Lamb shank stew recipe
Cooking notes:
This recipe was done in a 4.5 litre Shuttle Chef thermal cooker. It was a crockpot recipe that I adapted. Because thermal cookers have to be full in order to retain the heat effectively, I added a can of tomato soup, which actually made it a bit *too* tomato-ey. Maybe next time I'll buy a few more lamb shanks to fill up the pot, and add more stock if it needs topping up.
You could probably reserve some of the sauce to thicken like a gravy, then strain and freeze the bulk of the remaining sauce for later. What I'm planning is to brown some mince and add the sauce (will probably need reducing / thickening) next time I make spaghetti.
Ingredients
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 teasp garlic, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes, or 2 cans if you want more sauce
1 dash worcestershire sauce
1 dash maggi seasoning (soy or tamari will do as alternatives)
1 cup red wine
1 cup V8 vegetable juice (optional)
2 dashes BBQ sauce
2 teasp paprika
1 teasp instant coffee, dissolved in a little water
¼ teasp salt
1 - 2 teasp sugar
1 - 2 cups carrots, diced
1 - 2 cups celery, diced
6 lamb shanks (small)
1 cup cream (optional, but goooood)
Polenta, to serve
Method
In inner pot:
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent
Brown lamb shanks (you may have to do this in batches)
Add carrot and celery, let brown awhile.
Add everything else (except for the sugar and salt, cream and polenta)
Bring to boil and simmer awhile
Taste. If required, adjust seasonings with sugar / salt / any other seasonings you like.
Make sure inner pot has been simmering on the stove, covered, at least half an hour before placing it in the outer pot.
Let cook for 6-8 hours (I think the longer the better)
Pour in a cup of cream (optional) or more (decadent!!)
If desired, thicken sauce with flour or cornstarch mixed with some of the liquid from the stew (but cooled).
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As for the polenta, I just made polenta according to the instructions on the box, added cream and a chopped up hunk of cheese, salt, cracked black pepper and nutmeg. Polenta might be good to make in the thermal cooker, I might investigate that as well some other time.