A friend was somewhat blown away on a recent visit to the United States, when she found on the menu of what purported to be a very upmarket restaurant, Pig’s Cheek, which she was in the habit of feeding to her dog!

However, the experience does point up how in recent times, cuts of meat which were once cheap and regarded as food for the poor, if not considered as waste or pet food, have found their way on to restaurant menus as “comfort” food or gourmet dishes – with the corresponding increase in value!

Such cuts are often ideal for the current fashion for “slow cooking” which, of course, is not fashion at all, but the way in which our mothers and grandmothers did most of their cooking of cheaper meat cuts. Remember how meat cooked at low heat in the oven or on the stove for most of the day fell off the bone it was so tender, and came in rich, succulent gravy?

Lamb Shanks – or as one butcher we know calls them “Lamb’s Walking Sticks” – need to be slow cooked, but they are juicy and flavourful and make a wonderful cold weather dinner. The meat on Lamb shanks is lean but it is tough because the meat is, essentially, well-exercised muscle. Thus, it needs to be moist and cooked very slowly; if shanks are cooked quickly, the meat becomes tough and probably only the dog could get his teeth into it!

So, the secret is in a delicious sauce and slow, slow cooking – or braising - to let the flavours develop and the meat become tender as tender. In fact, lots of cheaper cuts of meat respond well to braising – and often have far more flavour than expensive, lean cuts.

Cook your lamb shanks in a heavy pan with a tight-fitting lid – or you could use a crockpot or pressure cooker. You need to brown the meat. Make sure the oil is hot - and do the browning pretty quickly. You are not cooking the meat at this stage, but developing flavour…and don’t discard the little tasty bits that stick to the foot of the pan as they are the basis of your sauce.

Tip:Lamb shanks can be used as a substitute for veal shanks in Osso Bucco.

Try some of the website recipes for a filling and warming main dish at dinner. Braised Lamb Shanks in Merlot with Figs is quite a fancy dish which you could comfortably serve to guests and earn braise for your culinary skill!

Steaming hot Pumpkin and Chilli Risotto is perfect for a cold night’s dinner and you can add lamb shanks to it, flavoured with sweet hot Middle Eastern flavours.

Here’s an all-in-the-one-pot dish. Red Wine Marinated Roast Lamb Shanks with Onions is delicious and easy.

Ras-el-Hanout is a Moroccan spice blend for which there is no one recipe – it can contain many spices and in Morocco, every cook has her own secret mix! Whatever you use, Roasted Ras-el-Hanout Lamb Shanks will be succulent and aromatic.

Spanish Lamb Shanks, as the name suggests, bring the flavours of Spain to your table.

Tomato Baked Lamb Shanks are very simple and easy to prepare.