Lamb shanks in red wine with mashed potatoes

After a Sunday spent entirely out of the kitchen, it's back to the stove on Monday. The fridge was full of odds and sods after Saturday's marathon, so I tried to use up what I could to make a proper meal. I bought a couple of lamb shanks from the butcher's to provide the protein. I thought they looked a bit big as a single portion, so I put one in the freezer. One lamb shank at around 600g provided just about enough meat for two people.

1 lamb shank
handful of small onions (the squashed ones that look like flattened shallots)
3 sticks celery
3 cloves garlic, crushed
250ml chicken stock
250ml red wine
handful of mushrooms
sprinkling of dried rosemary
1 tbs wholegrain mustard
salt and pepper

The inspiration for this recipe comes from Nigel Slater's very evocative Kitchen Diaries, although I have modified it to take account of the ingredients I had.

I cooked the meal in our large copper pan, which comes with a lid. It's one of the best things in the world to cook in. I love it. I covered the meat in a generous dose of salt and pepper, then browned it on all sides in a little bit of very hot oil, then I put the meat on a plate. I chopped the onions and celery into chunks and browned those for a few minutes in the pan. Then I added the garlic for a minute or two

I added the rosemary, the wine, the stock and a bit more salt and pepper, put back the lamb, and brought the whole thing to a rolling boil. In the oven with the lid on at 160C for 35 minutes, after which I stirred in the mustard and turned the lamb over before giving it another 40 minutes or so.

The end result was very pleasing. The lamb was nice and tender (could have done with another 20 minutes or so, I think, without coming to much harm) and the sauce full of interesting flavours. I strained the sauce, returning the mushroom and some of the onions to it afterwards, then reduced it quite a bit on the stove top.

Notes for next time: the dried rosemary really needs to be removed at the end as it's a bit inedible. So maybe fresh rosemary or ground rosemary or even rosemary wrapped in cheesecloth for easy removal. And a spot of creme fraiche to make it a bit richer?

Mashed potatoes were ideal with it, because there's lots of sauce to be soaked up. Two large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks, were just right for two. The best way to mash them is, in my experience, to add butter and lots of soured cream, and then have at them with an electric mixer.