Serves 4 2 six bone racks of lamb (French trimmed) 200g runner beans 2 bunches baby beetroot 25g butter salt & pepper 50ml port Cooking and finishing lamb shanks 2 shanks of lamb Half onion Half leek 2 sticks celery 2 bay leaves 4 peppercorns 250ml red wine 2 banana shallots 2 cloves garlic 1 lemon juice & zest 2 sprigs Rosemary 100g butter 50ml olive oil Reduced cooking liquor Salt & pepper
Method Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. For lamb racks, season and brown in a hot pan while sealing Lamb shanks. Once browned, deglaze pan juices with red wine then strain into container. Fry all shank ingredients in sauce pan until soft. Add shanks and deglaze pan juices with red wine. Cover with boiling water, bring to boil, simmering until meat almost falls off bone, about 90 minutes. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool, leaving shanks in stock. When cold, remove all meat and place in mixing bowl and keep warm. Take vegetables out of cooking liquor and reduce. Skim fat all time and keep reducing until it is a little syrupy. Save half to use as sauce and half for shank meat. Finely dice shallots and garlic in olive oil and butter so they become soft. Add this (butter and oil as well) to shank meat with rosemary, lemon zest, half juice or lemon, reduced stock and mix with a spoon and hand, squeezed meat through fingers. Wash and bake beetroot until soft. Peel when cool. Prepare runner beans, peeling sides and removing stringy ‘vine’. Blanch in boiling salted water then cool in cold running water. Roast racks for 10-12 minutes for medium lamb. Presentation While stack is resting in a warm place, put shank in pan with a touch of water to reheat, stirring until hot. Take port in a pan and add beetroot and boil until hot. Warm the beans in butter and place in middle of plate. Slice rack between bones and place on beans. Arrange beetroot around reserving any port juices. Quenelle with two spoons Shank on top of rack. Finally take reserved stock, port and lamb juices (off resting meat) and bring to boil. Pour this sauce around plate. Recipe supplied by Robert Lyons