Usually on weeknights, I have a soft spot for quick and easy recipes. Not too many ingredients, not too much prep, easy cooking. Usually.

Since I cook because of the freedom of choice it gives me in terms of culinary indulgence, from time to time I get overwhelmed by that urge to cook purely for taste, never mind the effort.

So this week has seen me do somewhat long recipes on two days straight.

Monday, I cooked Lamb Shanks in Indian spices. If you have cooked Raan, North Indian Moghul style Roast Leg of Lamb, you will know the sort of dish.

This one started with an impulse buy in the supermarket – I saw a pack of 2 New Zealand lamb shanks and immediately thought of using them in this dish.

So, a lot of trimming of the shanks, preparation of marinade, frying the whole spices and masala, adding in the shanks, then transferring all to a casserole just large enough to hold the shanks.

I would have liked to have done 3 hours in the oven at 110°C / 230°F, but I started late because it was a busy day, and settled for 150°C / 300°F for 2 hours. Plus 10 minutes under the broiler.

This is not one of those stick it in the oven and leave it dishes. Since there is very little masala, it is fairly dry and does not even qualify as a braise. So, the shanks had to be turned after 45 minutes, 90 minutes, 2 hours then again after 5 minutes under the broiler, each time spooning some masala over the shanks.

It turned out well, served with rice, an Indian style tomato soup and a very un-Indian French beans sautéed in butter.

Tuesday, I decided to cook an Indonesian ox-tail soup. This one is a joy – it took much experimenting before I finally created a recipe I was happy with.

It does however have a number of steps that are there purely for taste and quality, at the expense of expediency. I first slowly bring the ox-tails to a boil in plain water, removing scum as it rises. Then that water gets discarded and the pot scrubbed off to remove any scum sticking to it.

I then start over, frying spices etc, until the water goes in again, then simmer for 2 hours. This too is not a leave it sort of dish. It does require periodic monitoring that it is at no more than a simmer. If you boil it with all the fat still there, it will become an oily emulsion, ie. ruined.

After 2 hours simmering, in go the vegetables, then simmer for another 30 minutes. Put the pot into a basin of water to cool it down. After 3 changes of water, it is cool enough to go in the fridge. That will allow the flavours to mature and the fat to solidify on the surface.

Today, Wednesday, I will de-fat the soup, re-heat it, season, garnish, and we will have it for dinner.

Quite a week. I also took all the requisite photos, and will be publishing the articles and recipes on my site in due course.

And was it all worth it? I reckon so. Easy stuff gets boring after a while.