Tastes like home.

Growing up in New Zealand, our main protein was lamb, lamb and more lamb and one of the highlights in our house was Mum’s absolutely delicious braised lamb shanks.

 

Iain (Huey) Hewitson says…

Growing up in New Zealand, our main protein was lamb, lamb and more lamb. Chicken was a luxury that only appeared on the table when, as the saying goes: “We were sick or the chicken was.” And beef and pork – these only appeared on very special occasions (except for corned silverside, which did feature quite regularly).

Back to the lamb. At least there were variations when it came to the cuts – chops of all sizes were a popular menu choice. As were the inner dreadfuls such as brains, tongues, kidneys and sweetbreads. And Sunday lunch was always a roast leg with lots of veggies from Dad’s garden, and the ubiquitous mint sauce (and often Mum’s fabulous pavlova to follow). Actually, one wit once said: “If you travelled through any Kiwi town on a Sunday at 11am, the whole town smelt of roasting lamb,” which was most probably true.

But, apart from the Sunday roast, one of the highlights in our house was Mum’s absolutely delicious braised lamb shanks. Because shanks were dirt cheap, this dish tended to appear close to pay day when money was tight. In those days a visit to the butcher was always rewarded with a few free bones for the dog – which invariably included a few shanks. Although, down the track, our local purveyor of meat discovered to his surprise that Mum didn’t even have a dog, and from then on charged her a few pennies for the aforementioned shanks. Still, even then, they were a bargain.

And while Mum’s version was maybe not quite as fancy-pants as mine, with the addition of lots of diced veggies (once again from Dad’s garden), some beautiful sun-ripened tomatoes and a little garlic that Dad grew specifically for this dish, the Hewitson family were eminently satisfied. And pestered Mum, endlessly, to repeat the exercise – even if they could no longer be known as “the dog’s bones”.

Ingredients

Serves 4

olive oil
4–8 lamb shanks, French trimmed
plain flour
2 large onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
3 plump garlic cloves, crushed
½ bottle dry white wine
3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
400g can diced tomatoes
3 cups low-salt packet chicken stock
2 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Method

Preheat oven 180°C.

Heat a layer of oil in a large Dutch oven or oven-safe pot. Flour shanks and brown all over on the hob. Remove.

Add all veggies and gently sauté, scraping the bottom of the pot as you do so.

When the veggies are a little tender, add wine and balsamic and reduce by half.

Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil. Return the shanks and cover tightly. Cook in the oven for 1.5–2 hours until meat is almost falling off the bones. Check seasoning and serve on a bed of creamy mash, or soft polenta.

 

Check out Huey on Tiktok (@huey_on_tiktok) and Instagram (@iain_huey_hewiston).

 

Published in ed#742

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