Lamb Shanks with Spiced Lentils

I had some already browned on the grill, but uncooked, lamb shanks in my freezer (newly rediscovered!) and decided it was time to cook them. This dish was adapted from Braised Lamb Shank with Coriander, Fennel, and Star Anise recipe at the epicurious.com website. I used a slow cooker instead of the oven to cook the dish and made some additions to the ingredients; the most significant being lentils. This makes a nice meal for a cool Fall or Winter evening.

Enjoy!

Spice Ingredients

2 Tbs. Fennel, toasted whole and then ground

2 Tbs. Coriander, toasted whole and then ground

1 Tbs. Peppercorns, toasted whole and then ground

Other Ingredients

4 Lamb Shanks

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

2 Bay Leaves

2 Star Anise

½ inch knob of Ginger, lightly crushed

½ cup Lentils

½ tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

8 Garlic Cloves, crushed in a garlic press

3 Tbs. Tapioca Starch (see notes)

¼ cup Soy Sauce

¼ cup Port

¼ cup Balsamic Vinegar

6 oz. (1 can) Tomato Paste

1 large Onion, diced

1 cup (2-3 large) Carrots, diced

750 ml. bottle of Red Wine (Cabernet Sauvignon) or Chicken Stock (see notes)

Preparation Instructions

1. Toast the fennel, coriander, and peppercorns in a non-stick pan or wok until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the spices. Remove the toasted spices from the pan and allow the spices to cool before grinding in a spice or coffee grinder. The spices can be toasted the night before and then ground the day of use.
2. Add salt and pepper to the lamb shanks; set aside.
3. Dice the onion and carrots; set aside.

Cooking Instructions

1. Add the ground spices, lentils, red pepper flakes, crushed garlic, tapioca starch, soy sauce, Port, and balsamic vinegar to the slow cooker. Mix the ingredients together to evenly distribute the tapioca starch.
2. Put the tomato paste into the slow cooker. The tomato paste doesn’t have to be incorporated into the lentil mixture since cooking will incorporate it into the sauce.
3. Put the bay leaves, star anise, and the lightly crushed ginger into a soak out cooker. Put the soak out cooker into the middle of the slow cooker, moving any lentils out from under it.
4. Brown the carrots and onion individually in a wok or frying pan before adding each ingredient to the slow cooker.
5. Brown the lamb shanks. Deglaze the pan with wine and add the liquid together with the lamb shanks to the slow cooker. Alternatively, you can brown the lamb shanks in the barbeque, smoking the shanks with rosemary and hickory (or some other wood). This can be done the night before.
6. Add the rest of the 750 ml. bottle of wine to the slow cooker. You can also use chicken stock instead of wine. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for up to 8 hours. Stir the lentils once or twice towards the end of the cooking time.
7. After cooking is complete, remove the soak out cooker and discard the contents. Remove the slow cooker contents to a serving bowl. The bones can be removed from the lamb shanks before serving individually over steamed rice.

Notes

1. Tapioca starch is used to thicken the liquid and holds up well in a slow cooker. I originally got this information from America’s Test Kitchen and they use Minute Tapioca made by Kraft. I’ve used both the Minute Tapioca and plain tapioca starch to thicken liquids in a slow cooker, and both work equally as well. You can find Minute Tapioca in any grocery store and tapioca starch at your local Asian supermarket. The tapioca starch is much more inexpensive than the Minute Tapioca. Corn starch and other thickeners will break down and not thicken during the long cooking times in a slow cooker.