Lamb Shank, "Muslim" Curry, Candied Orange and Carrot Palau, Honey-Saffron Foam, many garnishes

It's been quite some time since I've done a plated dish from Modernist Cuisine. I literally just moved to a new kitchen; which, while exactly as small as my last, is way, way sexier. And just like in prison (I guess?) I had to show it who's boss right away, lest it get any ideas. I picked this recipe kind of by default: I saw really nice looking lamb shanks at the butcher's counter and remembered that there was a lamb recipe in the book. Lamb vindaloo (goan) is probably one of my top 5 favorite things in the universe, but the instructions made literally no sense on their own and especially relative to the picture. Then I figured: hey, I'm Muslim - I'll do the Muslim one... And I can probably put the leftover curry sauce on some pork belly and really seal my fate in brown hell.

One last thing before I get started: this recipe uses a gratuitous amount of saffron. Like, way more than you're going to be comfortable with. I really should have just made a kessel run on the way home from whole foods.

Sous Vide Lamb Shank

2 lamb shanks (about 1.6lb)

100g beef stock

2 bay leaves

salt, as needed

pepper, as needed

Season the lamb shanks generously with salt and pepper and vacuum pack with the beef stock and bay leaves. Cook sous vide at 144F for 48 hours.Chill in an ice bath and reserve.

Okay, I'm not sure if I was supposed to pack the lamb in tomato puree but it wasn't clear and so I didn't bother making a batch just for that. I had some fresh beef stock on hand and thought, why not. My guess is that cooking the lamb in rendered fat would work the best.

Ghee

237g butter (i.e. a whole thing of it)

While on very low heat, allow the butter to melt. Continue to develop the butter at very low heat for 45 minutes. Transfer to a tall and narrow glass and allow the butter to solidify. Scoop the milk solids off of the top and drain off the watery liquid from the bottom. 

I don't know if I've ever had ghee before, but I can totally get on board with the fact that everything that follows is going to be cooked in it. And almost all of this is going to be used up.

Muslim Curry
40g ghee, from above
110g sweet onion, sliced thinly
7g ginger, grated
7g garlic, grated

Saute the onions in ghee on medium heat until they are beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger to the pan and continue to saute for an additional 5 minutes, or until fragrant.

Muslim Curry Cont. 
2g black peppercorns
2g green cardamom seeds (like 15 pod's worth)
2g cinnamon
2g cumin seeds
0.8g mace blades

While the onions are cooking, combine all of the spices and toast in a dry pan in the oven at 340F for 10-15 minutes, or until fragrant. Don't go anywhere or they'll burn. Pulverize all of the spices in a spice / coffee grinder until a fine powder has formed. 

Muslim Curry Cont. 
sauteed onion / ghee mixture, from above
ground spice blend, from above
0.8g nutmeg, grated
4g cane / raw sugar
200g heavy cream
60g water
16g butter
5g rose water
4g lime juice
3g salt
0.8g saffron threads

Combine the onion mixture, spice blend, nutmeg, cane sugar, heavy cream, and water and simmer for 30 minutes while stirring occasionally. Afterwards, whisk in the butter, rose water, lime juice, salt, and saffron. After the mixture has cooled to room temperature, blend until smooth. Reserve.

I've got two things of creme up there because the unscrupulous dairy peddlers at whole foods thought it was okay to sell me spoiled cream so I had to go out and get more mid-recipe! Also, I added the bit about blending until smooth because it just makes way more sense that way.

Candied Orange and Carrot Pulao
45g orange zest

Bring a pot full of cold water and the orange zest to a boil. Drain the water from the orange zest and repeat this process 2 more times.

While I added this step, in my opinion it isn't optional. Unless you like disgustingly bitter things. But it's up to you.

Candied Orange and Carrot Pulao Cont.
orange zest, from above, cut into a fine julienne
45g water
25 sugar

Combine all of the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Reduce until the mixture is syrupy.

Candied Orange and Carrot Pulao Cont. 

candied orange zest, from above

70g carrots, cut into a fine julienne

30g ghee, from above

Saute the carrots in ghee until tender and combine with the candied orange zest. Reserve.

Saffron Honey Foam

100g water

0.4g saffron

36g honey

1.4g soy lecithin

0.2g whey protein isolate

salt, as needed

Steep the saffron in the water for 10 minutes. Combine the saffron and water with the remaining ingredients except for the salt and blend until fully incorporated. Season with salt, vacuum seal, and reserve.

Phew! Home stretch! 

To Complete (per serving)

lamb shank

muslim curry sauce

honey saffron foam

3g roasted almonds

3g roasted pistachios

5g dates, pitted and sliced thinly

2 red rose petals

1 white rose petal

1g rose water

fleur de sel, as needed

for the pulao:

300g + 450g water

170g basmati rice

candied orange zest and carrot mixture

35g ghee

2.5g salt + more as needed

 

Begin by reheating the lamb shanks at 136F for at least 1 hour, if necessary. 

Meanwhile, soak the rice in the 300g of reserved water and 2.5g of salt for 30 minutes. Drain the rice from the water and toast the rice in ghee for 10 minutes while stirring gently but constantly. Add the remaining 450g of water as well as the candied zest / carrot mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and allow the rice to cook for 10 additional minutes. Fluff with a fork, season with salt, and reserve.

Heat the curry sauce and froth the honey-saffron mixture with an immersion blender. Arrange the lamb shank, some curry sauce, pulao, a few spoonfuls of honey-saffron foam, almonds, pistachios, dates, rose water, and rose petals as desired. Season the lamb shank with a few grains of fleur de sel.

 

Whoops! I just noticed how overexposed that last photo was - so sorry about that! This dish was kind of hit and miss for me. First off, all of the components tasted so so good by themselves, but for my taste, I'm not super into the rice with the meat here. Also, I feel like the foam is barely adding anything to the plate and the rose petals are completely superfluous. That said, it was a total surprise how amazing the combination of the nuts, dates, lamb, and curry are. I mean, this curry sauce is fucking legit as hell. And the nuts are really so important for textural contrast. And holy shit, this is pretty much how I've got to make lamb from now on.

Until next time!