Slow cooked lamb shanks

Lamb shanks might not sound like the most romantic of meals but providing your other half is a meat eater there is something that feels pretty special about it.

I mean look at that?  Meltingly tender meat with lovely fresh vegetables.  That's romance on a plate that is!

Alternatively if you are on your own, this is a great special meal or Sunday Lunch option.  I cooked two shanks together and took the meat off the second one, serving with leftover gravy and vegetables heated in a microwave at work (in front of jealous stares.)


Slow cooked lamb shanks - serves 2, reheats well off the bone

Ingredients

2 Small lamb shanks
4 Shallots or 2 small onions
1 Carrot
1 Stick celery
1 Dried bay leaf
A knob of butter
2 Cloves of garlic
1 Small glass of red wine
200ml, 7 fl oz, 3/4 cup Home made chicken stock or low salt commercial chicken stock
1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
An additional tsp butter

Method

Dry fry the lamb shanks in a non stick frying pan to brown.  Ignore old recipe books which talk about "sealing" this is to add flavour due to the Maillard reaction.  Put into a slow cooker.

Heat the frying pan again and add in the chopped shallots, carrot and celery, fry for a few minutes over a medium heat until the onion is translucent.  Add in the chopped garlic and fry for a further minute.  Add to the slow cooker with the bay leaf.

Deglaze the pan with the wine then add to the slow cooker with the hot stock.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for longer.  Be guided by your slow cooker as they vary.  It's ready when the lamb is meltingly soft but not quite fallen off the bone.

Take out the shanks and keep warm.  Strain the gravy into a sauce pan and heat on a hob.  Mix the cornflour with cold water, pour into the sauce, stirring all the time as you add and finish with the tsp of butter.

Pour the sauce over the shanks as served on a plate and serve accompanied with vegetables.