WHO EATS THE EYES?:

Missionary Man (ALEKXANDRA CRAPANZANO, 7/07/07, NY Times)

I had been warned that “The River Cottage Meat Book,” by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, contained photographs that would possibly turn me into a vegetarian. But as I leafed through the 543-page tome (something of a cross between a cookbook and a treatise on all things meat), pausing here and there to ogle a perfectly marbled hunk of beef or a hunter’s bounty of hanging partridges, I felt no unpleasant sensations. Then, as I reached for the phone to call my local butcher, the book fell open to a photograph of a cow, seconds before slaughter, staring up at me with big, innocent eyes. Butcher undialed, I shut the book.

Until the following morning, when curiosity and appetite again prevailed. “The River Cottage Meat Book,” after all, has become something of a cult best seller in England, where Fearnley-Whittingstall is a much-admired chef, farmer, TV host and sustainable-food activist (River Cottage is his food-advocacy organization). I cracked the book a second time, careful nevertheless to jump straight to the recipe section in the second half — thereby avoiding all torture scenes and moral jeremiads in the first. [...]

Citrus-Braised Lamb Shanks

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 carrot, finely diced

1 onion, finely diced

2 celery ribs, finely diced

3 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 ½ cups white wine

1 cup chicken broth

Juice and finely grated zest of

1 lemon

Juice and finely grated zest of

1 orange

4 12-ounce New Zealand lamb shanks

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped parsley, for garnishing.

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in a large casserole. Add the carrot, onion and celery, and sweat over low heat, until tender. Add the thyme, bay leaves, garlic, tomato paste, wine, and broth, along with all but a few pinches of the zests and a tablespoon of each juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer.

2. Meanwhile, season the lamb with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining olive oil in a separate large sauté pan and brown the shanks on all sides. Add the shanks to the casserole and cover. Transfer to the oven and cook until the meat is completely tender, about 2 1/2 hours.

3. Remove the shanks from the pan and keep warm. Skim the fat from the surface of the sauce. Reduce the sauce to the desired consistency. Stir in the reserved citrus juices and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the lamb shanks and sauce on warmed plates (with Israeli couscous or some good bread). Sprinkle with a little parsley and the remaining citrus zest.