Winter Favourite - Red Wine Lamb Shanks

 Winter is the best time month to leave stuff bubbling away in your slow cooker, I usually do it overnight so my apartment smells amazing in the morning and then I can't wait for lunch.

But this time I managed to wait and save it for dinner, O lamb shanks, o lamb shanks, why did I wait so long to try you out again? Years ago, living in Sydney, I had attempted to make lamb shanks but unfortunately, the meat just stayed stuck to the bone, and I never really got over that disappointment.


Lamb Shank with Sweet Potato Mash & Pomegranate Salad

I finally decided to conquer my failure and try it again. I saw these pomegranates at the market and just couldn't resist them. Just the thought of their little sweet juicy gems can bring a smile to my face.

 

And you can't make a stew without something to sop up the sauce, initially I was going for cauliflower mashed, but it was twice the normal price at the moment so I settled for some sweet potato, which is just as good.

Ingredients for the Lamb Shank:

Onion                  Salt/Pepper
Garlic                  Tomato Paste
Carrot                  Can of Tomato
Lamb Shanks       Worcestershire
Red Wine             Sugar
Stock                   Flour Mixed Spice        Bay leaf               

Directions

• Dust the lamb shanks in flour that's seasoned with salt and pepper and brown it in a pan
• Meanwhile, add the paste, can of tomato, seasoning, sauce, bay leaf to the slow cooker
• Add the lamb in slow cooker
• Brown the onion, garlic and carrot, then to slow cooker
• Top up with red wine and stock up to 7/8 of the shank.
• Cook it on low for 8 hrs (I did this and went to bed or in the morning before going to work)

After consuming the meat-falling-off-don't-even-need-knife-from-bone, there was still quite a  bit of sauce left and since I didn't want to waste it, I dumped some mystery meat I had frozen in my freezer and set my slow cooker to work again, Ta-Da 2 meals in one!

Dinner for 1

So I'm determined to post a bit more this year than I did last year....and one of the recipes I'd like to share is this ridiculously easy Berlotti Beans with Tomato Stew. With Melbourne's crazy weather, one day it's 30 degrees plus but then the next drop to the teens. A hearty bean stew sure warms your body and soul when it's suddenly very cold. But this would still be great during warmer weather.

Easiest Stew Ever!

 

The original recipe recommended 20 minutes cooking time, but since I did this in my slow cooker it didn't even count. I chucked everything into the crockpot in the morning before I head out and I am greeted by a delicious aroma when I open the door in the evening when I get home. This just made me so happy and so little efforts involved.

So Healthy and economical

 Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups dried Berlotti Beans rinsed well (no need soaking overnight)
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 diced onion
• 2 diced carrots
• Allspice
• Rosemary
• Mixed herbs
• Chili powder
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 Stock cubes
• Chopped Parsley

Directions:

• Dump all but the parsley into the slow cooker, cover with water and leave it on high/auto
• Go to work/play/sleep
• Ta da, all ready when your house seems slightly smokey (in the bbq way, not the burning house way)
• To serve, top with chopped parsley

Slow-cooker Venture

Jamaican Stewed Peas before cooking

I do love my slow-cooker, especially during Winter. I often just chuck stuff in right before bedtime and wake up to an aromatic house. Honestly I think the smell wakes me up most of the time. LOL

So I've used my slow cooker over 4 times in the past week and a half, because my cooker is so big, I generally make a massive pot enough to feed 6 people - but there's only me. So I get sick of left overs really really fast. My friends and colleagues at work have been dragged into

tasters of my slowcooking venture. So far I have made Chinese Soups, Jamaican Stew and also an Italian dish.

Stewed Peas ah Ready!

Here's the Jamaican Stewed Peas recipe:
Ingredients

• 2 tins of Red Kidney Beans
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 1 ham hock
• 1 pack of gravy beef/chuck steak
• 1 onion chopped
• 3 clove garlic chopped
• 1 tspn ginger
• bunch of spring onion
• bunch of thyme
• Chili (I added lots)
• sprinkle of allspice, cloves, cinnamon
• Salt & Pepper to taste

And basically you just chuck everything in the slow cooker and wake up to deliciousness! This is such a comfort food dish for me and always brings a smile to my face. The authentic Jamaican version would have pigs tail instead of hamhock and also spinners (little doughy fingers that I was too lazy with)

Before: Chicken Cacciatorie

And the other thing I made was Italian Chicken Caccaitore, though it was ok for me. I have friends who raved about this dish, but maybe I used too much liquid and it was too soupy. Even though I left the lid off 2 hours before end.

But the slow cooker is great for Chinese soups! OMG why haven't I been doing this before? I looove soups, my family used to nickname me "Tong Wun" aka Soup Bowl because I would just drink bowls and bowls of soup everytime at dinner. I made Ginseng Chicken soup and also Dried veg with pork bones, carrots and shitake mushroom soup and they were great!