LA MAISON DE VILLE LAMB SHANKS

6 – 8 lamb shanks
1½ cup cake flour
3 teaspoons mixed herbs
salt and pepper
2 large chopped carrots
4 stalks celery
2 bay leaf
2 springs rosemary
2 springs thyme, fresh or dried
2 leeks, split in the center and cut into 1 cm pieces
3 chopped onions
10 garlic cloves, cleaned and crushed
12 whole black peppercorns
750 ml merlot red wine (If you enjoy a more sweetish taste then use the Robertson’s red naturally sweet and add 4 tablespoons lemon juice)
750 ml chicken stock
salt to taste

Preheat oven to either gas reading 3 or electrical oven to 150ºC.
Heat the oil (I used coconut oil) in a cast iron pot.
Once hot then seal the meat.
Put a side.
In a plastic bag mix the flour, Mixed herbs, salt and pepper.
Place the sealed shanks in the bag and shake until completely coated with the flour mixture. Remove the excess flour.
Use a flat oven dish or cast iron oven dish. For more shanks and double the recipe than anything goes as long as it fits well and the shanks fits snugly in the dish.
Add the other ingredients, celery, carrot, onion, leeks and garlic to the roasting pan in which the shanks were sealed.
Cook until softened and browned, stirring well for 3 min.
Season with the bay leaf, peppercorns, thyme and rosemary sprigs.
Add the red wine and chicken stock, and turn up the heat , and allow to a simmer for about 10 min.
Remove the vegetables out of the sauce and place in the bottom of the oven dish.
Pack the shanks snugly on top of the vegetables. Add salt to taste.
Pour the sauce over the lamb shanks. Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil, and place into the preheated oven.
Bake for about 3 hours until the meat is tender.
Remove the bay leaf and herb stems.
Stir over and serve.

Note:
If the sauce became too thick, just add a bit of white wine or water and put back in the oven for another few minutes.
Serve with mash potatoes and your favorite vegetables.

Recipe and photo: Johan De V Swanepoel