Lamb shank and mushroom risotto from Chef Behshad

VANCOUVER -

Here's how to make the lamb shank and mushroom risotto featured on the CTV Morning Live Cook Off on Friday, April 22.

Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients:

• Any choice of fresh mushrooms, ex. button mushroom, cremini mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, Shimeji mushrooms. Stay away from portobello.
• 1/3 small onion
• 2 shallots
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1 pack thyme
• 1 pack rosemary
• 3-4 tbsp. butter
• 200 g fresh grated parmesan
• 1 lemon
• 1 bunch parsley
• 3-4 cups vegetable stock (homemade or store-bought)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• Olive oil – on hand
• Salt and pepper – on hand

Procedure:

Start with “Mise en place” (preparation). Rough chop your mushrooms into small bite size pieces. Keep the pieces rough and NOT uniform (have fun with it).

Fine-dice your shallots and garlic and keep them separate.

Take 4-5 sprigs of thyme and 1-2 sprigs rosemary and chop them very fine. Keep them to the side. Chop 1 bunch of parsley with no stems. Try to cut it only once and not run your knife back and forth to ensure it doesn’t bruise and lose all its oils.

In a large pan on medium high heat, add 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil, and wait until it just begins to smoke. Once at smoking point add your mushrooms with a generous pinch of salt.

Once mushrooms have sauteed add your shallots, garlic, thyme, rosemary and continue to cook for 2-3 more minutes on medium high heat until the shallots and garlic have just cooked.

Add your white wine to the pan and reduce the liquid until 90% evaporated. Finally add 1-2 tablespoons of butter with half of your cut parsley and set aside to cool down.

For your risotto Blanco, add 1/2 and onion to a small pot with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium low heat. Onions need to be cooked but the key is to have zero colour on the onions, just cook until translucent.

Once the onions are cooked, add your Arborio rice. Toast the rice in the pan for 2-3 minutes. While the rice is toasting add your vegetable stock to a pot and bring up to a boil, then turn down to a simmer.

Once rice is toasted, add 1 ladle of stock at a time to your rice. Continuously stir with a spatula ensuring you get the bottom of your pan, so nothing burns. Keep adding singles ladles of hot stock to your rice until your rice is “al-dente” (soft but not mushy).

Once you're happy with the cook of your rice, add your mushrooms to your risotto Blanco and mix around.

To finish, take your hot risotto off the heat, and add two tablespoons of butter, all your parmesan, the rest of your parsley, and the zest of half of lemon for some brightness. Mix everything until smooth and creamy. Check for seasoning one last time, and plate your delicious mushroom risotto.

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Lamb Shank

Ingredients for 2:

• 2 lamb shanks
• 1 large onion
• 1 large carrot
• 2 stalks celery
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• 5-6 sprigs thyme
• 3-4 sprigs rosemary
• 2 dry bay leaves
• 1 bottle red wine - 3/4 for cooking, 1/4 to drink while cooking
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2-3 L vegetable stock
• 4-5 tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 tbsp butter

Procedure:

Start with “Mise en place” (preparation). Rough chop your “mirepoix” (onions, celery, carrots) into large pieces about 1 inch thick. Cut your tomato into the same size as carrots and onions and celery to ensure everything cooks the same time and keep your garlic whole!

In a large ovenproof pot, add 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil and bring up to smoking point at medium-high heat. Salt your lamb and add it to the oil once it begins to smoke. Caramelize your lamb shank in the hot oil.

Once lamb is coloured, remove from the pot and add your mirepoix, garlic and tomatoes and cook for 4-5 minutes until the veg have a nice colour on them.

Add your 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and mix with your veg for 1-2 more minutes to remove the bitterness of the tomato paste. After, add 1/2 bottle of red wine and cook out for 1-2 minutes until the alcohol smell is removed.

Add your rosemary, thyme and bay leaf to your veg to perfume your mixture.

Add the lamb shanks back to the pot and cover the lamb with veg stock. Cover with a lid or tin foil and bake at 375 F for 3 hours.

Once cooked, remove the lamb shanks and let rest for 10 minutes while you finish the sauce. To finish the sauce, strain the liquid from the lamb and, using the back of the ladle, press all the juices out of the veg while straining liquid.

In a separate saucepan, add another 1/4 of the bottle of wine and reduce by 50%. Add all the liquid from the lamb shank and reduce by 50% or until it’s a beautiful velvety sauce.

Last step is to add 1-2 knobs of butter and mix it with the sauce. Pour over your lamb and enjoy!

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Scallop

Ingredients and procedure:

Take 4 large scallops and take the muscle membrane off (very easy to remove - just peel it off).

Place them on some paper towels and ensure they are very dry before searing.

Take a large pan and turn the heat up to medium-high heat, add 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil and bring up to smoking point. Gently place the scallops in the pan and sear one side until caramelized.

Once caramelized flip the scallops and turn your heat down to medium, add 2-3 knobs of butter and baste your scallops until they are cooked.

For a U10 scallop it should take 1-2 minutes of basting. Scallops should have a beautiful sear on both sides and be soft to the touch (not rubbery).