This is another braise, so popular in the French cookbooks we have used. Taking a tough cut of meat, adding wonderful flavors, and cooking it a long time – which is great because there is so little active time, and it mostly takes care of itself.
This time, lamb shanks. With a spice rub that needs to marinate for 8-24 hours. They then get browned before adding the aromatics to the mix. A nice pinch of saffron is added next. 
Some broth, the lamb shanks added back, and then finally covered, the tagine is ready for the oven.
Over the course of several hours, shanks are turned, dried apricots and raisins are added.
I used my new covered pan, and I imagine it wasn’t a great seal. The sauce really reduced quite a bit. For my 2 shanks, I used the full amount of the other ingredients.
I served this with a couscous mix. It looked pretty!
It was not for us. Smelled good, but while we love lamb, have no bias against sweet and savory combinations, it just wasn’t going to happen. I actually had a pretty thorough fail for the day! I made an apricot tart with garden apricots that I’d frozen. A shocking waste! But. I tried.
As much as we enjoy lamb, I’d not made shanks before. I imagine next time I’d tend toward the white bean, garlic, white wine spectrum. But who knows. I see that others have loved this, so I imagine it’s a personal preference thing. It’s how we learn!!
dulceshome 
The photos look fantastic! We loved it. We do love our lamb here in Australia 🙂
Lamb is a favorite here too! My dad grew up eating mutton in the farm so didn’t like it. Thankfully he traveled for work, and mom would make a leg of lamb when he was out of town sometimes!!
Great series of photos! And good for you for giving it a go!
The photos of this dish are across the board phenomenal and yours are no different! Interesting that it just didn’t work for you, despite how it should’ve based on your preferences. I’ll keep this in mind!
I know!! It should have been! Fun to make!
It was probably the look on mom’s face… 😉
You’ve made a beautiful dish every step of the way. Indeed, not every one likes lamb shank and the peculiar flavors. My husband likes the dish far better than me.
I do agree with you. I know how I like my lamb and even though this looks delicious and many bloggers enjoyed it, I think lamb is tasty enough to stand alone. When a meat is so pricy it’s really disappointing to not be fired up, so to speak, about the flavoring. That couscous recipe sounds yummy and I definitely will be making that when I return. Thanks for all your nice notes and comments this winter. Love hearing from you although I am a little testy about your letting your team come to Paris without you. Candy, what were you thinking?
This was not for me either, simply because of the fruit. The recipe was interesting, the lamb shanks were not worth the money, I could have bought 1 decent lamb chop (almost) for that price. That said, I really don’t mind because it’s such fun to cook along and learn new things. Your photos are all gorgeous, interesting to see the results as you go thru the recipe.
I’m generally not a big fan of fruit in my savory dishes, but I make an exception when it’s paired with lamb. I loved this dish and I love lamb shanks. This is a delicious lamb shanks recipe if you’d like to give them another go: https://www.sunset.com/recipe/lamb-shanks-parsnips-with-sherry-onion-sauce.
I don’t usually like fruit in savory either, though I liked this more than I thought I would, and Howard even ate it. Overall, it was too sweet though. White beans and garlic sounds like a better complement! Yum!