It was cold outside, and it was still pretty cold when we got inside SuperButcher at Eagle Farm. I stopped and stared around in awe – I had never been before and its size can be overwhelming.
It is so tempting to stop and look at all the goodies, but I am here for a purpose. That purpose is to further my appreciation of lamb.
We spent close to 2 hours watching Les the butcher breakdown a whole lamb carcass. Less you think this sounds too much like a lecture, we were well fed throughout the presentation and sampled various cuts as Les ran us through them.
Some key things I took away from the experience:
- lamb, feta, pumpkin and shallot sausages are amazing
- it’s hard to go wrong with lamb, mint, rosemary and honey
- lamb ribs were the surprise hit of the night – so much flavour. We picked up a pack the following day when we returned to stock the freezer
- some of those fancier lamb cuts (frenched lamb racks, lamb cutlets etc) result in a lot more waste than their counterparts
- there are a lot of different cuts of lamb!
We finished the evening with thick slices of leg roast on top of some of the most flavoursome mashed potatoes I’ve had.
SuperButcher runs beef and lamb appreciation nights regularly. They are a great way to learn more about your meat, and about the (dying) art of butchering.
SuperButcher has several outlets – we were at Eagle Farm.
Thanks to Les, Andrew and the rest of the team for a great night!
SuperButcher
6 EagleView Place
Eagle Farm
Web: www.superbutcher.com.au
Full disclosure – J and I paid our own way for this experience, but I did win a free boning knife!
Just over a year ago J and I spent 4 months travelling around Europe. For 4 magical days we explored the hot, dusty, noisy, overwhelming souks and sights of Morocco. We attended a famous cooking class in Marrakech, we bought spices from the spice vendors in the souks and we purchased a clay tagine from a very persuasive old man! The tagine has been used a few times, and this was our most recent adventure with it.
This recipe was courtesy of the latest Marie-Claire, and it produces a slow-cooked lamb shank that is deliciously tender and falling off the bone. I don’t think the sauce was quite as effective when halved, so next time I would probably do a full amount of sauce, even if only using 2 lamb shanks. For that reason, I’ve reproduced the ingredients for the full recipe.
The slow-cooking caramelises the onions in the lamb juices and spices and produces a sweet sauce to accompany the shanks. It is very Moroccan in this way, as Moroccan food seems to favour the sweet-savory combination. The figs and walnuts are added in the last hour, and the figs become plump with the sauce, which is quite a lovely effect. However, I did feel the walnuts became a bit lost, so I would recommend adding some at the end for extra texture.
I served this dish with cous-cous cooked in stock and with a carmelised onion, cinnamon and sugar topping, however in hindsight I think it was too much sweetness for the dish. J suggested that the dish would be better accompanied by mashed potatoes, and I have to agree. For that reason, I haven’t put up the cous-cous recipe, although you’re obviously welcome to use your own discretion.
I’m sure you’ll see a trend over the next few weeks for hearty, warming winter dishes. In my opinion, slow-cooking when the mercury drops is one of life’s great pleasures!
Details
20 min
150 min
2 h, 50 min
Ingredients
- 2 Lamb shanks, fat trimmed
- 1 tbsp Olive oil, extra for brushing
- 2 large Onions, each sliced into 4 inch discs then peeled
- 1 tsp Ground ginger
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground coriander
- 1 tsp Ground cumin
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 4 strips Orange peel (avoid white pith)
- 2 Cinnamon sticks
- 500 mls Water
- pinch Saffron
- 10 Semi-dried figs
- handful Walnut halves
Directions
- Preheat oven to 180*.
- Season lamb shanks with salt and pepper.
- In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil over a medium heat.
- Lightly brown the lamb shanks all over.
- Remove the dutch oven from the heat and take the lamb out and put to one side.
- Layer the onions across the bottom of the dutch oven. Place the shanks on top. They will not be resting on the base of the dutch oven.
- Sprinkle the ground spices and sugar over the lamb shanks and onion.
- Tuck the orange peel and cinnamon sticks around the lamb.
- Pour the water into the dutch oven. Season with salt and pepper, then sprinkle in the saffron.
- Cover the dutch oven and bring to the boil on the stove.
- Once boiling, put the dutch oven into the pre-heated oven.
- Leave for 1.5hrs to cook.
- Remove from oven, add the figs and walnuts. You may need to add a bit more water at this point too.
- Continue cooking in the oven for another hour. The figs will absorb the juices and get plump. The sauce will get sticky - it's worth keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn.
- Serve with your side of choice - I would suggest mashed potatoes.
01.08.11 | 
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