Slow cooker recipe - A winter favourite.

This slow cooker recipe and winter favourite comes from local chef and Guest Blogger, Grant Dicker – Find Grant on Facebook.

Frosty starts, steamy breath… Just some of the signs that it’s braising time… So you might be looking for a slow cooker recipe. There’s nothing better than going about your day and returning to a fantastic smelling home. Upon arrival, the warm and rich aroma fills the air; you instantly become hungry and wonder why you don’t use your slow cooker 365 days of the year.

I love my slow cooker and even in the restaurant I braise meat a lot. A slow, moist cooking technique for melt in the mouth texture that really imparts those wonderfully rich flavours.

Today my slow cooker recipe is for lamb shanks, those delicious, tender pieces of lamb. I’ve always enjoyed lamb shanks. There is a perfect balance between value and a great end result. They are full of flavour because the muscle does a lot of movement, but when cooked for long enough, they become one of the most tender cuts available.

2 tbsp olive oil
8 lamb shanks
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
3 fresh bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, left whole
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp tomato puree
350 ml white wine
500 ml lamb or chicken stock

Pour the oil in a frying pan large enough to fit all the shanks. Spend a good ten minutes browning the lamb all over. Remove the lamb, add the onion and carrot and cook for a couple of minutes until they are starting to brown. Stir in the herbs and garlic, put this in to the slow cooker.

Mix the flour and tomato puree, then pour in the wine and stock slowly while stirring and season well. Add to the slow cooker with the lamb shanks. Set to high and go do something fun! 6 – 8 hours later these tender little bundles of lamb will be ready!

If the sauce isn’t thick enough, remove the lamb from the pan and set aside. Put the pan back on the heat and reduce the sauce for a few minutes until it becomes rich and glossy. Pass through a sieve into a jug. Serve with buttery mash or polenta and steamed broccoli.

Simply wonderful on a cool evening.

Slow cooker recipe – A winter favourite.