Minted Lamb Shanks

Lamb shanks are delicious, they originate from the lower rear legs. The same joint in pork is the ‘hock’ and in beef, the ‘leg’. The equivalent joint on the front legs are ‘fore shank’ for lamb, ‘knuckle’ for pork and ‘shin’ for beef.

There is a lof of connective tissue within the shank which when cooked slowly melts throughout, therefore avoiding being tough and chewy. This adds to the tenderness of the meat allowing it to simply fall off the bone. Ordinarily these tougher cuts of meat do most of the work for the animal.

The key component of connective tissue is collagen which forms a rich liquid (gelatin) when broken down. To do this in the most effective manner we cook low and slow.

This is so simple, presented here with a light and fluffy (3 eggs) mashed potato, the sauce that the shanks were cooked in, and simply garnished with a pea shoot salad.