Crockpot Lambs Shanks for Two

As "empty-nesters," most often these days, I am fixing dinner for two. As I've mentioned previously, we really like lamb. Here is an excellent, simple recipe, adapted from this one found at About.com.

Lamb shanks are an economical cut of meat and should not be available at any grocery that stocks lamb.  It is a fairly tough cut of meat, though, and require a little special treatment. Slow cooking in a crockpot is an excellent way to tenderize any meat and the marinade in this recipe really helps a lot with this while preserving the wonderful, rich flavor.

First, the cast of ingredients:

INGREDIENTS:

2 lamb shanks

1 onion, sliced medium thin

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt

1/2 freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp olive oil

5-6 whole, garlic cloves,

4 ounces cleaned mushrooms, halved

3/4 cup red cooking wine

1/2 cup strong beef broth

1 (14 ounces) can diced tomatoes

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp ground allspice

PREPARATION:

Chop and slice the veggies as specified above and shown here:

Coat lamb shanks with Worcestershire sauce, then sprinkle generously with sea salt and pepper.

Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and brown the lamb shanks.

Separate the onion rings and place in bottom of crockpot.  Place browned lamb shanks, along with any tasty scrapings from the skillet, into the crockpot on top of the onions.

Top with garlic and mushrooms.

In a bowl, mix together the wine, beef broth, tomatoes, oregano, basil, thyme, allspice, and bay leaf. Pour mixture over the vegetables and lamb shanks.  

Cook on low for 7 hours or until tender. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. 
 

When done, the meat will be fall-off-the-bone tender.  Serve with pan juices and vegetables.  The picture below also features a simple salad of wilted spinach, bacon, and tomato along with a slice of toasted Amish wheat bread and fresh butter.


Yum.