Spiced Lamb Shanks With Orange and Honey
- Total Time
- About 2½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 6meaty lamb shanks (about 6 pounds total)
- Salt and pepper
- ½teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½teaspoon fennel seeds
- ½teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1large onion, cut into thick slices
- 2whole cloves
- 1thyme sprig
- 1bay leaf
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1large onion, diced (about 1½ cups)
- Salt and pepper
- 1teaspoon minced garlic
- Pinch saffron
- Pinch cayenne
- 1tablespoon tomato paste
- 2tablespoons honey
- Zest of 1 orange, peeled into wide strips
- ½cup orange juice
- ½cup white wine
- 1tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water
- 2tablespoons butter
- 1pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch batons
- 1pound turnips, peeled and cut into wedges
- Salt
- 2tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
- 2tablespoons roughly chopped mint
- 2tablespoons roughly chopped dill
- Handful of small basil leaves
For the Lamb Shanks
For the Sauce
For Serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Cook the lamb shanks: Season shanks generously with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large pot and add cumin seed, fennel seed, coriander seed, onion, cloves, thyme and bay leaf. Pour in enough water to cover shanks, place pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Put on the lid, reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 to 1½ hours, until meat is very tender when probed with the tip of a paring knife.
- Step 2
Remove shanks from pot and place on a baking sheet to cool. Strain the broth into a bowl, and skim off any rising fat. Measure 4½ cups broth and set aside. When shanks are cool enough to handle, gently remove the bone from each with your hands, leaving the meat in one or two large pieces.
- Step 3
Make the sauce: In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until softened and slightly browned. Add garlic, saffron, cayenne, tomato paste and honey and stir to incorporate.
- Step 4
Add orange zest, orange juice, broth and wine to the pot, and bring to a boil. Turn heat to a brisk simmer and return the meat to the pot. Simmer for 20 minutes, until broth has reduced by an inch or so. Taste broth and adjust seasoning. Add arrowroot mixture and cook for a minute or two, until slightly thickened.
- Step 5
Meanwhile, cook the vegetables: In a separate pot, melt butter over medium heat. Fill the pot with 1 inch of water. Add carrots and turnips, salt lightly, cover and turn heat to high. Cook for 10 minutes, or until probed with the tip of a paring knife.
- Step 6
To serve, transfer meat and sauce to a large, deep platter or serving dish. With a slotted spoon arrange vegetables around the meat. Sprinkle with parsley, mint, dill and basil.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Charles Michener
You'll get deeper flavor (and cut back on the braising time and fat) if you brown the shanks first, remove the fat, deglaze the pan with the aromatics and some white wine, and toast the spice seeds. Then put the lamb back into the pot, cover with water and proceed. Orange strips are unpleasant in the final dish, so I finish with a gremolata of orange zest and the chopped herbs, scattered on top. Go easy on the honey (1 tbs is enough for me) unless you have an out-of-control sweet tooth.
Chris B
Sounds excellent. I assume the reserved broth also goes in at step 4? Or am I missing something here?
Mare
Gremolata (freshly grated horseradish, parsley, garlic, lemon & orange zests) sprinkled atop the lamb makes the flavor pop even more.
Barbara
I am planning to make this but will cook the shanks a day ahead, place them and the broth in the refrigerator and then remove the fat that accumulates at the top of the broth. The 70 grams of total fat per serving is too much for me!
Michael
Yes, adding the broth is missing, but it would go in with the OJ, zest and wine.
Dan Findlay
Evidently you measure 4 1/2 cups of broth and set aside until step 4, when you add it with the OJ and wine. Look for a revised recipe in the days to come.
Jacqueline
Start day before. Salt and pepper shanks generously and sear in cast iron dutch oven - deglaze with onion (leave about 2TBSP fat) and toast spices before adding liquid - mix of wine and water, then bake for 2 hours at 325 until falls apart. Once cooled put whole pot in fridge overnight. Remove fat layer next day, strain broth. I leave meat on bones for serving, personal preference, if not remove. Use same pot - save washing! - next to make sauce and proceed per recipe. Add gremolata on top.
Krysten Chambrot, Senior Staff Editor, NYT Cooking
Yes, Chris B. Thank you for flagging. We've adjusted the recipe to reflect that you should add the broth in Step 4.
Carrie
Made for Easter. Bought one (1.78 lb.) Shank. Plenty for a dinner for 2. Cooked it an extra 1/2 he, like other reviewers. Super tender. Sauce was quite nice. Served with roasted potatoes and carrots. Malbec on the side.
terry94705
This was terrific! I needed a recipe that cooked in a couple of hours (not 3 or 4) and I had most of the ingredients on hand. No dill or basil but it was fine without it. It was more delicately flavored than some other recipes I’ve tried but it had lovely complexity. I should add that it was a beautiful presentation; looked even prettier than the photo. The caramel I de onions, orange, tomato and saffron made a gorgeous red-amber broth. I will definitely use this recipe for company.
Hart
Not a hit at our house. I baked the lamb shanks in the oven at 325 for 2 hours, and chilled them overnight in the broth. The next afternoon I deboned the shanks, skimmed the fat and finished the sauce. We served the lamb, carrots, turnips, and herbs over couscous. The meat was very tender but to our taste there was something a little off with the lamb, orange, saffron, parsley, mint, basil and dill combo. Disappointing considering the cost of lamb shanks and the time involved
Sam
Fussy, time consuming, complex, rich, fun, delicious! I happen to have extra time on my hands at the moment. I reduced the meat to two smaller shanks and reduced sauce ingredients by about half, so the quantities weren’t too small to be reasonable to work with.
brooklyncooks
Made this just now, following recipe as written except for decreasing honey to 1T. At first I was not impressed with the lamb after boiling in the beginning, and had suspicions that this would be a bland, flavorless dish. Boy, was I wrong! The final product is rich and complex with meaty, spicy and slightly sweet flavors. Can’t wait to serve this tonight; letting it sit this afternoon so I can reheat later.
Jacqueline
Start day before. Salt and pepper shanks generously and sear in cast iron dutch oven - deglaze with onion (leave about 2TBSP fat) and toast spices before adding liquid - mix of wine and water, then bake for 2 hours at 325 until falls apart. Once cooled put whole pot in fridge overnight. Remove fat layer next day, strain broth. I leave meat on bones for serving, personal preference, if not remove. Use same pot - save washing! - next to make sauce and proceed per recipe. Add gremolata on top.
Laura
This is a delicious recipe. A few changes: I roasted the vegetables - covered them with some olive oil and honey. I cooked the lamb using a pressure cooker.
Patti
What a disappointment this recipe is. It’s more like lamb soup than a dinner. There’s way too much broth and not enough flavor. I am not a chef, but an experienced cook. I knew enough to brown the meat and toast the spices, and it still was bland and unattractive. I made it a day ahead in order to remove the fat and let the flavors meld. Still blah. Just make osso bucco.
jananne13
Browned the shanks prior to braise, then let the shanks cool overnight. Used herbs in gremolata as others have suggested. Diced the turnips and carrots medium, quick butter sauté, then finished the steam with white wine. Our addition was a sprinkle of Gorgonzola along with the gremolata on top. If you like the citrus/honey/bleu cheese combo on a cheese plate, try it out
Bernard Gallois
Nice dish but why so much sauce? What do you do with it?
Paula
I would recommend making both the shanks and the sauce ahead. The flavor improves with aging, like many braises. (I also put the reserved broth in the sauce -- and such rich broth it is!) Properly seasoning the broth took quite a bit of salt (Diamond Kosher). And I used 2 T. cornstarch for thickening. Next time I would add some red pepper flakes (1 tsp?) for a bit of heat. A pinch of cayenne didn't do it for me.
Terry J
This was excellent and better reheated the next day. Do factor in plenty of time to allow the shanks to cool before removing the meat from the bones, so I do endorse boiling the shanks early in the day or the day before. I took the suggestion of grated horseradish, lemon, garlic and parsley gremolata from Mare below and it add just the right finishing touch. I served it with braised white beans, a traditional accompaniment to lamb shanks, and the beans worked wonderfully with this recipe
Alan
Wondered if anyone tried cooking the veggies (as step 3 instead of step 5), then adding them to the sauce in step 4?
JIll Sheffield
What can I use instead of turnips? More carrots? Cut up potatoes? Thanks...Jill
J.K.
if doing the recipe step by step, any root will do... and if using something maybe not so dense and "rooty" just adjust the time you put it in to avoid mushy/overcooked vegetables, or just cooking til tendercrisp off to the side....
Sara
Why cook on stove top instead of low oven? I normally braise lamb shanks in low oven for several hours European style.
J.K.
I'm the same, nice even, low heat...my gas stove top sometimes gets "scorchy"...especially when I walk away for awhile.
Barbara
I am planning to make this but will cook the shanks a day ahead, place them and the broth in the refrigerator and then remove the fat that accumulates at the top of the broth. The 70 grams of total fat per serving is too much for me!
J.K.
solid advice right there and do it with a lot of my fattier braised dishes.
Paula
I use this handy gadget to separate most of the fat from the broth up front. https://smile.amazon.com/Swing-Way-4-Cup-Release-Separator/dp/B004WMOR6K...
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