I have just been tidying and editing recipes and was amused to see that we have quite a few lamb shank and oxtail recipes here.
Something that 10 years ago I would have cooked regularly but now I don't at all.
Do you?

Funnily enough just today my husband has asked for some lamb shanks this week. I eat very little red meat but happy to cook them for him. I haven't cooked them in a long time.

I buy and cook lamb shanks regularly, especially in winter. I hardly ever buy oxtail these days because it is so expensive - around $20 for enough for two. I'd rather spend that sort of money on good steak.

I cook them quite regularly, a firm favourite with visiting family and the best, most asked for is your recipe, Helen, with peas and mint. Absolutely delicious !

The days when those two items were small pleasures for a small price have long gone thanks to restaurants elevating them to almost Ambrosia status! The man in the street can no longer afford them on a regular basis.

Why dont you make them anymore

I browsed the lamb shank recipes but in the end decided not to pursue to various reasons.

I no longer cook oxtail but I like lamb shanks. I still think they are expensive in comparison to a whole leg of lamb, especially when it is on special. I often substitute trimmed lamb shoulder chops for lamb shanks.

I've just bought two lamb shanks on special for $7.95 - a meal for me for 2 days. Delicious using a new casserole recipe that involves red wine, balsamic vinegar, shallots and orange juice and zest... But when they're not on special they are expensive. One reason for buying them is that sheep are generally farmed sustainably - and they're free range!

I love lamb shanks but I think I have a mental block that physically stops me paying so much for something I used to pay 50c for. Yes, it's cutting off my nose to spite my face, but I just can't do it! I'd rather spend my money on other cuts/proteins.

50c?

When I lived at home on the farm as a kid, we of course killed our own beef and lamb. Lamb shanks were regarded as dog tucker, not fit for human consumption. I therefore begrudge paying the extortianate price they now command (I don't see them on special very often in our supermarket) but I succumb once or twice every winter and cook them in the crockpot trying different recipes - delicious and melt-in-your-mouth tender.

I have never cooked oxtail but I bought some on special a couple of weeks ago which is still in the freezer. I am going to try making oxtail soup this weekend.

Regards,

Barbara Anne



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2017 01:39AM by Barbara Anne.

I love oxtail but like others also quibble at the price, especially as we still have an adult son living here who would probably demolish a whole tail by himself. We too used to live on a farm so have been spoiled with the previous availability of meat & other small goods. But I cannot bring myself to like lamb shanks - not sure if the ones I have tried have been hoggets (or older) but they have been tough & gristley (sp) & for the amount of $$$ they are, I wont buy them to cook anymore. Friends ordered them when out for dinner last week & they looked delish, just nothing like mine Plus DH has varying levels of gout (another big long story) & he wont/cant eat foods cooked with red wine - so there is a flavour enhancer suddenly removed.

The oxtails mentioned though remind me of when I first married & had a 4yr old DS who loved the whole farm experience - my new husband told him that the meal he was eating one evening was the tail of the cow in the yards they had passed on their way home earlier (a slight exaggeration on that day) but yes, when beasts were slaughtered, we did benefit from oxtails. Son was horrified, promptly refused to eat another mouthful, & then in future if he saw the tell-tale oxtail bones would make a lot of fuss about dinner. If however the meat was carefully removed from the airplane shaped bones, he happily ate all of his tea & asked for 2nds. No dislike of oxtail now hes grown with children of his own thankfully.