The Slow Cooker

Now Autumn is well and truely upon us I've dusted off the slow cooker we purchased last year and with the encouragement of a great slow cooker feature in November's issue of Delicious magazine my love for the long and lengthy cooking process is renewed.

In my pork experiments I made a slow cooked belly of pork but keen to experiment with other meats yesterday I purchased some Lamb Shanks from the butcher.....

I used the slow cooker to cook the Lamb Shanks (recipe below) which I was hesitant about at first, not being a fan of meat on the bone, but it turned out so tender and meltingly gorgeous that it fell off the bone. it was also so visually impressive whilst being low maintenance that I could be easily persuaded to cook them again perhaps for sunday lunch or a dinner party.
Most importantly it went down well with the boy and earnt me more than a few brownie points.

I'll be trying the Creamy Pot Roast Chicken later in the week and hope that this method of cooking helps me get over my dislike of bones in meat... finger crossed.
If it does work I'll post the recipe here soon....


Lamb Shanks
Serves 4
460 kcals per serving
Takes 10 minutes to prepare and 8 hours in the slow cooker.

2 red onions, finely sliced
1 garlic bulb, cloves separated
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
400g can of chopped tomatoes
20ml good quality balsamic vinegar
125ml red wine
200ml lamb or chicken stock
4 x 350g lamb shanks

1) Place the onion, whole garlic cloes and rosemary in the slow cooker. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, wine and stock. Season well and stir well to mix together.
2)Brown the lamb shanks all over in a large frying pan over a high heat, then add them to the slow cooker, pushing them into the sauce so they are covered.
3) Cover with a lid and cook on the low setting for 8 hours. Skim off any fat that has risen to the surface, then serve with creamy mashed potato.