Lamb Shanks with Mediterranean Salad

Shanks are the tibia, the bone below the knee.

Lamb shanks are a thrifty cut. Braised whole, you're left with meat falling off the bone, deep, flavoursome and beautifully fatty.

Long, slow cooking is the key ...

I use a tagine with the shanks standing up, held in place by the conical top, sitting in just a little water which rises and condenses in the tagine - pretty much, a primitive pressure cooker.

Simple! Just put the shanks in, add water and set on a low heat for the day ...

Feel free to pep up the dish a little with ground coriander, cumin, some chilli, maybe onions and garlic - the sauce can be blended and passed through a sieve to make a really sumptuous gravy.

Plate up! I like lamb shanks with a simple salad of tomato, cucumber, olives (in brine) and cubes of feta. Garnish with coriander.

This combination gives a few offsets to the fattiness of the meat, but again, feel free to serve up with some vegetables and pour over the gravy made from the braising stock.

Lamb goes very well with deep greens - collard, mustard greens, kale, cavolo nero, spinach or samphire. That strong pack of iron compliments the meat perfectly.

For colour, carrot or swede are perfect. In fact, to accompany the simple salad above, ribbons of carrot and courgette would work very well.

Ideas! Ideas!

Pink Grapefruit Mayonnaise

There are a number of recipes for various "aise" sauces - mayonnaise, hollandaise and so on ... but here's one which is a little different and can pass for both mayonnaise (cold) and hollandaise (hot).

Mayonnaise uses oil, while Hollandaise uses butter.

Mayonnaise

Collect two or three egg yolks in a glass mixing bowl.

Add a generous splash of pink grapefruit and whisk briskly with a balloon whisk until lighter and fluffy.

Gradually add avocado oil (or extra virgin olive oil) in a constant stream while whisking. You will get a feel for how much oil you need, but the exact ratio does not really matter.

Hollandaise

Collect two or three egg yolks in a glass mixing bowl.

Put a good block of butter in a pan and on a gentle heat. As the butter melts, the solids will drop out leaving clarified butter to pour off, discarding the solids and returning the clarified top to the gentle heat to keep warm. The shortcut here is to use ghee.

Add a generous splash of pink grapefruit and whisk briskly with a balloon whisk until lighter and fluffy.

Over a baines marie (sitting the mixing bowl over a pan of boiling water without the base of the bowl touching the water) and whisking constantly, pour the clarified butter into the mix in a constant stream.

You may need to lift the bowl off the heat every so often to prevent it from turning to custard.

If the Hollandaise becomes too thick, add a teaspoon of water.

Tenderstem Broccoli with Normandy Cheese & Streaky Bacon

Seriously deep in flavour, soft, engaging and thoroughly satisfying as a starter.

One of my favourites ...

You need to start with some good cheese - something French. I tend to go with Camembert or Coutances.

Cut off the rind carefully revealing the soft cheese within and place into a milk pan with a little cream on a low heat - you want to just warm it through without any sticking.

Meanwhile, boil some tenderstem broccoli and put a couple of rashers of streaky bacon under the grille.

Serve up by pouring out the creamy cheese onto a warm plate, cover with the broccoli and garnish with the bacon, grinding a little fresh black pepper over.

Heaven!