Lamb Shank Stifado…recipe by Jessica Anderson

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 can whole tomatoes
1 cup dry red wine
2 tsp dried rosemary
1 cinnamon stick
3 large cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
6 lamb shanks
1 pound sml onions
2 pounds sml red potatoes
1 Tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to 175 C. Melt sugar in pot over moderate heat, don’t stir. When melted, stir with a wooden spoon until sugar becomes a deep caramel (5 minutes).
Carefully add the vinegar (it will bubble, so don’t burn yourself) and stir until caramel is dissolved.

Add tomatoes, wine, rosemary, cinnamon, bay leaf, salt, pepper and bring to the boil.

Add shanks, cover, take to the over.

Braise, turning shanks occassionally, until tender (~2 hours, but i sometimes leave them in for ages as the flavour just develops).

Meanwhile, cook onions in saucepan of water. Cool then peel. Quarter the potatoes, steam in water. Heat oil in skillet over moderate heat, add garlic and cook until golden. Add potatoes with salt and pepper, increase heat and stir til golden. Then add the potatoes and onions to the shanks.

Extra notes: When you take the shanks out of the oven, skim the fat off the top (this is easier if left to cool as will harden). If you make it a day ahead it will be really tasty but you would do the onions and potatoes on the day. I sometimes add 2-3 cans of tomatoes as Aussie shanks are bigger and the sauce mix doesn’t cover them fully. This recipe doubles nicely.