Roasted Lamb Shank with Red Cabbage and Roast Potatoes

2 lamb shanks

1 medium sized carrot
1 medium sized turnip
1 medium sized parsnip
1 medium sized onion
1 litre of vegetable stock

1 small red cabbage
6 small potatoes

a few cloves
salt and pepper

sunflower oil for browning and roasting

2 sprigs of rosemary for garnish

Heat a frying pan until hot and add one tablespoon of the oil to the pan.
Add the lamb shanks and fry on each side until nicely browned all over.
Meanwhile heat a large ovenproof casserole dish until hot .

Roughly chop the carrot, turnip, parsnip and onion.
Once browned, put the lamb shanks in the casserole dish.
Put the carrot, turnip, parsnip and onion around the shanks and cover with stock until fully submerged.

Put the dish in the centre of the pre-warmed oven on gas mark 5 .
After 1 hour turn the lamb shanks over and cook for another 3 - 4 hours or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone. The longer and slower the lamshanks are cooked, the better they get.

Whlist the shanks are cooking, peel the potatoes and parboil for 10 minutes.
With a fork roughen the potatoes and place them on a lightly oiled baking tray.
Roast in the top half of the oven with the shanks for the last 50 minutes.

When the lamb shanks are nearly done, take some of the liquid out of the dish and boil rapidly on top of the stove to reduce the liquid to get a jus.

Finely slice the red cabbage, put in a pan with a little water, 2 gloves and simmer on the top of the stove for 45 minutes.

To serve the dish place a lamb shank on a plate, place red cabbage and roast potatoes on either side or serve the red cabbage separately.

Garnish the dish with a sprig of rosemary.

NB
Any left over red cabbage can be frozen on the day of preparation.

NOTE on Lamb Shank:

The cut is taken from either the shoulder and arm (fore shank) or the upper part of the leg (hind shank). The fore shank will include part of the shoulder, as well as part of the leg, while the hind shank will include only part of the rear leg.
Lamb shanks have a paper-thin membranous covering and a thin layer of fat. While a lamb shank is leaner than the sirloin part of a lamb, the meat can be tough.
Therefore lamb shank is usually prepared by long cooking in liquid until tender.

serves 2