Napa Valley Red Wine and Port Lamb Shanks
Cindy Pawlcyn, chef and founder of the Napa Valley’s Mustards Grill, prepares the ultimate comfort food: Napa Valley Red Wine and Port Lamb Shanks. She marinates the shanks in red wine, juniper berries, bay leaves, allspice, salt, and pepper for two days before roasting it in her wood-fired oven for rich, unctuous, and umami-packed results.
Ingredients
1/3 cup Golden raisins
1 cup Port
20-25 ea Garlic cloves, blanched 3 times, and peeled, left whole
4 ea American Lamb shanks
1½ ea Red wine, 750 ml bottle
¼ cup Red wine vinegar
4 ea Juniper berries
4 ea Allspice berries, whole
2 tsp Black peppercorns, whole
4 ea Bay leaves
as needed Kosher salt
3-4 cups Lamb stock or chicken stock
as needed Mashed potatoes
as needed Mint, to garnish
Directions
- Macerate golden raisins in port overnight.
- To blanch garlic, start each time with cold water. Bring to a full rolling boil. Drain and repeat the process two more times. The garlic should be tender.
- Combine red wine, red wine vinegar, juniper berries, allspice berries, peppercorns and bay leaves. Place lamb shanks in marinade for 2 days, turning daily to ensure the meat is marinated evenly.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Drain, reserving marinade, and season shanks with salt and pepper. Place shanks in a pot that will hold them snugly and add marinade and stock. Cook for approximately 3 hours at 300°F, covered. Turn shanks every 45 minutes-the meat should be nice and tender but still hold to the bone. When tender enough, remove the shanks reserving all the braising juices. Keep shanks warm in a low oven. Strain braising juices of spices and skim off fat. This can be done the day before serving.
- In a saucepot, add port, macerated golden raisins, and blanched garlic to the strained juices, heat and reduce to a sauce consistency. You may thicken if desired with butter and flour.
- Plate the heated shanks with mashed potatoes, and pour sauce over the top, arranging garlic and raisins over each serving. Garnish with mint.
