the review: braised lamb shanks with white beans, swiss chard, and marjoram

It goes without saying that braised lamb shank (The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook, page 128) is definitely slow food. We started searing the lamb at around 4:30 and finally served at 7. Fortunately, the bulk of the time is spent with the lamb in the oven.

The prep for this dish is fairly straightforward. Brown the lamb. Remove. Brown the veggies. Deglaze the pot with wine. Add broth and the shanks to the beautiful vegetables. Simmer. Stick in the oven. Wait. Watch the Golden Globes. Wait some more. Once the meat is brown, remove it and the veggies from the pan. Cook the beans and swiss chard in the remaining sauce until the greens wilt. Serve over the beautiful lamb and vegetables.

Let me say that I followed all the steps for the white beans (a separate recipe in The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook) and thought for sure that they were a complete failure until I tried the beans in the sauce for the lamb. I could eat the beans and vegetables from this dish every day for a week easily. The flavor was rich and savory. I didn’t even add salt and pepper. There was absolutely nothing missing from this sauce.

As for the lamb, it was also excellent. I am not a gamey meat person, so I will say the sinew was a bit much for me, but my husband thought the lamb was delicious. We would certainly make this dish again, for ourselves or for company. Do you want to come over so that we have an excuse?