Lamb shanks, pear and pomegranate

Lamb Shanks, Pear and Pomegranate. Photo by Steve Shanahan

Making the connection between food production and the changing seasons is traditional in many parts of the world. Produce not only tastes better at its peak when grown in season, it is cheaper to buy, and matches well with other foods that are grown at the same time and from the same region.

In France many farmers feed their animals from food grown within close proximity of their farms to retain the terroir. This element of localised food production is treated very seriously and is definitely not to be conjured with.

I cannot claim regional terroir in this recipe, although the autumn combination of fruit, lamb, rosewater and pomegranate delivers a balanced and seasonally matched Middle Eastern influence.

To allow the lamb to infuse with flavour and make the most of these delicate and subtle ingredients, prepare this dish one or two days in advance of serving.

If serving this dish as an evening meal, cauliflower puree is an elegant addition to the lamb shanks. If serving this dish as part of a relaxed feast, jewelled couscous also works well.

This quantity should serve 6. 

6 lamb shanks

3 tbsp olive oil

1 cup roughly chopped onion

1 cup chopped carrots

5 garlic cloves

2 tsp ground cardamom

2 cinnamon sticks

5 pears, halved

2 tsp rose water

½ cup toasted pine nuts

¼ cup pomegranate seeds

5 cups of pomegranate juice

¼ cup chopped mint

¼ cup chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 160C.

Heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a large oven-proof frying pan or dutch oven. Brown three lamb shanks at the time on all sides and repeat with the next three shanks. Set aside.

Add the onion, carrots and garlic to the pan and fry until lightly browned. Add the ground cardamom and the cinnamon sticks and season with salt. Cook, stirring for about one minute.

Stir in the pomegranate juice and three extra cups of water, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the reserved lamb shanks to the pan, arranging the meatier part of the shanks to be submerged in the cooking liquid. Cover pan with a lid or with a couple of layers of foil.

Transfer the pan to the oven. Cook, basting and turning shanks each hour, until the meat is tender and almost falling from the bone. This will take approximately three hours.

When done, remove from the oven, uncover pan and add the pears, pushing them down to submerge in the cooking liquid. Let cool to room temperature, and cover and chill overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200C and remove pan from the fridge, scraping off the fat that has set on the top and discard.

Heat the lamb mixture over a medium heat to soften the liquid until warmed through. Gently remove the shanks from the liquid and transfer them to a large rimmed baking tray. Spoon half a cup of cooking liquid over the top of the shanks. Place the tray into the preheated oven and roast the shanks, basting with the juices until glazed, for about ten minutes.

Gently remove the pears from the cooking liquid and set aside. Strain the remaining liquid through a sieve, reserving the liquid and discarding the vegetables. 

 

Return the strained liquid to the frying pan and add the rose water. Cook until the sauce reduces and thickens, about ten minutes.

Add the pears to the frying pan to reheat through.

Serve the lamb shanks with the pears, a drizzle of sauce, topped with the herbs, pomegranate seeds and pine nuts.

Paschal Lamb Cake

-->

Paschal Lamb       Photo by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times 27 March 2013.

Cool and dark mornings announce the onset of Autumn and the approach of Easter. My dog and I have a close personal relationship with these crispish mornings, as we determinedly shed our Christmas kilos, jogging the tracks of the Majura nature park.

With this cooler weather, I inevitably begin to plan our Easter family feast. It’s an odd, uncoordinated combination of Easter and school holidays this year, but we will still manage to corral friends and family to feast on a beast, slow roasted in the outdoor oven. 

With a nod to body health and fitness, I avoid the obligatory Easter chocolate overdose, and choose a cake that is not only sans cocoa bean, but has traditional French significance. It is in the shape of a lamb, which represents rebirth and beginnings. Most of all I choose it because it’s so very cute.

During our last visit to France, I bought some Paschal lamb pottery moulds, from the little town of Soufflenheim in Alsace, which, incredibly, has been an  identified pottery region since the Bronze Age. 

Paschal Lamb Pottery Mould - Photo by Steve Shanahan

The mould consists of two lamb shaped sides joined together with a wire clamp. The cake mixture is poured into the greased mould and baked for forty minutes. When cooked it is removed from the mould and coated with a thick layer of icing sugar while still hot, ready to sit centre stage on the Easter table.

This unusual little cake is suitable for people on a dairy free diet as it contains no milk or butter. The texture of the cake is similar to that of Italian sponge finger biscuits and goes particularly well with a sticky dessert wine.

Any moulded or round cake pan can be used. Double the recipe to make a two-layer cake using two round twenty centimetre cake tins. Ensure you grease and line the cake tins well with baking paper to prevent the cake from sticking.  If making the cake this way, serve it layered with jam and whipped cream, similar to a sponge and dust liberally with icing sugar. The undecorated cake layers will keep for a week in an airtight container.

3 eggs

90g sugar

100g sifted plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

1 tbsp lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp Kirsch

Preheat the oven to 180C. If using a shaped cake tin or ceramic mould, grease and flour the tin well. For two rounded cake tins, grease the sides well and line the bases with baking paper.

Whisk the eggs and sugar in an electric mixer for ten minutes, until the mixture is very pale.

Sift the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl.

In the bowl of the electric mixer, add the lemon juice, zest and Kirsch to the egg and sugar mixture. Then fold in the sifted flour and baking powder, very gently.

If using a shaped or moulded cake tin, place half the mixture into the tin, tapping gently on the kitchen bench, to drive the batter into the details of the mould. Then fill with the rest of the batter.

If using two round twenty centimetre cake tins, fill each tin equally and tap on the kitchen bench to ensure an even spread of batter.

Bake for 20 minutes for the cake tins and 30 minutes for a moulded tin. Remove the cake gently from the tin while still hot and cool on a wire rack.

Dust liberally with icing sugar.

Chocolate berry Easter cake

-->

 Photos by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times 6 March 2013

February is a big birthday month in our house, and coincides with the timely arrival of two containers of home grown blackberries from a work colleague. Blackberries are such a luscious fruit, that I refuse to relegate them to just a puree. They scream out to be showcased, and are a tart contrast to a bitter, slightly sweet, chocolate layer cake.

The recipe I choose from my collection is a dated, 1980s handwritten one, that probably originates from a relative somewhere down the line. The method of making this cake is a little unusual, but makes for pillowy-soft layers of bitter chocolate cake, sandwiched between oozing layers of unsweetened cream. I modify this with my fresh blackberries and push the chocolate endorphins into overdrive by decorating the top of the cake with mini Easter eggs.

¼ cup plain flour

¼ cup good quality dark cocoa powder

1/8 tsp salt

170g good quality 70% or 80% dark bitter chocolate, chopped

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp water

6 eggs, separated

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla paste

1/8 tsp cream of tartar or lemon juice

2 cups washed, fresh blackberries or any berry you have on hand

Chocolate ganache

extra ½ cup pure cream

125g bitter chocolate, chopped

Filling and decoration

½ cup of berry jam

2 cups of pure cream for whipping

mini chocolate Easter eggs for decoration, optional

Preheat the oven to 200C. Grease a 30cm by 45cm baking tray with butter and sprinkle with flour. Line the base with baking paper.

In a small bowl, combine the sifted flour, cocoa powder and salt.

In a medium microwave proof bowl, combine the chocolate, water and butter. Warm the mixture in the microwave, for fifteen seconds at a time, stirring at intervals, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the egg yolks at medium high speed for about fifteen seconds, until just combined. With the mixer still running, add about half of the sugar. Continue beating and scraping the bowl as needed, for about eight minutes. The mixture should be light and creamy. Stir in the vanilla and transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Thoroughly wash and dry the mixer bowl and whisk to reuse.

In the electric mixer bowl, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar at medium speed until foamy, this should take about thirty seconds. Add one tablespoon of sugar and continue to whisk until soft peaks form, then gradually add the rest of the sugar. Whisk the whites for about one minute, until they are glossy and hold stiff peaks.

Stir the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Once combined, add about one quarter of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and gently fold in with a spatula to loosen the mixture. Fold in the remaining egg whites until combined, then sprinkle the dry ingredients over the top. Gently fold them in until combined, so as not to lose the air that has already been incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking tray for about ten minutes. Tap the tray on the benchtop to remove any air bubbles and to ensure the mixture is spread into the corners.

Remove from the oven and overturn the cake onto a cooling rack so the base is facing up. Carefully peel the baking paper off the base immediately and allow to cool for at least half an hour.

When cool cut the cake width ways, into three equal slices of fifteen centimetres each. These will form the layers of the cake. If the end edges of the cake are uneven, trim them up with a sharp knife to keep them even and square.

For the filling, whip the extra two cups of cream to stiff peaks.

For the chocolate ganache, place the chopped chocolate into a medium bowl. Bring the cream to a gentle boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, and allow to sit for a few minutes to soften. Whisk the cream and chocolate together into a smooth and glossy paste. If your chocolate ganache is a little stiff, place it in the microwave oven on medium for ten seconds until you reach the pouring consistency you need.

To assemble the cake, place one layer of cake onto a serving platter. Spread the cake layer with jam and then a one centimetre layer of whipped cream. Spread an even handful of blackberries over the cream. Place the next layer of cake on top of the berries, keeping in alignment with the bottom layer. Repeat with the fillings of jam, cream and berries. Place the final and top layer of cake neatly on the top, pressing down gently to steady the fillings and to push the cream gently outside the edges to create a slightly messy look.

Finally, pour the chocolate ganache evenly over the top layer of cake allowing it to run down the sides. Top with a row of mini Easter eggs or berries. For optimum flavour, allow the cake to sit, refrigerated and covered, for a day or so to infuse the flavours. To cover in the fridge, poke some toothpicks into the cake to keep the plastic wrap suspended above the cake.