optional)
1 cup carrots, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 In a bowl combine the ginger, pepper, cinnamon, turmeric, cayenne, coriander, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves and water and mix well. Add the meat and rub in the paste, coating evenly. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

2 In a Dutch oven or other heavy, lidded pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and cinnamon sticks and cook until the onions are translucent and the mixture is fragrant.

3 Add the marinated meat (including the marinade) to the pot and then the chicken stock. Bring the stock to a boil, and skim off any scum that appears.

4 Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring from time to time. Add water if the pot becomes too dry. Stew until the meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours, more if needed.

5 Add the apricots, almonds, honey, and carrots and simmer, uncovered, stirring often to prevent scorching, until the meat is very soft and almost falling apart, about 30 minutes longer. The sauce should reduce to a syrupy glaze. At this point taste and add lemon juice to desired level. The lemon juice brings some balance to the sweetness from the honey and apricots.

Note: this recipe can be prepared in advance up to this point. Allow to cool, refrigerate and serve within a couple of days.

6 Stir in the chopped parsley and transfer to a warmed serving dish. Serve immediately with couscous or rice.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.