6 medium lamb shanks, about 8 oz each
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup lentils
3 cup water
1 small onion, stuffed with 3 whole cloves
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 bay leaf
6 thin lemon slices
Directions
From "The Complete Book of Greek Cooking," edited by Katherine R.
Boulukos (Harper-Collins).
In a large skillet, brown lamb shanks in oilve oil. Add 1/2 cup water,
garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, oregano and pepper. Cook, covered, over
low heat for one hour, or until tender.
Rinse lentils and drain. In a medium saucepan, combine lentils, 3 cups
water, onion, celery, bay leaf and 1-1/2 teaspoons of salt. Simmer,
uncovered, 50-60 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
Pour mixture into greased baking dish. Top with meat, lemon slices.
Bake 20-25 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and lentils are tender.
Discard onion and bay leaf.
Servings: 6 servings
Lamb Shanks With Lentils Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bean; Lamb; Meat; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
It is quite feasible to prove the history of recipes far back into the far past, certainly as far back as ancient Egypt, and possibly even further. Having said that, sadly, these ancient records were just very simple pictorial recipes for preparing meals.
In an interesting twist, the oldest recipe found, according to experts in ancient history are a few ancient tablets in ancient Sumerian which recount the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making those who drank it feel wonderful and blissful. Moving our culinary historical trip onwards, we find a couple of recipe books which appeared in the fourteenth century ; a book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary entitled `Curye on Inglish`. Surprisingly, these books have no connection with the spicy food that appears on menues today, but instead accounts of the types of meals eaten by the rich and wealthy people of that period. Over the next few hundred years, the powerful and wealthy houses competed to serve the most exotic meals, and as a result the best chefs and their recipe collections increased in prestige. Nevertheless, it wasn`t until the 19th century the formal cooking and recipe publications reached a high level of popularity. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, dedicated years of their lives to assembling, testing, and recording recipes for their fellow cooks to enjoy. When we get to the 1900s, cook books are highly popular mostly as a result of increased literacy, people having increased leisure time and a general increase in wealth. The arrival of TV gave us TV cooks and the recipe books that accompanied them. Which pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting everybody to search through massive numbers of recipes just like those on this web site. |
We hope you enjoy this Lamb Shanks With Lentils recipe.
