It's all in the game: Lambs shanks St. Patrick

I had been thinking about what to do for St Patrick’s day (it was on the Saturday, but I didn’t fancy anything heavy on Saturday evening so decided to make lamb shanks on the Sunday. It was made Irish by doing it in Guinness and serving with champ and cabbage and bacon.

I had popped into my local Turkish shop, the one with the lady butcher, I had a look and they had loads of lamb and mutton, but I couldn’t see any lamb shanks, on inquiring, she went into the butchery place at the rear and came back with four. She said, take all four and I’ll give you a special price. I said, ok, what are they going to cost? She said €20 for the four. What a bargain they weighed in at over 2 kg. (Though until a couple of years ago they would have cost only half that)!

Ingredients:

4 lamb shanks

1 large carrot

1 piece of celeriac

White of a leek

1 large onion

1 sprig of parsley

1 sprig of mint

½ l of stock (what ever you have at hand, chicken, lamb or vegetable)

1 can of Guinness

Splash of port

Bouquet garni (Thyme, marjoram, sage)

1 tsp of rosemary needles

2 bay leaves

1 piece of mace

2 cloves

4 garlic cloves

100g of bacon chopped into lardoons (I used ready prepared speck)

Salt and pepper mixed

Next day, I was going angling so was up early (though as I am always up early this was nothing new).

Rubbed the shanks all over in the salt and pepper mixture

Diced and sliced the vegetables, nothing pretty as it was to add to the stock and be cooked for a good few hours

I softened the speck and onion in a little oil in a large frying pan at the same time browning the shanks in my skillet.

Popped 3 garlic cloves or it may have been 4, into the bottom of my large 6½ litre SC put ½ of the bacon and onion mixture into the SC along with the vegetables, then in went the herbs and spices.

Pour in the stock, then the rest of the onions and speck.

Pour in the Guinness and the slug of Port, lid on and out fishing.

A little aside, I got to the lake, paid for my day ticket (maximum 10 fish), got a nice pitch and sat about chatting to a few of the others that had been even earlier, many had about their limit. I got a bite almost straight away, out came a nice Lachsforelle oh ho, this is going to be a good day thought I. Alas just then the heavens opened up and it poured down. It looked as if it would be a long one, so I took my fish to the station and had it gutted and cleaned. The owner said, you not staying? I said no, it looks as if it will be quite a long rain spell, he then gave me a voucher for ½ a days fishing saying pop back in a couple of weeks. Now I thought that was a nice gesture, he didn’t have to but he is just a very nice man.

So as I had a bit of time to spare I decided to go to the Steinhorster becken a set of lakes that had been set up as a relief against flooding on the river Ems, this has been turned into a nature reserve, but it was still pouring down and even the birds didn’t feel like flying in this weather.

I next popped down the Ems a little further to the Rietberg wet lands, here the rain had let up and I was able to have a good view of the geese and herons in the wet meadows and take a few photos.

Next it was home, out of my wet clothes, pealed the spuds and celeriac, into salted water and then the spitzkohl (pointy cabbage). Everything ready for later, phoned a taxi and went out for a pint or three as one does on a rainy Sunday.

Returned home to the smell of delicious lamb wafting through the apartment.

Popped the spuds and cabbage on. Diced a leek, and some bacon, softened this in a little oil, removed a couple of ladles of stock from the SC put it into a small sauce pan and reduced it until it was thick and glistening.

Mashed the spuds with loads of butter and cream, 1 table spoonful of mustard and S&P to taste. Stirred in the chopped spring onions and there it is Champ.