Lamb Shanks, Creamy Polenta and Braisedish Chard

I impulse bought some lamb shanks (not anywhere exotic– Safeway) and I got four, because having the oven on for as long as I liked to braise seemed like a waste.

Anyway, they are pretty easy. In a dutch-ovenesque pot, I browned the shanks on all sides after rubbing them in a mix of kind of random spices from the spice cabinet: marjoram, thyme, black pepper, ground chili, crushed bay and tiny bits each of orange rind, cinnamon and allspice.

Then I added an onion to the mix, and then poured in about a cup of red wine (I like the highly drinkable screwcap Perrin Cotes du Rhone they sell at TJ if I don’t have some leftover wine sitting around) an onion, some garlic, and a can of chopped tomatoes. I added water to almost cover the shanks, and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary.

I put the cover on the pot and ignored it for about 3 1/2 hours somewhere between 275-300 degrees.

There was some whole thing after I read Heat about nine hour polenta, but this time I just added 1 c polenta to 6 c water, and cooked that until it thickened, added a cup of milk and some salt and cooked it a little longer til it seemed very creamy. This took about 90 minutes.

Turned that off and sauteed/braised the chard for about 10 minutes, finishing it with a little balsamic.

Heaped it all into the bowl above and had a nice fall-aparty lamb shanky dinner, with the rest of the tasty screwcap wine.

Despite all the long cooking times, the shanks were super-easy and you could do a much quicker polenta or a root vegetable mash if you don’t feel like stirring for so long. Braise, my friends, braise!