Braised Lamb Shanks With Caramelized Vegetables - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 lamb shanks
olive oil
2 red onions, sliced thinly
1 stalk celery, chopped finely
500 ml red wine
375 ml hearty beef stock
1 bulb of garlic
3 rosemary sprigs
6 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
100 ml balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons cornflour
Caramelized Vegetables
2 carrots (about200g)
500 g sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons honey
4 fresh thyme sprigs

Preparation

Brown lamb shanks all over in a fry pan, remove and set to one side.
In a large saucepan, heat some oil, add onion and celery, cook until onion softens.
Add wine, stock, garlic bulb, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and vinegar. Return lamb and bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered over a very low heat, for 2-21/2 hours or until lamb is falling off the bone.
Remove lamb and keep warm, remove garlic bulb, strain the liquid through a sieve, return liquid to pan.
Squeeze garlic from bulb (either use a few sheets of kitchen roll to hold the back and squeeze or place in the fridge to cool quicker.) Either blend or process sauce until smooth.
Mix a little water with the cornflour and add to sauce, bring to the boil and stir until mixture thickens.
Caramelized Vegetables.
You will notice if you read the intro above I usually make this with parsnips, turnips and carrots but I could get a hold of these so I made it with carrot and sweet poatoes instead.
Combine all the ingredients, except thyme, in a roasting pan, coat vegetables well, place thyme sprigs on top, and roast 30-40 Min's, covered, in a pre-heated oven 180 degrees celcius or until vegetables are cooked through.
Serve over mash with caramelized vegetables.