On Swimming Upstream

There is a trend in professional cooking which leans away from complex kitchen methodology. Escoffier is no longer the final word, but instead has become the protector of a, if not already dead, dying ideal. Mind you the alternative is not fast food, but rather an appreciation of good ingredients, minimally altered by preparation and cooking. Framed this way it’s hard to mount a contrary argument, though raw-food extremists offer some leverage, the bastards.

My dislike for raw-food aside, I have a confession to make: I like complications. I want a recipe with twenty-odd ingredients and seventeen steps. I want to spend a week salting, three hours smoking, two months hanging, all for one component to a meal completely consumed in less than ten minuets. It’s not just the challenge, though I admit I do enjoy that aspect; I want not only to cook but to really cook.

To paraphrase one of my former head chefs: “Any grill-monkey can make a steak taste good; it already is good. But to take brisket, cheek, oxtail, trotters, secondary cuts and turn them into something not only edible but delicious, memorable, that takes skill, and patience, and time, and time, and time.”

The winter solstice has just passed here in the southern hemisphere and, while short on daylight, I find myself indoors with the time for some real cooking.



Spiced Braised Lamb Shanks with Smoky Lentils

2 lamb shanks
1 carrot, large chunks
I brown onion, quartered
1 stalk celery, large chunks
1 clove garlic, peeled, whole
½ c white wine
1 tbsp brandy
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
1/8th tsp cinnamon
1/8th tsp cumin
1 pinch chili flakes
1 tsp liquid malt
2 cups veal stock (or water)
salt and pepper
olive oil
zest of one lemon
3 sprigs parsley, leaves only, chopped

Generously season lamb shanks. On high heat, in a heavy-bottomed pot large enough to hold all ingredients, use the olive oil to brown shanks on all sides. Remove from pot. Reduce heat to medium and cook vegetables until they begin to soften and brown. Remove from pot and immediately add wine and brandy. Reduce to a glaze, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen tasty meat bits. Return meat and veg to the pot and then add the herbs and spices, the malt, and then cover with stock. If the stock does not cover at least ⅔ of the meat, add water.

Cover tightly with a lid or foil and braise in a 160ºC ( 320ºF) oven for 2-3 hours, checking every 20 min after the first hour and a half, until the meat is very tender, but not quite falling off the bone.

Remove half of the braising liquid to a small pot. Over medium heat, reduce by ⅔, skimming any fat or scum that rises to the surface.

Serve the warm shanks on lentils (below), sauced with reduced brazing liquid, topped with a gremolata made of chopped parsley and lemon zest.


Smoky Lentils

1 small carrot, small dice
1 stalk celery, small dice
1 small brown onion, fine dice
1 clove garlic, peeled and cracked
200 g spec, small dice
1 C green or brown lentils
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
3-4 cups stock or water, near boiling
olive oil



In a medium pot over low heat sweat diced spec in a touch of olive oil. When the fat in the spec begins to melt, increase the heat and add the chopped vegetables and garlic. When the carrots just begin to soften, add the lentils and the herbs and toast along with the spec and veg for a couple of minuets. Add the stock and simmer, covered, until lentils are soft, but still hold their shape. They should have a bit of bite and most or all of the stock should have been absorbed. Moisten with some of the unreduced lamb braising liquid before serving.