A grand old house is the setting for fabulous Christmas feasts and fancy dinner parties. There can be few finer places to enjoy a homecooked meal than the dining room of our homecook heros Anne Fraser's Paddington home.
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
8 frenched lamb shanks
1 leek, washed well and sliced
1 parsnip, finely diced
2 carrots, finely diced
1 turnip, finely diced
3 celery sticks
salt and pepper
1 bottle good red wine, such as merlot
1 small bulb of garlic, skin on and left whole
thyme sprigs
veal or chicken stock
Method
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Heat oil in large baking dish and brown shanks. Remove and set aside. Add a little more oil if needed and cook leeks and other vegetables until leek has softened.
Season vegetables with a little salt and pepper, return shanks to the dish, with the garlic and thyme.
Add the wine and place dish in the oven to cook until meat is cooked and wine has reduced. Add stock if it needs more liquid.
You could try using oxtail, which makes the dish a lot stickier, or add some roughly chopped fennel.
This dish can be a little oily so I often skim any excess off the top.