I’ll start this with a little warning…well more of advice..mutton is gamey, very gamey so if you enjoy these types of robust ‘field’ flavours then try these instead of the usual lamb shanks.

And given that it’s St Patrick’s day I think this dish is good alternative to the omni-present Irish Stew – which in itself is great but a little on the done-to-death side or if you want a total tangent then check out these Monkfish medalions by Conor Bofin

So these went into a low oven – 120c for 6 hours and we headed to County Wicklow leaving the mutton to simply blip away as we climbed the Sugar Loaf mountain….no sugar and no loaves…just plenty of exertion and hot tea at the summit which is roughly 4 kms up and back….and people wonder why have but t-cheeks of granite………

Ingredients serves 2

2 Mutton Shanks

1 bottle of top red plonk

4 fat cloves of garlic

1 sprig of Rosemary

1 sprig of Thyme

100mls chicken stock

1 large carrot cut into rough chunks

In all honesty there is nothing to these – you just need time. Kick things off by removing any access fat from the shanks, season well and brown all over in a frying pan. Add the shanks to a deep casserole dish, add the wine, the stock herbs and garlic. Make sure your casserole has a tight-fitting lid to keep all the moisture inside.

Sling into a pre-heated oven at 120c and leave to slowly braise for 4-6 hours

So here’s the skinny – you can serve these straight outta the oven onto buttered mash or you can leave them to cool completely to have 2 or 3 days later if you wish – simply bring them up to temperature slowly in teh oven.