Lamb shanks with lavender and mint

For a while a few years ago, lavender seemed to be the new, trendy culinary favourite. A book I bought called 'Gastropub' featured a recipe for lamb with lavender. Everyone sighed: 'how amazing that sounded, to use a plant which is both a flower and a herb in a recipe and such a pretty one too with the most incredible fragrance.' I, myself, couldn't wait to try cooking with the beautiful purple flowers. The closest I ever got was lavender salt and lavender jelly, the latter of which can be seen above. Many stunning photographs of cakes and stews with the delicate buds scattered so preciously atop started to surface. We were seduced.

The jelly pictured at the top of the post was bought from the most romantic of situations only befitting such an enchanting flower. Nestled amongst other jams and jellies such as rose petal and elderflower and nectarine, this jelly lived in an honesty stall on the roadside of a farm on quaint Salt Spring Island, BC. A custom made wooden shelf housed all the different varieties, which I wanted to buy most of, but Neil told me to be sensible and choose 2. The money was simply placed into a box which I fished my change out of and left the correct price in, just like something out of a book by Enid Blyton, it filled me with a rosy glow for the rest of the day. How I wish I'd taken a picture. Cynical and jaded urban dwellers would be left scratching their heads at the sheer concept, more used to seeing lavender for sale by the bunch in the hand of a homeless person, just 'liberated' from a garden.

Of course, we all know how wonderful lavender smells, there's a reason it's the most popular and versatile essential oil, good for everything from anxiety to soaking your feet in, but what does it taste like? It's difficult to define, sort of floral earthiness, a little bitter, (like nearly all edible flowers) and a little intriguing. I'm not entirely convinced it actually brings that much to a recipe. When used in a salt with rosemary it really seems to come alive, perhaps a few whisps of lemon zest also to brighten it up.

In this recipe, it did seem to add a touch of whatever was lacking. Some sweetness, maybe, from the sugar in the jelly and a little touch of that herbal essence. There's no doubting it pairs well with lamb, the richness benefiting greatly from a touch of earthy bitterness and coupled with lamb's friends: mint and rosemary it all added up to a tasty sauce.

Lamb is very expensive here in Vancouver and in no way revered as in other places, read this if you're interested. Finding two lamb shanks at a reasonable price was not to be ignored and anyway, I've always liked Nigella Lawson's comments on how eating a whole shank to yourself seems luxurious and self indulgent. It does, a little like medieval times when the convenient bone would be used as a nifty handle, allowing the eater to tear at the flesh with their teeth. Very refined dining.

Recipe : Slow cooked lamb with lavender jelly and mint

2 lamb shanks

1 onion, peeled and chopped roughly

2 cloves garlic, left whole

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 carrot, scraped and chopped

4 - 6 sprigs of rosemary or thyme

4 tbsp mint sauce (from a jar if it's a good enough brand)

1 beef stock cube or 1 sachet beef stock concentrate dissolved in 1/4 cup water

1/4 cup dry Marsala

6 mushrooms, halved

2 tbsp lavender jelly or 6 sprigs of fresh lavender and a little sugar to taste

2 more tsp mint sauce

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

Place all ingredients except the jelly, extra mint sauce, salt and paprika into a slow cooker or heavy pan.

If using a slow cooker, turn to high and cook for 3 - 5 hours, reducing the heat to medium for the last hour or so. 

If using a pan, bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Let cook for about 2 - 3 hours by which time the meat should be very tender but not falling from the bone. (If you want it to be really tender, leave for another hour). 

Remove the lamb from the pan or slow cooker and rapidly boil the remaining sauce until reduced and thickened. Add the lavender jelly, extra mint, salt and paprika and stir well. Remove the thyme or rosemary sprigs before serving and squeeze the garlic from the skins.

Pop the lamb under a preheated grill (broiler) for a few moments while the sauce is reducing to crisp the edges slightly and intensify the savoury meatiness.

Serve the lamb on a plate with a little of the sweet herbal sauce poured over. If you want to eat it like a princess in a castle in days of olde, serve the sauce on the side and pick up the meat with your hands. (I once did this at a medieval night, very good fun).