Lamb and barley hot pot (sous vide)

Our Lamb and barley hot pot is a recipe we have made often. It is basically foolproof. I wanted to try a version that exploited the benefits of sous vide, which has worked very well for lamb shanks.

In the past, we have tested shanks at 87°C / 189°F for 5 hours. This has a very typical, braised texture with meat that falls off the bone. We wanted to test a lower temperature for comparison and, after a bit of research into different recipes, decided on 74°C / 165°F for 16 hours.

This combination of time and temperature yielded very tender meat that stayed on the bone. It could be easy pulled from the bone, but it did not slide off on its own. The silverskin is very easy to remove, along with the small pockets of fat, leaving a beautiful, intact shank. This outcome made us think about a presentation that exploited this intact shape.

This recipe can be served in a bowl as a one-pot wonder, but it has much more clearly defined flavours.

Difficulty

hard

Special requirements

sous vide

Yield

3600 g (servings 6 )

Ingredients

Weight

Volume

Procedure

Lamb shanks

1500 g

3⅓ lb

Cook sous vide at 74°C / 165°F for 16 hours. (Infusion from B can be done during this time.)

Retain liquid from the bag and allow to cool in the fridge until the fat has solidified. Remove fat layer from the liquid and set aside separately.

Remove silverskin and fat from the shanks, being careful not to to pull the meat from the bone.

Wrap the top of the bone, along with a small amount of the meat, with cling film. Wrap tightly in such a way that the cling film can be used to lift the shank. It it slides off, secure cling film with string.

Hold in the fridge uncovered for 24 hours to 72 hours.

Deep fry in 200°C / 392°F oil for 2 minutes.

Pat outside of shanks with paper towel to absorb excess oil. Remove cling film.

Vacuum seal shanks. Reheat at 66°C / 151°F for one hour prior to service.

Vegetable stock

1500 g

6 cups

Rosemary, finely chopped

3.4 g

2 tbsp

Bay leaves

1.2 g

2 leaves

Thyme, finely chopped

1.6 g

2 tsp

Sesame seeds

4 g

1 tsp

Vacuum seal together and sous vide at 74°C / 165°F for at least 1 hour but as long as possible.

Onions, chopped

220 g

2 medium

Star anise

2 g

2 whole

Sauté until just translucent, about 4 minutes.

Set aside to cool.

Remove star anise.

Carrots, peeled and chopped

220 g

3 medium

Swede (turnip), peeled and cut into small pieces

220 g

1 large

Sweet potato, peeled and diced

220 g

1 medium

Onions from C

Infused stock from B.

Vacuum seal and cook sous vide at 85°C / 185°F for 45 minutes.

Strain, retaining liquid. Discard bay leaves.

Pearled barley

250 g

1¼ cup

Vacuum seal with vegetable stock B and cook sous vide at 85°C / 185°F for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Strain and retain liquids.

Combine retained liquid with lamb stock from A.

Combined stock from E

Tomato puree

40 g

2 tbsp

Salt

5 g

1 tsp

Reduce liquids over medium-high heat to around 70 g.

Add pearled barley from E and vegetables from D and stir to combine.

Keep warm over very low heat.

Mint jelly (optional)

30 g

6 tsp

Stir into barley and vegetables F.

Flat-leaf parsley

9 g

2 tbsp

Divide vegetable and barley mixture between serving plates and make a well in the centre.

[

Nestle lamb shank into barley and vegetable mixture.

]

Garnish with parsley.

Original: 2020.

Nutrition

Serving size 600 g; calories 517.1 kcal, kilojoules 2165.6 kJ, protein 41.3 g, carbohydrates 56.3 g, sugar 14.4 g, fat 8.3 g, saturated fat 2.9 g, unsaturated fat 5.4 g, trans fat 0 g, fiber 12.9 g, cholesterol 109.7 mg,

Author bhsimon

Yield

Servings

Serving size 600 g

Serve	Per serve
Energy (kcal)	517.1
Energy (kJ)	2165.6
Protein (g)	41.3
Fat (g)	8.3
Carbs (g)	56.3
Sugars (g)	14.4
Fiber (g)	12.9
Sodium (mg)	1224.3
Cholesterol (mg)	109.7

Full details