Sunday, October 21, 2007

Lamb shanks with broad beans and avgolemono



Our spring weather is so unpredictable, with wild winds, snow falls, unfortunately very little rain this year, sunshine, and right now searing temperatures in the 30's. All of this in the one week mind you. It's such a dilemma to decide what to wear, let alone what to eat each day. Just when you think it's time for an outdoor dinner or lunch the weather can turn downright nasty.

Spring lamb is now at it's best, so I've chosen a Greek inspired dish accompanied with avgolemono, which is a fresh tasting sauce made from egg, lemon and broth. It is better known as an egg and lemon soup, if more broth is added. Either way, it's delicious, and is a great accompaniment to any roasted meats. I slow roasted the shanks in the covered BBQ, until the wind whipped up again and kept blowing the gas out. I hate this horrible wind...sniffle, sneeze.

Susan, from The Well Seasoned Cook is the host of this first event (for the THIRD year) of Weekend Herb Blogging. Kalyn must be totally exhausted after compiling last weeks round up celebrating the two year anniversary of Doubly Delish. I'm still ploughing through all of the delicious recipes.


Ingredients

4 lamb shanks (about 4 pounds total), cut crosswise into 1 1/2-inch -thick pieces by butcher
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup water
I kg broad beans, podded and peeled
1 large egg
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill

Preparation

Preheat oven to 275°F.

In a heavy casserole large enough to hold lamb shanks in one layer without crowding arrange shanks and season with salt and pepper. Roast shanks in middle of oven, covered tightly, 3 hours, or until tender. (Meat will give off juices as it cooks.) Pour off pan juices, reserving about 1 cup, and skim fat. Keep shanks warm, covered.

In a small saucepan combine broth, reserved pan juices, water, and one-third broad beans and simmer 5 minutes, or until beans are tender.

In a blender purée broth mixture until smooth.

In a bowl whisk together egg and lemon juice and whisk in puréed broth mixture. Return mixture to pan and heat over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until thickened slightly (do not boil). Season avgolemono with salt and pepper and keep warm.

In a large non-stick skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté remaining broad beans until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in dill and salt and pepper to taste.

Arrange shanks on a deep platter and scatter with broad beans. Drizzle shanks with some avgolemono and serve remaining sauce separately. Serve shanks with orzo or mashed potato

4 comments:

Susan said...

I vote for orzo as the perfect accompaniment for this succulent, slow-roasted recipe. Thanks for participating in WHB!

Lucy said...

Pam! I'm sniffing and sneezing too. Unpredictable weather is one way of putting it...

Lovely recipe - perfect for spring. Glad the broad beans are still out there - I feared I'd missed them.

Kalyn Denny said...

Wow, you have outdone yourself on this one. It sounds just wonderful. What a great combination.

Pam said...

Hi Susan, looking at my posts, one would think that lamb was the only meat I eat. I must admit that at this time of year, that's all I want to eat anyway.

Hi Lucy, welcome home. I hope you can get your fix of broad beans. Mine came from my parents garden. I think it will be their last crop sadly, due to the water situation and their age.

Kalyn, thank you. Your compliment is very much appreciated.