Phillip Kraal's Lamb Shanks in Orange and Sage Sauce

This delicious variation on the shanks theme is a recipe which local chef Phillip Kraal shared with Saturday morning radio listeners a while back. I ended up marinating the meat for two days because I hadn't diaried a dinner engagement the night I planned to serve it. No matter, it was twice as delicious.

Phillip mentions meat glaze in his recipe. Mine went west in a freezer clean out but I used beef stock made with stock powder and it certainly didn't detract from the end result.

Phillip Kraal's Braised Lamb Shanks In Orange And Sage Sauce

8 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stick celery, chopped
1 leek, washed and sliced
1 bayleaf
1 clove
50g sage leaves
200ml orange juice
200ml meat glaze (leftover roast gravy can be used)
200ml red wine
zest of 2 oranges
10-20ml red wine vinegar
salt and black pepper
4 lamb shanks
40ml olive oil
100g flour
2 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp butter

Combine the first 14 ingredients as a marinade for the lamb shanks, add the shanks and leave for 24 hours (see picture). Remove the shanks and drain. Pour the marinade through a sieve to drain the vegetables, reserving the liquid.

Preheat the oil in a solid-bottomed braising pan. Lightly flour the drained lamb shanks before browning them in the hot oil one at a time. Place the browned shanks on a tray and keep in a warm place. Brown the drained vegetables in the same pan.

Once the vegetables have coloured, place the shanks on top before pouring over the marinade. The marinade should half cover the shanks, but if you have insufficient liquid add a little more red wine.

Cover the pan with tinfoil and place in a preheated moderate oven (160C-180C) for approximately 3 hours. Check every hour. When the shanks are tender, remove them for serving. Thicken the sauce with a little cornflour mixed with cold water and adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Just before serving the sauce, whisk in the butter. Pour the sauce over the shanks and garnish with fresh sage leaves.

Serve the shanks with spaetzle or noodles and some rustic type of vegetable. Serves 4.

Recipe © Phillip Kraal Picture © Pat Churchill