LAMB SHANKS "Marrakesh"

Of course I served lamb during the Easter holidays on the countryside. Beautiful braising dish with a touch of Marrakesh. By coincidence I came across an old favorite „flower power“ song from my childhood in the 70s on the trip (45min) to our Dacha, „Marrakesh Express“

Ingredients

2 lamb shanks
1 carrot
1 stalk celery (optional)
1-2 onions
2 bay leaves
2-3 cloves garlic
1 bottle red wine
200-300ml water/chicken stock
500-1000g carrots



Rub&Marinade
2 tsp Pimenton de la Vera dolce (smoked paprika)
2 tsp dried oregano or thyme
2 tsp cumin seeds or grounded
1 tsp cinnamon
2-3 tbsp sunflower oil
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper



Preparation

1. Combine spices with oil and salt&pepper. Add to the lambs shanks and put in the fridge for hours or better overnight

2. Sautée the lambs in oil in a Dutch oven etc. until nicely browned for 2-3-4min. Pre-heat the oven to 140 C or 280 F
   
   
   
   

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3. Remove the shanks and set aside. Now add chopped vegetable and cook for 2-3-4min until soft

4. Deglace with 1-2 glass red wine and reduce
   
   
   

   

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5. Bring the lamb shanks back to the pot

6. Add rest of the wine, bay leaves and some carrots. Cook until bubbling. Then put into the oven without lid for around 3h

7. After 3h you can optional sieve part of the sauce and reduce it and add cold butter cubes. You can also add corn starch or serve the sauce directly from the pot. ENJOY

P.S.

“I smell the garden in your hair…”

Marrakesh Express

When the first Cuisinarts arrived in the 1970’s the cookbook that came with it had a great recipe for a lamb stew called Lamb Marrakesh. It was a wonderful dish for dinner parties because it tasted great and everything is done in advance. This is roughly that recipe. The hazelnuts and raisins made the dish special. There were no almonds in the original.

The spicing is rather different though - nutmeg cloves ginger turmeric vs. cinnamon cumin thyme. I remember being blown away the first time friends prepared something related to these recipes in the early 90s. The vegetables cook down then go through a food mill to make a very deep and complex puree/sauce.

Sounds heavenly. I made shanks a few days ago. After browning the lamb, I realized I had used up my fresh garlic 2 nights prior, and had to go all Dick Kreuger on their asses, using garlic granules. Still turned out mahvelous.