I gotta admit that i was one who threw em in the grind pile. never again, braising shanks and whole front shoulders even has changed the way i look at those difficult cuts. excellent table fare!
Check out Steven renilla “meat eater” shanks recipe. Very good. His cook book is loaded with good recipes and highly recommend picking it up. Amazon throws it on sale for dirt cheap every few months
We have really expanded our cooking techniques the last few years. Used to cut out backstraps and cut up hams for frying and such and pretty much everything else went to the "grind" pile. I will say the neck roast is now our favorite cut for any type of "slow cook stew". Ribs have come a long way in the last couple of years as well. We plan on working on the shanks more this year. Thanks for sharing ideas. Probably my favorite forum to read on this site.