Barbecue-Braised Moroccan Lamb Shanks with Honey-Mint Glaze
as a side dish i will be doing
Toasted Israeli Couscous Salad with Mint, Cucumber, and Feta which was made yesterday because while good freshly made it becomes godly if you let it sit overnight (or even for a few days). Anyway i didn't have my camera so i didn't get any pics of the process although i will do a shot of the bowl later since it looks pretty nice
Right then so lets get it on.....
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/1ingredients_(Large).JPG
here is a group shot of the ingredients... now that i look at it i left out my salt pig with the kosher salt in it... but whatever you all know what kosher salt looks like so who cars
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/2spicerubpremixed_(Large).JPG
this is a sexy shot (notice my use of white bowl to contrast against the dark spices) of the spice rub premixed with all the parts arrayed around it
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/3lambshanks_(Large).JPG
Check out those shanks... so fucking awesome... these came to me from whole foods which as much as i hate to admit it has a pretty fucking boss butcher shop i would much rather support mom and pop but around me mom and pop only seem to do steaks so fuck those guys. I was also able to find some pork belly while at whole foods so yeah look for that showing up in an upcoming post... probably next week maybe Monday or Tuesday...
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/4lamblayedout_(Large).JPG
more shank sexyness... this time arrayed nicely on my bamboo cutting board... this is just a plug but if you do a lot of chopping and cutting of meat get a bamboo board these things are so fucking awesome it has replaced my old butcher block board which i never thought would happen
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/5lambrubbed2_(Large).JPG
These are the shanks all rubbed up with the rub... i used the air filled plastic bag method for this which worked great until a piece of bone popped a hole in the bag... Just a reminder kids anything in your eye sucks.... ground cayenne in your eye fucking sucks dick in the worst kinda crack whore too much teeth way...
thats it for now the shanks have to sit for about 2 hours (overnight would be better) in the meantime i am gonna go get the stuff i need for the braising liquid...
PART2
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/6brasingliquidstuff.JPG
another ingredient shot... this is all the stuff for the braising liquid... if you didn't read the recipe then here is how it works... we grill the meat to get some char and bring out the flavors then we braise it which means we cook in liquid which is not quite boiling but not just warm like right below a simmer. then we grill it one last time to get some crispyness as well as a final glaze.
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/7Onions.JPG
oh look onions and a knife guess whats gonna happen....
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/8choppedonions.JPG
you guessed right the fumes from the onions turned the fluid in my eyes into acid which made them burn..... shit that sucked... also they became chopped
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/9Garlic.JPG
Hey look garlic and a knife guess whats gonna happen
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/10choppedGarlic.JPG
bet you didn't see that comming
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/11lemon.JPG
Hey look.... you get it at this point....
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/12Lemonjuice.JPG
oh man... it turned into lemon juice how cool is that... not that you care but that juicer is older than my mother...
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/13DutchOven.JPG
This is what we will be doing the braising in it's a 6.5qt enameled castiron dutch oven this one if from target and is definitely worth the $63 i paid for it. If you are making anything the requires long periods of cooking you should get one it's invaluable for things like stew and chili and you can do pot roast... i fucking love it...
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/14Lemononiontomcilangarlic.JPG
thats the onion garlic cilantro and tomatoes plus lemon juice in the dutch oven
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/15addspiceandwater.JPG
add some water as well as the rest of the spice rub and thats what we will be braising in
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/16grillstuff.JPG
my grill setup weber kettle lump hardwood charcoal (fuck briquettes) and my charcoal start
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/17charcoalchimney.JPG
fill chimney with coal stuff newpaper under it light newspaper and voila
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/17smokeandfire.JPG
oh shit fire... wait... nevermind
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/18precookedlamb.JPG
the lamb has been sitting for a while so the rub is nice and pastey
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/19dumpedcoal.JPG
i separated the charcoal into two piles so that the dutch oven will get indirect heat
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/20lambonthegrill.JPG
the lamb is first grilled at high heat so that it gets some nice color and flavor before it goes into the dutch oven
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/21cookinglamb.JPG
looking mighty good it took nearly all my will to not just grill and eat the lamb
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/22cookedlamb.JPG
thats the lamb after the grilling
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/23trussedlamb.JPG
we tie it with butcher twine to keep it together while braising
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/24LambintheDutchOven.JPG
into the bath my pretties
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/25Turnipcarrotchickpea.JPG
after an hour of cooking we add the chickpeas carrots and turnips to the pot if we added them now they would be sludge by the time the lamb was done
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/26inthepot.JPG
its been an hour at this point so i am adding the other veggies... lamb looks good but not amazing..
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/27glaze.JPG
this is the honey lemon mint harissa glaze... it's fucking awesome i think harissa may have displaced siracha as my favorite hot sauce
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/28twohoursofbraising.JPG
and after two hours of cooking slowly in the juice nets us this fantastic beautiful sight
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/30veggies.JPG
pulled the veggies out of the liquid to stay warm while i crisped up the shanks
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/31juice.JPG
this is the juice we will cook down into sauce
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/32morecoalonthefire.JPG
more charcoal on the fire so it gets hotter for the second grilling part of this recipe
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/31morecrispy.JPG
crisping up the the shanks
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/32gettingcrispy.JPG
god that looks so good i took two pictures
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/33allcrispedup.JPG
all done... fuck
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/34sauce.JPG
this is the sauce all nice and cooked down... not quite as syrupy as i like but whatever it's still awesome
http://pic.armedcats.net/t/th/the_finn/2009/05/18/35couscous.JPG
this is the picture of the couscous salad... it's fucking fantastic as well
so yeah thats how i spent my afternoon i am thinking i am gonna give the
Barbecue-Braised Vietnamese Short Ribs with Sweet Vinegar Glaze a shot
also i have 5lb of pork belly that i have some serious plans for but that will be covered next time...