Slow Roasted Lamb Shanks for Easter – a deceptively simple fancy dinner!
Slow Roasted Lamb Shanks for Easter – a deceptively simple fancy dinner!
by Served_With_Rice
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Served_With_Rice
The economic case for cooking at home for special occasions is as follows: food cost typically makes up only about a third of the menu price when ordering out, with the remainder going to rent and labour. You have to pay rent at home anyway. If the labour is something you’re willing and able to put in, you can get a very similar product while paying less (as well as not suffering the inflated special menus that restaurants serve on every holiday!)
Lamb shanks are a surprisingly easy ingredient for a fancy dinner. Most of this recipe can be made ahead of time, so that you can spend more time with your dinner guests and less time over the stove! So, here I am with a recipe for making a restaurant-quality 3 course dinner at home.
* Vegetables of choice: I used frozen fine beans and carrots
* Soup: I just used a corn soup bouillon and fancied it up a bit
* Dessert: Panna cotta is pretty low effort and high reward. Takes any ratio of cream to milk (including all or none), bit of sugar, some vanilla powder or extract, and either gelatine or corn starch. Optional fruit for topping.
**Instructions:**
Cover lamb shanks with salt and pepper two days before serving.
The next day,
1. Cover shanks with foil and roast at 140c/285f for 2 to 3 hours, or until tender. 2. Meanwhile, make mashed potatoes with pecorino and butter, and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. 3. Bloom about 1.5g of gelatine powder in a bit of hot water and whisk it, along with a tiny dash of sugar, into about 100ml of milk heated on the stove until lukewarm. Poured it into two ramekins and let them set overnight in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap.
On the day you want to eat,
1. Pull the shanks out of the fridge and broil until well browned. Sop up the drippings with bread and make croutons. 2. Make soup according to package instructions while the shanks are broiling. Pul croutons out of the oven before they burn and serve with the soup while the oven continues to keep the shanks warm. 3. When ready for the main course, microwave the mashed potatoes, saute your vegetables and build your plate. 4. Enjoy conversation and some wine before pulling the panna cotta out of the fridge and serving for dessert.
1 Comment
The economic case for cooking at home for special occasions is as follows: food cost typically makes up only about a third of the menu price when ordering out, with the remainder going to rent and labour. You have to pay rent at home anyway. If the labour is something you’re willing and able to put in, you can get a very similar product while paying less (as well as not suffering the inflated special menus that restaurants serve on every holiday!)
Lamb shanks are a surprisingly easy ingredient for a fancy dinner. Most of this recipe can be made ahead of time, so that you can spend more time with your dinner guests and less time over the stove! So, here I am with a recipe for making a restaurant-quality 3 course dinner at home.
Complete step by step pictures as well as tips on presentation and prep are in the [original recipe](https://servedwithrice.com/slow-roasted-lamb-shanks-a-deceptively-easy-fancy-dinner/).
**Ingredients:**
* Lamb shanks: one per serving
* Potatoes, pecorino cheese and butter
* Vegetables of choice: I used frozen fine beans and carrots
* Soup: I just used a corn soup bouillon and fancied it up a bit
* Dessert: Panna cotta is pretty low effort and high reward. Takes any ratio of cream to milk (including all or none), bit of sugar, some vanilla powder or extract, and either gelatine or corn starch. Optional fruit for topping.
**Instructions:**
Cover lamb shanks with salt and pepper two days before serving.
The next day,
1. Cover shanks with foil and roast at 140c/285f for 2 to 3 hours, or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, make mashed potatoes with pecorino and butter, and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
3. Bloom about 1.5g of gelatine powder in a bit of hot water and whisk it, along with a tiny dash of sugar, into about 100ml of milk heated on the stove until lukewarm. Poured it into two ramekins and let them set overnight in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap.
On the day you want to eat,
1. Pull the shanks out of the fridge and broil until well browned. Sop up the drippings with bread and make croutons.
2. Make soup according to package instructions while the shanks are broiling. Pul croutons out of the oven before they burn and serve with the soup while the oven continues to keep the shanks warm.
3. When ready for the main course, microwave the mashed potatoes, saute your vegetables and build your plate.
4. Enjoy conversation and some wine before pulling the panna cotta out of the fridge and serving for dessert.
Enjoy!