Sunday Dinner: Algerian Lamb Shanks with Cardamom and Orange

YumSugar — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 02:19:48 -0700

As a kid I was exposed to a lot of interesting foods, but for some reason I never had lamb until I was in college. These days it's one of my favorite meats, I absolutely love the sweet yet gamey taste it has. So whenever I think of slow roasted meats, my mind immediately leaps to lamb, especially since it really holds up nicely against a variety of spices, such as saffron, cardamom and curry. For tonight's Sunday Dinner I thought I'd present a recipe for Algerian Lamb Shanks with Cardamom. I am super excited to give this recipe a try - if it sounds like a good idea to you, read more

Algerian Lamb Shanks with Cardamom and Orange
From Williams-Sonoma

4 lamb shanks, external fat trimmed
Salt, to taste, plus 1 Tbs. salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more
for serving
1 lb. yellow onions, diced
1/4 cup peeled garlic cloves
1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh ginger
2 cardamom seeds, skins removed
Pinch of saffron
1 tsp. chili flakes
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. caraway seeds
2 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 cinnamon stick
2 Tbs. curry powder
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 cans (10 oz. each) diced plum tomatoes
1 bottle white wine
Zest and juice of 1 orange
1 lb. carrots, peeled and coarsely diced
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and
coarsely diced

Preheat an oven to 350°F.
Generously season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper. In an ovenproof deep sauté pan or Dutch oven over high heat, warm 2 Tbs. of the olive oil until nearly smoking. Working in batches, brown the shanks, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter.
Add the remaining 2 Tbs. olive oil, the onions and garlic to the pan and sauté, stirring, until the onions are tender and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the ginger, cardamom, saffron, chili flakes, cloves, caraway, fennel seeds, cinnamon, curry, the 1 Tbs. salt, almonds and raisins. Sauté, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes more. Add the tomatoes, wine, orange zest and orange juice and stir to mix well. Submerge the shanks in the liquid and bring to a simmer. Cover, transfer the pan to the oven and cook until the meat nearly falls off the bone, about 2 hours.
Stir the carrots and fennel bulb into the stew, cover and bake until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes more. Drizzle each serving with olive oil. Serves 4.

Print recipe with images | without images