My husband is the ever present finder of good deals. He finds them fast, works quick and for the most part, it works out pretty great. There are also times when he sees a deal on something specific he jumps on. This leads me to the 20 pounds of lamb shank in my deep freezer. The first time I made it was Christmas last year and let’s just say my guests were more tan gracious and attempted to eat what I made. It was cooked through but still very tough. After a bit of trial and error, I found the best way to make it, and that’s in a slow cooker for a long time. Like 24(ish) hours. OK, like 12-18 hours. I’m not kidding. I put it on before I go to bed at 9 or 10 and check on it the next morning and let it keep cooking slowly for another 4 hours, then let it rest on warm until you plan on eating. You can make it the day you are planning on eating it, however, you will have to start it very early in the morning and maybe it will be done by dinner. IF you start it the night before, it gives the shank enough time not only to cook through but be rich and delicious and practically jumps off the bone it’s soo tender!
So if you’re up to making something really special for your family or friends and it’s secretly super easy, you will be lauded a superhero after it.
My 24-hour lamb
2 pounds of lamb shanks, or 4-6 shanks (they are mostly bone so you will want to make between 4 and 6 shanks)
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of pepper
3 cloves of minced garlic ( you can find pre-minced garlic in your grocer’s refrigerated area)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup of chicken stock
Pour the chicken stock into your slow cooker
Gently drizzle olive oil over your shanks and rub it in
Salt and pepper shanks. Remember don’t be afraid to season these)
Rub minced garlic on shanks if you don’t want your hands to smell, just sprinkle the garlic on last when it’s in the cooker
Place the shanks in the slow cooker on low and say goodnight!
The next morning you will start to smell a very deep flavor of lamb- and yes they are fully cooked. What you want to happen next is the at begins to render off so it’s not tough.
The entire process takes about 12-18 hours.
Once it’s fully cooked it should be nearly falling off the bone!
Your family will now call you iron chef
Additions:
I’ve season these in a lot of different ways before, you can swap garlic for onion, add carrots or use some more bold spices. It’s totally up to you! Have fun!
If you have a dog, they will love you even more by giving them a bone. I tend to freeze them and give them to teddy. He’s only 5 pounds so one large bone will last him a few months. So everyone wins!
Babies and Gentleman 