This week, Roy has really been noticing the cold weather, and with Winter now upon us, thought it was time to show you how to make a great Winter warmer. He loves stews and soups, and has so many recipes to choose from, but one stood out, these delicious lamb shanks. Once, lamb shanks were a cheap and cheerful food, but they have become quite a gourmet treat and their price has increased. It is worth splashing out on some really good shanks for this dish though - you won't regret it! So this week, Roy Creates Delicious Lamb Shanks With Plums.
You Will Need:
- 6 to 8 good sized lamb shanks
- 2 onions roughly chopped
- 3 or 4 cloves of garlic (depending on how large they are!)
- 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger (you can use bottled ginger, but the taste won't be as fresh or strong)
- A large tin of plums in juice.
- 4 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons of white vinegar
- Dried chilli flakes to taste (about 1/2 a teaspoon is what the original recipe indicates but Roy likes more)
- 1 rounded teaspoon of curry powder
Notes:
- This is a really quick dish to throw together, and it can happily simmer away in a slow cooker. If you want to cook them on in a casserole dish, brown the shanks, add the other ingredients and then put the casserole dish in the oven and cook at 160 celcius for a few hours. You can even do this on the stove top - just keep the whole lot very gently simmering.
- Shanks are very rich and can be quite fatty. You can of course trim them, but there will still be quite a bit of fat. Roy likes to just cook them a day in advance, cool them in the fridge and let the fat solidify on the surface. Then, he uses a spoon to scrape the fat off before reheating the shanks on low in the slow cooker for a few hours.
- You can also reheat the shanks in the oven. Put the casserole dish into the oven, then turn the oven to 180 and let them heat slowly until they are hot and the sauce is liquid. Put the casserole dish in the cold oven to stop it cracking from sudden heat.
- If you want to thicken the sauce, make a slurry with cornflour, pour it in slowly into the sauce and cook until it thickens. You can also remove the shanks and strain the sauce. Roy likes to use all the yummy bits and a little liquid as the sauce. His Grandma cheats and justs lifts the gravy out with a slotted spoon to make sure everybody gets plenty of yummy plum and onion. Keep the leftover liquid as the base for another stew or soup.
Method:
- Roughly chop the onions and put them into a slow cooker or large, heavy based casserole dish.
- Put the shanks in on top of the onions. You don't need to brown them, they'll be cooking a long time, but if you have the time and feel like it, brown away!
- Drain the plums (you don't need the juice) and put them in on top of the shanks.
- Prepare the garlic. Roy just chops it up roughly, because it will cook down over time anyway, but you can mince it using a mincer if you prefer.
- Put the garlic into a cup or bowl with the vinegar, soy sauce, curry powder, chilli and ginger. Pour over the shanks.
- Put the lid on the slow cooker, turn it on and cook the shanks on low for about 6 hours. (You can cook them longer, all day if you like - it won't do them any harm)
- Serve with whatever you like best - rice, mashed potatoes, polenta etc and enjoy (but make sure you watch out for the plum seeds if you haven't strained the sauce!)