Rich And Comforting Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks In Red Wine Food

SLOW COOKED LAMB SHANKS IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 F degrees.
• Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper.
• In a large frying pan brown the lamb shanks on all sides in the olive oil; remove from pan and put into a large casserole dish to keep warm.
• In the same frying pan put in the carrots, onions, garlic, bay leaves and rosemary and cook slowly until nicely colored.
• Pour in the red wine, beef stock, and brown sugar into the frying pan and stir gently bringing it to a low boil.
• Pour the wine mixture over the lamb shanks; top up with water if needed.
• Cover; put in oven and cook for 2 1/2 - 3 hours until very tender.
• Remove the lamb shanks and keep warm and skim the fat off the top of the red wine juices.
• Mix together the cornflour with just a bit of cold water and whisk the cornflour mixture into the red wine juices until desired consistency.
• Serve up on individual plates and enjoy.

RICH AND COMFORTING SLOW COOKER LAMB SHANKS IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Brown the lamb shanks and place in the slow cooker. Add the onion soup, minced garlic and the chopped tomatoes.
• Add the oil and spices to a frying pan, and heat and stir. As the spices start to cook (darken in colour, very aromatic), add the wine and vinegar, whack up the heat and reduce to half volume. Add the reduction to the slow cooker and cook for 7-8 hours. An hour before serving, add the made-up cornflour to thicken the sauce. Alternatively, if you're not a fan of cornflour (am starting to go off it myself!), then you can add some instant mashed potato to thicken the sauce instead.
• I tend to take the shanks out at about 6 hours, remove the lamb skin (yuk!) and take the meat off the bone and back into the sauce to absorb more flavour. It also means that instead of serving one shank per person, you can actually get 9 good sized meals out of the 6 shanks.

SLOW COOKER LAMB SHANKS

Steps:

• Heat half the oil in a large frying pan.
• Toss the lamb in flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper; shake away excess and cook the lamb over high heat until browned all over; transfer to the bowl of a slow cooker.
• Add remaining oil the the same pan and sauté onions, carrots and garlic, stirring, over a medium heat for about 2 minutes or until the onion is starting to soften and then add the tomato paste and cook stirring for a further minute.
• Add the wine to the pan, bring to the boil and then stir in stock, undrained tomatoes, sugar and bouquet garni and bring the boil; pour over the lamb in the slow cooker, making sure the lamb is covered by the liquid.
• Cover and cook for 6 to 8 hours on the low setting or until lamb is soft and fall off the bone (see notes).
• Remove the lamb from the slow cooker and cover to keep warm.
• Turn the cooker to the high setting, cook uncovered for about 30 minutes or until sauce thicken slightly, removing any fat from the surface.
• Serve the lamb with the sauce, instant polenta and steamed green vegetables, if desired.
• Suitable to freeze but not to microwave.
• JULIE'S NOTES - I made this dish simultaneously in two types of slow cookers. It was interesting to see how the low settings differed between them. The cooking varied by about 2 hours, as one cooker had a much lower heat than the other. It is important to keep an eye out, taste as you go and use your own judgement. Bouquet garni is a bundle of fresh herbs, usually by leaf, sprig of thyme and parsley stalks, tied together with kitchen string. The bundle is removed at the end of cooking and discarded.