Ingredients

Serves 4-6

Shanks
8 lamb shanks
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground fennel seeds
Sea salt
Olive oil
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
½ tsp cayenne pepper
2 Spanish onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses, plus 1 tbsp extra
½ cup fresh coriander leaves

Puff or filo pastry for pies
Filo pastry for cigars

 

ANZAC-Style Biscuits
180g butter, at room temperature
100g (½ cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
80ml (⅓ cup) golden syrup
300g (2 cups) plain flour
40g (¼ cup) self-raising flour
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Oat Crumble Topping:
100g Flour
75g Butter
75g Sugar
50g Rolled Oats

Toffee:
1 cup sugar
½ cup water

Method

For the Shanks
Heat the oven to 180°C.

Combine salt, flour, spices and cayenne pepper. Toss shanks in mixture, reserving any that is left over.

Heat the oil in a heavy based casserole dish over medium heat. Add onion, ginger and garlic and stir well. Add lamb shanks, turning to coat with oil and cooking until just golden. Add any extra flour mixture that is left over and stir to combine.

Add chicken stock, wine, pomegranate molasses and cinnamon. Cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours or until shanks are tender.
 
Remove the shanks and whisk in extra pomegranate molasses. Return the pan with the liquid to the heat and simmer rapidly until reduced to a thick gravy consistency.  Remove from heat, cool and add chopped coriander.

At this stage you could serve the lamb with couscous or mash OR you could turn it into pies or filo cigars.

For pies:
Remove the meat from the bones and tear into bite size pieces. Return the meat to the reduced liquid.

Fill 1-2 cup ramekins with meat mixture and top with puff or filo pastry.  Bake at 200°C until pastry is golden and puffed.


For the filo cigars:
Remove the meat from the bones and tear into bite size pieces.  Return the meat to the reduced liquid.

Remove filo from the packet and cover with a very, very, slightly damp tea towel (you don’t want it so damp that it makes the pastry soggy). Using one sheet at a time, spray with olive oil spray or brush with butter. Fold in half. Spread 1-2 tablespoons of lamb mixture at the narrow end of the filo in a thin 10cm long cigar shape. Begin to roll the mixture, turning the ends of the pastry in to create a cigar shape. Spray with a little extra olive oil spray or brush with butter. Put onto a paper lined baking tray and bake at 200°C until golden and crisp.

Serve with minted yoghurt.


ANZAC Biscuits with a Twist

To make the biscuit dough, place butter and sugar in a medium bowl and beat with an electric beater until pale and creamy. Add the vanilla and golden syrup and beat until well combined.

Add the plain flour, self-raising flour and milk. Mix with a round-bladed knife in a cutting motion until mixture comes together. Turn onto a well floured surface and knead lightly until smooth. Divide dough in half and wrap each portion in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll one portion of dough until 5mm-thick. Cut out biscuits. Top with crumble topping and place on the lined trays.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven. Drizzle with toffee

Oat Crumble Topping
Place all the crumble ingredients except the oats in the food processor and process until they resemble coarse crumbs. Remove to a bowl and stir in oats.

Toffee
Mix water and sugar in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved.  Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until liquid is golden in colour. Remove immediately and place saucepan in sink of cold water to stop the cooking.
Drizzle toffee over the top of the biscuits.

Notes: This is the Anzac biscuit you have when you’re not having an Anzac biscuit!!
It has all the ingredients, golden syrup, oats and crunch, but in an updated form. The crumble topping is a little bit different and allows you to make a biscuit that you can cut into shapes – i.e. Australia, and the toffee at the end adds great texture and crunch. YUM