itsdelicious2

Lamb shanks stew

  

First, an apology. The picture above is the only time you will see the actual shanks because in my eagerness to devour the meal, I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish. Seeing these shanks in a local supermarket at a reasonable price I snapped them up at once as lamb is often difficult to come by here, especially fresh shanks like these. After a flick through some cookery books for inspiration, I decided to once again unpack the slow cooker from its back of the cupboard home and make a long, slow cooked stew rendering the meat so tender as to fall off the bone and filling the kitchen with savoury, citrus-y aromas.

Recipe: Lamb shank stew

2 lamb shanks

1 red onion, cut into quarters

4 cloves garlic, left whole

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

4 sprigs of thyme

6 mushrooms, halved

1 cup chicken stock (home-made from previous post)

1/4 cup dry sherry

1 orange, cut into segments

6 tomatoes, halved

salt and pepper

• First, sear the shanks in 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan until browned. Remove to the slow cooker.

• Add the onion to the frying pan and stir around over medium heat to absorb the juices from the meat. (If there are lots of little brown bits in the pan still, add some water to de-glaze and add to the slow cooker).

• Add the onions and all other ingredients to the slow cooker, turn to high, cover and cook for 3 - 4 hours. The meat should be falling off the bone and the vegetables soft with a rich, meaty juice, smelling slightly citrus-y from the orange and herbal from the mint and thyme.

• Remove the meat to plates and keep warm. If you want you can transfer the sauce to a saucepan and boil for 10 minutes until thickened or just spoon a little over and use the rest for a soup the next day as I did. (see below). Serve with mashed potatoes or asparagus and a little mint sauce with vinegar to freshen and sharpen the rich meat.

This made the most delicious soup the next day, heated through with a little extra mint sauce, it was deeply savoury with a meaty flavour and zing from the mint.