4 lamb shanks
1 red onion
2 carrots
3 stalks celery
4 cloves garlic 
3 strips bacon 
1.5 c port wine
3/4 bottle red wine
3 rosemary sprigs
1 cinnamon stick
1.5 bay leaves
olive oil
salt/pepper
1 pat butter
1 T black mustard seeds


sear shanks in olive oil and set aside

render bacon and set aside
saute veggies until onions almost translucent
put bacon back in and continue until onions are translucent and veggies are soft

add lamb to pot with remaining ingredients, cover and barely simmer on low heat for 3 hours

45 min before, take out 1 cup of strained braising liquid and reduce in wide frying pan until it coats the back of a spoon.
Whisk in mustard seeds and butter and reduce for 5-10 more minutes.

Take out lambshanks and serve covered with the reduced sauce.

This can be made a day ahead of time and slowly reheated and served

Note:  keep the braising liquid and from the nearest Asian supermarket buy some Japanese curry roux (Java curry is my favorite) throw in some ground lamb if you can get it, some potatoes and maybe some zucchini.  You can freeze this and it is kid friendly even if the recipe itself is not.
