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Put a small amount of fat into your pot.(duck is best, but others will do) Heat this up & then put the shanks in and brown turning frequently.
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Meanwhile be chopping up the Onion, carrot, celery mixture.(How finely you chop depends upon how you plan to finish the dish.More on this later).
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Peel & roughly chop the garlic.
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When the shanks are nicely browned remove them from the pot & set aside.Put the vegetable mixture along with the garlic & bay leaves into the pot, turn down the heat to low, cover the pot & sweat the mixture for at least 20 minutes.
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Rub your rosemary & thyme as you strip the leaves from the stalks.
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Put the lamb shanks back into the pot with the sweated veggies.Add the herbs.Add the wine & stock to just cover.(I like to use about 50% wine, 50% stock.) Give everything a light seasoning.
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Bring to the boil then back down to a simmer.Cover & simmer slowly for at least 3 hours.Check & stir occasionally.
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At the end of this first cooking take the shanks out & put them in the fridge separately from the vegetables & sauce.
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Next day bring everything back up to room temperature having skimmed off any fat from the sauce.(there normaly woN°t be much if any.) Now its decision time.How to finish the dish as there are lots of variations.
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A) my favorite 'classic' version.for this one I would have chopped the veggies much more finely.I would now add some crushed juniper berries and about 3 oz of tomato puree.Everything back into the pot for at least 2 hours covered.Shanks out.Veggies & stock through a strainer or food mill then back into the pot for a final reduction.Add some butter just before serving to give a nice finish.Serve over potatoes, rice or other root vegetables.
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B) An Italian, "osso bucco" slant.As in A, but no juniper.Add oregano & fennel seeds, the tomato puree & a can of italian plum tomatoes, drained.Cook as before except stir more often to crush the plum tomatoes.Serve over pasta, polenta or rice.
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C) The 'stew' version.This is the one I've shown with roughly chopped veggies.I now, for the second cooking, add green lentils (about 4 oz per person) or white beans which have been soaked & pre-cooked.Everything together & cook for closer to 3 hours than 2.Serve as is.There are about as many variations upon this basic recipe as there are cooks.
Prep time 
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