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Braised Lamb Shanks, a Crock Pot Version

paula

Although I am more of a pressure cooker kind of person, I do occasionally plan far enough in advance to use my crock pot for a slow cooked dish or meal. Braising a lesser cut of meat is an excellent use of a crock pot.

It is amazing to me that you can take a really tough cut of meat and turn it into something tender and delicious by simply by slowly cooking it in a liquid.

Lamb shanks are one of the most noticeably transformed meats I have ever made.   When I look at the raw product, it is hard for me to believe that it will ever be edible…let alone really good.

 

 

Braised lamb shanks in a rich sauce served with mashed potatoes or parsnip puree is one of the ultimate hearty, colder weather comfort foods.

Although it is a very tough cut of meat, many people do not think of any cut of lamb as inexpensive.  However, it is relatively inexpensive compared to other cuts of lamb and many cuts of beef.   Because we purchase our lamb from a local farmer, we often buy it by the half so the cost is the same as the rest of the lamb for us.

Most recipes call for one shank per person.   If you are dealing with larger shanks (or shanks of mixed sizes), you might find one shank is plenty to feed one adult and one child and even have some leftover.  Leftover lamb shank (and other braised meat) is wonderful the next day.

 

Recipe: Braised Lamb Shanks, A Crock Pot Version

Ingredients:

  • 2 – 4 lamb shanks (generally, one per person)
  • salt, to taste
  • pepper, to taste
  • 2 – 3 Tbsp. oil
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 4 – 5 carrots, thickly sliced
  • 1 tsp. garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp. rosemary, chopped (dried or fresh)*
  • 15 oz. tomato sauce, low sodium
  • 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 1 part beef stock, low sodium**
  • 1 part chicken stock, low sodium**
  • 1 Tbsp. Wondra or all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. Herbs de Provence
  • 1 tsp. or to taste, sugar (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Salt and pepper each lamb shank that has been dried with a towel. Or, add the salt and pepper to a cup of all-purpose flour…then coat each lamb shank in the flour mixture.
  2. In a heavy bottomed skillet, Dutch Oven, or similar pan, add oil and high heat.
  3. One (or two at most) at a time, brown each side of the lamb shanks.
  4. Remove each lamb shank as they are well browned and place in a slow cooker.
  5. After all lamb shanks are browned, drain excess oil from pan.
  6. Return pan with remaining oil to medium heat. Add onions and carrots.
  7. When onions are soft, add garlic.
  8. Continue to cook a couple of minutes after garlic has been added (until the onions start to turn brown). Then, pour over lamb shanks in slow cooker.
  9. Return the pan to the heat and add a half cup of the broth to deglaze the pan.
  10. Add tomato sauce, rosemary, and red wine vinegar to the deglazed pan until the mixture comes to a simmer.
  11. Add the simmering mixture to the slow cooker.
  12. Then add enough beef and chicken stock until shanks are about 3/4 covered in liquid.
  13. Add salt, if you’ve used low sodium products.
  14. Cover and cook on high for 4 – 4 1/2 hours or on low for 8 – 9 hours or until meat is fork tender.
  15. Remove lamb shanks from slow cooker and skim fat off top of remaining sauce.
  16. Once most of the fat is removed, pour the sauce into a heavy bottomed pan (the one used earlier).
  17. Add Wondra or a slurry made of flour and some of the sauce’s liquid to thicken the sauce.
  18. Bring sauce to a boil, then add sugar, Herbs de Provence, and season to taste.
  19. Boil until desired thickness, then place lamb shanks in sauce to reheat the lamb.
  20. To serve, ladle the carrot laden sauce over the lamb.

Notes:

* If you don’t care for rosemary, you can use thyme, bay leaves, or whatever herb you like with lamb.
** Beef and Chicken stock is combined so that the beef doesn’t overpower the lamb. Of course, you can just use lamb or just chicken stock.

Copyright © 2013.
Recipe by Paula, A Simple Home Cook.

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