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Preheat the oven to 400 F.
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Season the lamb generously with salt.
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Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and bring to medium-high heat.
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Add the lamb to the pan and brown well on all sides; this may take up to 20 minutes.
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This is an incredibly important stepits where all the big brown flavors start to developDONT rush it.
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While the lamb is browning, put the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in a food processor and puree to a coarse paste; reserve.
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When the lamb shanks are very brown on all sides, remove them from the pan and transfer to a roasting pan.
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Ditch the fat, add a bit of fresh olive oil to the saute pan, and add the pureed veggies.
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Season generously with salt, and cook until the veggies are very brown and a crud has formed on the bottom of the pan, 8 to 10 minutes.
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Scrape the crud and let it reform.
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Dont rush this step.
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Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until it starts to brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
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Add the wine, bring it to a boil (BTB), and stir frequently to scrape the crud from the bottom of the pan (this is the big-money flavor).
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Continue cooking until reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes.
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Add 3 to 4 cups water to the pan and stir to loosen the mixture.
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Taste to make sure its delicious and reseason if needed.
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It will by no means be done, but it should taste good.
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Pour this over the shanks in the roasting pan.
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The liquid should come two-thirds of the way up the shanks; if it doesnt add more water.
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Toss in the rosemary, bay leaves, and thyme bundle, cover with aluminum foil, and cook in the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
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Check the shanks every 45 minutes, turn them, and if the liquid has reduced significantly, add more water.
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When the meat is done, it will be very tender but not falling off the bone.
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Remove the foil for the last 30 minutes of cooking time for maximum browning and to allow the liquid to reduce and thicken up.
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Serve with lots of sauce.
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When I was in culinary school, I didnt get braising; it seemed like a pain in the neck.
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I had to go through so many steps to get started and I just didnt think it was worth the trouble.
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Now that I get it, its my favorite cooking technique by far.
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Trust me: Braising is the technique that will showcase your skill as a cook!
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It doesnt matter what youre braisingif you follow my method you will make a beautiful, brown braise every time.
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30
First, season generously and brown your protein wellwhether its a shank or a short rib, take your time.
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This is where the first big brown flavors develop and it takes patienceso dont rush it.
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Whats important at this point is whats happening in your pan, not on the clock.
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Once your meat is nice and brown, remove it, ditch the fat, add a splash of fresh olive oil to the pan, add your pureed veggies, and season again.
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34
These vegetables are what we call soffritto and theyre the base of almost all braised dishes.
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Like the meat, you want to brown the crap out of the soffritto.
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Cook it until you see a crud start to form on the bottom of the pan, then scrape off the crud and let it form again.
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This is where we take things to the edge of disaster and yank them back.
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Food is the most flavorful one step before disaster!
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After the soffritto is nice and brown, add your wine and tomato paste.
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Let the wine reduce by half, toss the protein back in the pan, and add enough water to cover it by about two-thirdsit should be nice and soupy.
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Then toss in a thyme bundle and bay leaves, bring it to a boil (BTB), reduce it to a simmer (RTS), and cook until things are nice and tender, usually a couple of hours.
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Properly braised food should be very tender but still maintain its integrity and shapeit should NOT be falling off the bone.
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So check your braise along the way, and if the liquid level gets low, add a bit more water until the meat is perfectly tender and the sauce is super-flavorful.
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Follow this basic braising technique and your brown food will taste great .
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every time!
