Anniversary Dinner

Last week my husband and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary, and rather than going out somewhere and spending tons of money we decided to continue a tradition we started the year before trading off on who cooks the meal. Last year, my husband surprised me when I came home from work on our anniversary with a meal I had been planning on cooking already made. This year I decided to try a recipe we had in a restaurant in disney world that we both greatly enjoyed, braised lamb shanks. Along with that I made a red wine reduction and parmesan polenta (which actually turned out great this time, no lumps!). For dessert I did red velvet cheesecake brownies from a previous post, which ended up being blue cause I was out of red food coloring! The polenta and brownies were already posted so I'll just be sharing the lamb shanks and red wine reduction recipes tonight. It may sound difficult and while it's not exactly a beginners recipe, it's still rather simple and it tastes great. Lamb is a bit more expensive and difficult to find, but it is one of my husbands favorite foods, so it's definitely worth it for special occasions. Enjoy :)

Braised Lamb Shanks

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 lamb shanks (each about 1 1/4 pounds; 1 shank is a portion)
• Kosher salt
• 1 large Spanish onion or 2 small yellow onions, cut into 1-inch dice
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 3 celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 (12-ounce) can tomato paste
• 2 cups hearty red wine
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary leaves
• 10 to 12 thyme branches tied together in a bundle
• 3 to 4 cups water
• 4 bay leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a large oven safe pot generously with olive oil and bring to a medium heat. Season the shanks generously with salt and add them to the pan. Brown well on all sides, it might go quickly so keep an eye on it while you puree the veggies. Meanwhile, puree the onions, carrots, celery and garlic in a food processor until it becomes a coarse paste. Remove and set aside.

Remove the shanks from the pan to a sheet tray. Discard the excess fat from the pan. Add a little more oil to coat the bottom of the pan and add the pureed veggies. Season with salt, to taste. Saute the veggies until they are very brown and aromatic, about 10-15 minutes. Take care not to let it get too brown. Add the tomato paste and brown for 5 minutes. Stir in the wine, chopped rosemary and thyme bundle. Stir frequently and cook until the wine has reduced by about half.

Add the shanks back to the pot and pour in 3 to 4 cups of water. The shanks should be submersed, if they are not, add more water (I needed closer to 8-10 but it'll change depending on the size of your shanks)  Add the bay leaves to the pan, cover and put in the preheated oven. The cooking time will be about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Turn the shanks over about halfway through the cooking time. Check the shanks every 45 minutes or so. If the liquid has reduced too much add more water. 

Remove the cover during the least 30 minutes for some extra browning. When the shanks are done the meat should be incredibly tender and flavorful. Serve on top of Parmesan Polenta and drizzle with the red wine reduction. Enjoy!

Red Wine Reduction

• olive oil, for coating the pan
• 1/4 cup shallots, minced
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 2 tablespoons butter

In a saute pan, over medium high heat, add enough olive oil to coat the pan. Add the shallots and cook until translucent. Add the red wine and the stock and reduce by half.* Add the butter.

*if you would like a smoother sauce you can strain the shallots out at this point then return to the pan and add the butter.

(no pictures of the wine reduction on it's own, so here's a picture of dessert! I used a cookie cutter in the pan and dusted it with powdered sugar)