I have quite a few recipes for lamb shanks, mostly collected in the 50s and 60s. In the good old days of my youth, if you weren't quick enough to catch the butcher in time, lamb shanks were tossed into the Pet Food Bucket. The butchers would give them away to anyone who asked for them - free! Now, they're a luxury item, with a price tag to match. Braised Lamb Shanks 3 tablespoons olive oil 4 small meaty lamb shanks, trimmed of fat 1 large onion, peeled and chopped 4 carrots, peeled and finely diced 3 small sprigs fresh rosemary 2 bay leaves 4 garlic cloves, minced 3 cups red wine 2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1cm dice 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh orange rind 1 small garlic clove, minced Preheat the oven to 180°C. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep Dutch oven with a tight fitting lid over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Season the shanks with salt and pepper and cook, in batches if necessary, turning with tongs, until well browned, about 10 minutes each batch. Remove the shanks with tongs to a plate and set aside. Stir the onions, carrots, rosemary, bay leaves, and garlic into the Dutch oven and cook, stirring, until the onions are very soft, about 5 minutes. Add 2 1/2 cups of the wine and stir in well. Bring the mixture to the boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Return the shanks to the pot and braise the mixture, tightly covered, in the oven for 90 minutes, turning the shanks once. Stir in the turnips and the remaining 1/2 cup of the wine, and continue to braise, covered, in the oven for 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chop together the rosemary, orange rind, and garlic. Place each shank on a serving plate, top with the vegetables, sprinkle with rosemary mixture, and serve immediately. Braised Lamb Shanks with Caramel Onions and Shallots 4 tablespoons olive oil 500g onions, sliced 5 large shallots, sliced [you can use the onion-shaped shallots, or the things you probably call Spring Onions, which we also call shallots] 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary 6 lamb shanks flour 2 1/2 cups dry red wine 2 1/2 cups beef broth 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste 2 bay leaves Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add sliced onions and shallots and saute until brown, about 20 minutes. Mix in rosemary. Remove from heat. Sprinkle lamb with salt and pepper; coat with flour. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large frypan over high heat. Working in batches, add lamb shanks to pan and cook until brown on both sides, about 10 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer lamb shanks to plate. Add 1 cup red wine to same pan and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Pour into Dutch oven with onion mixture. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups wine, beef broth, tomato paste, and bay leaves to Dutch oven. Bring to boil, stirring until tomato paste dissolves. Add lamb shanks, turning to coat with liquid. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until lamb in almost tender, turning shanks occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Uncover Dutch oven. Skim visible fat off the surface. Boil until liquid is reduced to sauce consistency, stirring and turning shanks occasionally, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with polenta or mashed potatoes, bread, and a simple salad. Lamb Shanks, Greek Style 4 lamb shanks 3 garlic, cloves, slivered salt and pepper to taste 2 onions, sliced 3/4 cup olive oil 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano pinch cinnamon, optional 3/4 cup dry white wine 2 cups chicken stock 500g tomatoes, coarsely chopped 1 cup orzo rice shaped pasta 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese Preheat oven to 240°C. Remove as much of the fat, sinew and translucent membrane as possible from the lamb shanks. Insert garlic slivers into the shanks. Salt and pepper generously. Arrange shanks in roasting pan, strew on onion slices, and drizzle olive oil over all. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle with oregano, and cinnamon then spoon tomatoes onto the lamb, mounding up the tomatoes on each shank. Pour the white wine around the meat and return the pan to the oven. Roast for an additional 45 minutes. Remove shanks from the pan and set aside. Add chicken stock to the pan, stirring. Stir in the orzo. Arrange the shanks on top of the orzo and baste them with some of the stock. Return the pan to the oven. Cook until pasta is just tender and nearly all of the liquid has been absorbed (about 15 minutes). Remove from the oven, cover pan tightly with aluminium foil, and let stand about 5 minutes. Serve hot with grated cheese. Lamb Shanks with Barbecue Sauce 4 lamb shanks 2 rashers bacon, chopped 2 tablespoons flour 1 1/2 cups water 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon mustard 2 tablespoons tomato puree 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1/2 cup vinegar 1 onion, sliced salt to taste Fry bacon for a minute or two, roll the shanks in flour. Place shanks and bacon in a casserole dish. Mix together the tomato puree, water, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard and onion, add the remaining flour and pour over the shanks. Cover and cook in a moderate oven until tender, approximately 2 hours. Lamb Shanks in Orange Sauce 2 tablespoons butter 2 lamb shanks 1 onion, chopped 1 carrot, chopped 2 stalks celery, chopped roughly 2 tablespoons flour 300ml stock or water 1 dessertspoon tomato paste salt and pepper to taste 1/2 cup orange juice 1 dessertspoon finely grated orange rind Melt butter and brown shanks well all over, remove. Add vegetables and cook in butter until well browned. Add flour, and brown. Remove pan from heat and stir in stock or water and tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper, bring to the boil, stirring constantly, and add shanks. Cover and simmer about an hour or until tender. Remove shanks to a serving dish, strain sauce and reheat with orange juice and rind. Spoon sauce over shanks and serve immediately with buttered rice or noodles. Serves 2. Quantity may be doubled. Pineapple Lamb Shanks 5 lamb shanks slivers of garlic 425g can pineapple pieces 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon soy sauce 3/4 cup beef stock salt, pepper 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger 1/4 cup beef stock, extra 2 teaspoons cornflour boiled rice Make slits over shanks, insert a sliver of garlic into each, put into a shallow dish. Drain syrup from pineapple pieces, mix together syrup, lemon juice, soy sauce, the 3/4 cup stock, salt pepper and ginger. Pour over shanks and marinate for 4 hours, turning occasionally. Drain shanks, pat dry and quickly brown all over in oil, reduce heat and fry gently for about 1 hour. Pour off oil, add the marinade, cover and continue cooking gently another 45-60 minutes, or until tender, basting frequently. Drain shanks, keep hot. Pour pan juices into a saucepan, add rest of stock and reheat. Mix cornflour with a little water, add to pan and stir until boiling, add pineapple pieces, simmer until reheated. Arrange shanks of a bed of rice, spoon the sauce over. Tarragon Lamb Shanks [my favourite] 6 large lamb shanks fresh tarragon seasoned flour 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon dried tarragon, extra 1 1/4 cups mixture dry white wine and chicken stock Make slits over each shank and fill with fresh tarragon. Coat shanks with seasoned flour and slowly brown all over in oil. Pour off oil, add salt, pepper and tarragon to pan. Pour in the wine and stock, cover and cook gently for 1 3/4-2 hours until shanks are tender, adding more wine or stock if necessary. Serve with juices poured over. You can make the BEST stock, soups and stews with lamb shanks. Just simmer in water with whatever veges and flavourings you like, and the meat falls away from the bone in easy-to-flake bits that are melt-in-the-mouth tender. I fed them a lot to my babies when were really babies. Then they got to chew on the bones!

Deanna, I'm sorry you didn't care for the ground lamb. Maybe it's just my imagination but I only like it when it's fresh, not frozen. That limits to me to only buying it two places so I don't have it that often. I make a kibbe recipe posted here in the CF by Linda in TN many years ago. STUFFED KIBBEH For the shells: 8 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) bulgur (cracked wheat) 1 pound ground lamb 1 onion, coarsely chopped salt & pepper For the stuffing: 1 onion, finely chopped 2 Tbs. Olive oil 2 Tbs. Pine nuts 1 pound ground lamb salt and pepper Sprinkle of cinnamon [my addition] Oil for deep frying To make the shells, soak the cracked wheat for about 20 minutes in hot water to cover by at least one inch; then drain and squeeze dry. Mix the meat, onion, salt and pepper for the shells until creamy. (An electric mixer can be used.) Then add the cracked wheat in batches and continue until the mixture is soft enough to work like a dough. Knead well by hand. For the stuffing, fry the onion in oil until soft; then add the pine nuts and fry until golden. Add the meat, salt, pepper and cinnamon and stir until the meat changes color. Wet your hands. Take a small egg-sized portion of the shell mixture and roll it into a ball. Make a hole in the center with your finger and shape into a thin-walled pot with a pointed bottom by turning and pressing it into your palm. Place some stuffing in the hole and pinch the top of the pot together to completely seal it inside. Shape the top into a point. Repeat with the rest of the mixtures, wetting your hands frequently. Heat the oil. Deep-fry 4 or 5 kibbeh at a time until golden brown and drain on paper towels. Serve hot. Makes 15 to 20 depending on what size you make the balls. I follow the recipe exactly but instead of deep frying, I cook them outdoors on the grill, turning frequently.

I was about begin this post with "johnliu, I understand completely with a period kitchen" but I see that's been done. We also are trying very hard for a kitchen that feels appropriate to the rest of the house (a 1923 bungalow.) Our goal not historical accuracy, but, more modestly, to keep people from feeling jarred when they cross the threshold from the dining room. We chose cabinets that follow the patterns of the woodwork in the rest of the house--easy enough. Our hang-up came with the discussion of hinges. I had imagined we'd use traditional ball-tip exterior hinges. The cabinet maker argued successfully for interior hidden hinges, citing the benefits of adjustability (both for him and for us.) He suggested that he could mount faux hinges on the outside to give us the traditional look. For about five seconds I thought this would be a fine idea. Then I had forehead-slapping moment. What part of the craftsman ideal would favor faking mechanicals for the sake of appearance? None that I can see. So we will not have visible hinges. The interior type we're using is reasonably unobtrusive, so I don't feel that too much visual rightness has been compromised for modern function.

Separating the lamb shanks from the braising liquid (herein after called "juice" because I'm tired of writing "braising liquid"!) worked out great. There was a HUGE layer of fat on top of the juice. The juice had congealed (no surprise there). The fat layer was also mixed with the "scum" that is sometimes seen on meat broth. I probably removed 97% of the fat/scum layer. If I had to do over, I would have been more particular and removed 99.9%. When reheated, the juice had a tiny bit of scum in it. I reduced the juice, then placed the shanks in the reduced liquid to heat slowly, along with the vegetables that had been blanched. After gently bringing everything up to nearly serving temp, I reduced the heat on the eye to the barest simmer and held it for an hour to an hour and a half. It was very very good! And not a soul asked where the fava beans were!