Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks
Low and slow if definitely the way to cook lamb shanks. This brings all sorts of memories back to me. My dad loved lamb shanks. I can smell them now.... we didn't have a slow cooker growing up so in the bottom oven cooking for the day. When Dad was sick and had lost his appetite this was one of the things he asked for to savour and entice the taste buds and it worked. Try Jemmas quick and straight forward method below or find the other lamb shank recipe on the website for a special occassion. Just try it...
Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks
Serves 4
• 4 lamb shanks
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. tomato purée
• 250ml light red wine
• 2 tbsp. plain spelt/wheat flour
• 500ml stock, vegetable, chicken or lamb
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 bay leaves
• Any other fresh/dried herbs you like – thyme or rosemary work well
Method:
Preheat your slow cooker. In a large pan add 1 tbsp. of the butter and brown the lamb shanks all over for approx. 10 minutes, then transfer them to the slow cooker. Add the remaining butter to the frying pan and fry the onion gently until it starts to soften, then stir in the tomato purée and flour and cook for one minute.
Add the red wine and bring it to a boil, stirring the flour and purée into the wine until you have a smooth sauce around the onion pieces and add to the slow cooker. Pour the stock into the same pan and bring it to a boil, then tip into the slow cooker. Add the carrots garlic, bay leaves and herbs to the slow cooker and put the lid on. Cook on low for eight hours or on high for four hours. Turn the shanks over at some point during the cooking. After eight hours the lamb should be tender and starting to fall off the bone.
Let’s Nutrify – Jemma’s tip
Slow cooked meats are just the best, in every sense! Nutritionally and on the taste buds too. Slow cooking meats in this way preserves more of the delicate healthy fats such as omega 3 fatty acids which are beneficial for immune and cardiovascular health. Lamb is a wonderfully rich source of these amazing fatty acids as well as minerals such as zinc and selenium. This dish is also packs a useful iron and B vitamins punch which help to lift flailing energy levels. Including some of the therapeutic herbs such as rosemary or thyme also increases the antioxidant compounds beneficial to immune health. Feel free to add in some extra veggies such as celery or red pepper 1-2 hours before the end of the cooking time to make sure you get your 7-a-day in!
Tips from the butcher’s wife.
This so tasty. With lamb shanks on offer this week, try this or try the other lamb shanks recipe on the website www.molloysbutchersardkeen.com. It's a bit more faffing about but is really really tasty. You can also modify for the slow cooker. Just put it on low. I just love when the lamb is falling off the bone. Hearty and wholesome - ideal for this time of year. Yum x
Shane Dineen Fitness
A recent convert to the slow cooker thing – Shane is loving the advantage of a hot meal ready when he finishes training. This is what he had to say about this week’s dish.
Lamb shank is one of my new favourite dishes as I only tried it recently and I love it. I popped it in the slow cooker on top of vegetables along with pepper, ginger and garlic.
This meal is a perfect dinner as it contains all essential amino acids along with a high percentage of protein. Would defiantly recommend trying this one out”
Lamb and Prune Tagine
No messing around this week listening to me withering on.... try this...
Lamb and Prune Tagine
INGREDIENTS
• 1 TBSP OLIVE OIL (13G)
• 1KG DICED LAMB
• SALT & PEPPER (3G)
• 2 ONIONS CHOPPED (300G)
• 4 GARLIC CLOVES (12G)
• 5CM KNOB OF GINGER, PEELED AND CHOPPED (20G)
• 1 TBSP HARISSA (18G)
• 2 TSP GROUND CUMMIN (GG)
• 1 TSP GROUND CINNAMON (2G)
• 1 TSP FENNEL SEEDS (2G)
• 1 LITRE CHICKEN STOCK
• 4-6 LARGE RIPE TOMATOES, ROUGHLY CHOPPED
• 200G PRUNES
• 100G GREEN OLIVES, STONED
• 100G SHELLED PISTACHIOS
• 20G CORIANDER CHOPPED
PREPARATION
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy based saucepan and brown the lamb well on all sides. Season generously. When you’ve got a good colour on the meat, after about 5 minutes of stirring and browning on a relative high heat, add the onions, garlic and ginger and cook out for another 2 minutes, until the onions start to soften and carmelise. Add the harissa and spices and mix really well. Cook for another 3 or 4 minutes so that the spices and harissa coat the meat.
Add the stock, cover with lid, turn down the heat and simmer for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing is burning at the bottom of the pan. At this stage you can let cool and leave in the fridge overnight and cook the following day, which allows the flavours to develop further but you can continue in one go. Add the tomatoes, prunes, olives and pistachios and cook, uncovered for another hour. At this stage it should have reduced to a nice consistency and the flavours should be really good. The bottom line is that the lamb need to cook for 2 hours in total which can be done in one go or split over 2 days. Garnish with the coriander and serve with rice. Yum !
Let's Nutrify! - Jemma's tips
Lamb is such a favourite of mine, both because of the delicious sweet taste but also because I know how nourishing it is. Rich in easy to digest iron, b vitamins and zinc, lamb makes the perfect winter boost if the energy levels are flagging. Lamb is also a relatively wild meat, outdoor reared and feeding naturally year round on the grasses and plants that they've always eaten. Owing to this, lamb is rich in omega 3's and also in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which has been linked with lower body mass and seems to help with weight management. The ginger, fennel seeds, and prunes contained in this recipe make it rich in antioxidants, easy to digest and a wonderful source of soluble fibre. So if you would traditionally have found that red meat slows down your digestion, you'll be pleasantly surprised by this dish! This dish freezes really well so be sure to make plenty and store some for those cold, dark nights! Serve it with some roasted root veggies or roasted cauliflower."
Shane Dineen Fitness
Super fuel recipe with fantastic flavour, well worth the effort, see nutri info below:
Per portion:
Carbs : 26g
Protein : 56.6g
Fat : 33.4g
Fibre : 10.5g
Calories : 625
Butchers wife tip.
This tagine is ideal for a large group, this recipe serves 6 people, and is great with some rice and roasted veggies. The harissa gives it heat with body rather than outright fire, but feel free to add more if you like it. Seems alot of effort but if you use the frozen pre chopped ginger and just chuck in a tin of chopped tomatoes instead of chopping that cuts out chopping time. If you don't have harrisa use some chilli flakes to add the heat... enjoy x
Autumnal Cooking
Well, we are thrilled in store with the reaction to our reusable containers initiative. Lots of you brought in your own containers. This is great - but I feel it’s necessary to not be too holier than thou with this. Let me explain.... I try to reduce the use of plastic here at home - my son was on the green school committee last year and absolutely shamed us into noticing our dependence on single use plastic - a lot when you look at it. So we quit the cling film and they now have a little boxes with their lunch stuff in it. They refuse straws and bring their water in refill bottles. But plastic is still in our home.... we are just trying to be more conscious of our over dependence and the general wastefulness of it all. The environmental impact of it all is also a concern.
I'm a proud Laois woman. The only inland county surrounded by inland counties (remember that for the table quiz?) As a child, a trip to the seaside was a real treat. I always loved being by the sea, even though, as an in lander I'm a rubbish swimmer. So I really appreciate the sea on our doorstep and walk the back strand with the dogs as much as possible. It's most definitely my happy place. It's where I go to destress, to escape, to cry, to think. It's where I go to take a big deep breath and recalibrate. When we've been in the house and everyone is killing each other, I pile us all into the car - sometimes very reluctantly, but never ever regrettably, out to the back strand with the dogs. I think it is simply, a really, really special place. So then, when I see rubbish left behind on the beach I am actually in shock. Why? I do think though its mindlessness and if we stopped and thought for one minute we would become more conscious about how our actions impact the world around us. This house is trying - Change is slow but I love that the children are conscious and maybe if we only achieve a better level of consciousness for our children we'll have done something good.
5% off all shopping purchased in reusable containers – WE ARE GIVING YOU BACK THE PRICE OF THE PACKAGING!!
Baked Pork Chops with apples Onions and thyme.
INGREDIENTS
• 6 small boneless pork chops
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 medium Gala or Honey Crisp apples, cored and sliced
• 2 small red onions, sliced.
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 cups apple cider
• 1 tablespoon honey
PREPARATION
1. Preheat oven to 200°c.
2. Mix together salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and rub on pork chops. Heat olive oil in large skillet at medium-high. Brown pork chops in skillet for 2 minutes on each side.
3. Place pork chops in baking dish along with apples, onions and thyme.
4. Add apple cider and honey to skillet, and bring to a simmer at medium heat. Reduce by half, stirring often and scraping up browned bits to combine with sauce.
5. Pour apple cider sauce over pork, apples, and onions. Add thyme sprigs. Cover.
6. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until apples and onions are tender and meat is cooked through. Serve garnished with sprigs of thyme and rosemary
Let’s Nutrify! - Jemma Kehoe’s tip.
- This recipe is amazingly simple and delicious! Thyme is a wonderful herb to include here in preparation for the cold and flu season that may lie ahead. It has antibacterial action and works very well against coughs as well as certain skin conditions such as acne. The onions and apples are also a source of a super antioxidant called quercetin to support the immune system and gentle, soluble fibre to aid the digestion of the meat. The pork meat is a super source of brain enhancing nutrients including iron and B vitamins so perfect for a mid-week back to school dinner.
Shane Dineen Fitness
“This meal is a perfect low intensity/ steady state cardio pre workout fuel, As this food is rich in fats it is sure to keep your energy levels high throughout a workout and also avoid that sugar high and crash leaving you fatigued before your workout is complete.
Very good and simple but most important healthy and very effective for the type of workout mentioned above”
Butchers wife tip.
Do not over bake or the meat becomes tough. I did use fresh herbs this time but remember my tip on dried herbs – reduce quantity to a third. This is seriously tasty. Very autumnal. Ideal for the time of year. I served it with mash potatoes and carrots.
Enjoy this one, its a goody!!
The Butchers Wife xx
september
Chicken and Coconut Curry
September September
So the rat race has begun and there's definitely a chill in the air. Some are dragging it out - last of the summer wine and all that, at EP this weekend leaving the rest of us parenting at home!! ? But all is well. After such a glorious summer I feel ready for the crisp weather, cosy clothes, leaves crunching underfoot and the world changing colour all around us. It's that golden time when nature provides the colour and light, before we start with the twinkling artificial lights. The boys insist on shorts going to school. ?Julian will wear shorts until Halloween and I've given up trying to persuade him otherwise. He looks blue with the cold but never feels it. He never ever gets sick so who am I to argue. I always love the food at this time of year - we need to nourish ourselves - keep our immunity up and feel warmed by food. This recipe below is a really handy one. It's easy even if the ingredients list looks long but I promise it's worth it. I forgot the coriander leaves so I threw in a teaspoon of coriander when I was adding the other spices. If you use medium curry powder and the chillis, it's got a good kick to it.
Chicken and coconut Indian Curry
Ingredients
1 tbsp. of veg or sunflower oil
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic crushed
Thumb size piece of ginger finely grated
2 large green chillies deseeded (if you like it not too hot) or seeds in if you like the fire, finely chopped
15g of coriander leaves and then chop stalks separately
1 tbsp. of garam masala
1 tbsp. of curry powder (mild, medium or hot – you decide)
1 400g tin of coconut milk
150mls of chicken stock
450g of diced chicken fillet
Salt and freshly ground pepper
75g green beans trimmed and halved
Lime wedges to serve
Methods
Pour oil into large pan, add onions and garlic and gently fry for approx. 6-8 minutes, soft but not brown. Add ginger, chillies, coriander stalks, garam masala, and curry powder and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the coconut milk and stock and bring to the boil. Add chicken and season with salt and pepper.
Reduce the heat and simmer, covered with a lid for 30 minutes. Remove lid and simmer for a further 15 minutes adding green beans five minutes before the end.
Stir in the coriander leaves and serve with rice/cauliflower rice.
#Tip from Jemma – Let’s Nutrify!
Oh, the goodness in this dish, where do I start? This deliciously fragrant and quick meal is rich in immune-boosting healthy fats from the coconut, bug busting power in the onions, garlic and ginger. The chicken is a great protein source and also contains some B vitamins and selenium, both of which support good metabolism and thyroid function.
*For some extra anti-inflammatory potential, add 1-2 tsp of ground turmeric and a good twist of black pepper to this meal as it’s cooking which enhances the health benefits of the
# What does Shane Dineen Fitness coach say…..
“This Curry dish is one of my favourite evening meals coming into the winter months.
After a long day of teaching various exercise classes from Spinning to a high intensity Bootcamp class, this quick and easy recipe helps my body recover quickly and be able to perform at my very best and provide good energetic classes day in day out.
For me this meal covers all the essential Macro and Micro nutrients to keep my body performing my best.
Tip: If your like me and can’t handle too much spice, add a little more coconut milk or some Greek Yogurt (which helps boost the protein content)on the side, or just simply cut back on the portion of curry you are using”
#tip from the butcher’s wife
Batch cook! Batch cook! Batch cook! Cook once eat twice. Lovely Friday night dinner but also quick enough to have during the week. This would also work with our chicken thighs and drumsticks. It will really enhance the flavour. Enjoy x