During the past few years the names of the Hedgehog's Nest Culinary Institute and Pieter Germishuys have popped up repeatedly. As everyone knows, Pieter Germishuys really knows his "stuff" and can rightfully take pride in the training of numerous successful chefs in the industry today. In this edition of "What's cooking, our meal is lamb shank - brilliantly prepared by Nicole Kroese who had just completed her studies at the Culinary Institute and in addition to her certificate, clinched the "Peer Trophy" as well as top honours as Best Theory student. There's little doubt that Casa Bela (and its guests) are indeed going to benefit from Nicole's tenure.
So here goes - Nicole prepares her exquisite slow braised rosemary, garlic & red wine lamb shank accompanied by mashed potatoes, sauteèd peas, oven roasted vegetables and finished off with a rosemary Jus lie.
Preparation Time: 50 minutes (Serves 4)
Lamb Shank to die for...
Ingredients:
(4) 350 g Lamb Shanks
2 large carrots, peeled & roughly chopped
1 onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs rosemary
750 ml full bodied red wine
500 ml beef stock
15 ml brown sugar
15 ml corn starch
olive oil for cooking
Mashed Potatoes:
4 large potatoes, peeled & cut into small pieces
200 ml cream or milk
50 g butter
salt & pepper
Sauteèd Peas:
250 ml peas
25 g butter
salt & pepper
Oven roasted mixed vegetables:
5 baby marrow, roughly chopped
5 patty pans, cut into halves
3 carrots, peeled , roughly chopped & boiled
2 red onions, peeled & cut into quarters
olive oil, to drizzle
vegetable spice
salt & pepper
Rosemary Jus Lie:
500 ml water
250 ml red wine
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 celery stick, roughly chopped
100 ml beef stock
Method:
Lamb Shank:
Preheat the oven to 190 ?C. Season the lamb shank with salt and pepper. In a frying pan brown the lamb shanks on all sides in the olive oil; remove from the pan and put into a large casserole dish to keep warm. In the same frying pan put in carrots, onions, garlic, bay leaves and rosemary and cook slowly until nicely coloured. Pour in the red wine, beef stock, and brown sugar into the frying pan and stir gently bringing it to a low boil.
Pour the wine mixture over the lamb shank; top up with water if needed. Cover; put in the oven and cook for 3 hours until very tender. Remove the lamb shank and keep warm and skim the fat off the top of the red wine juices. Mix together the corn starch with a bit of cold water and whisk into the red wine juices until desired consistency. Serve up on individual plates and enjoy.
Mashed Potatoes:
Boil potatoes until soft, strain and mash with a potato masher. Mix the cream/milk and butter into the mashed potatoes; add salt & pepper for seasoning.
Sauteèd Peas:
In a large frying pan melt the butter and sauté the peas until warm.
Oven Roasted Mixed Vegetables:
In a bain marie mix together the vegetables. Drizzle olive oil over and season with vegetable spice/ salt & pepper. Roast in the oven at 160?C for 15 – 20 minutes or until the baby marrow is al dente.
Rosemary Jus Lie:
In a small pot add the water, red wine, carrots, onions, celery and beef stock. Bring to a boil and let it reduce to half, until it is thicker in consistency. Pour over the lamb shank and enjoy!
