Slow-cooked Leg of Lamb with Prunes

I'm back to the blog after an international-move-induced hiatus (many thanks to Dr. Darkness and Audrey for posting recipes in the meantime!). Of course, a Crockpot was one of the first things I acquired after moving into my new flat this month. An inaugural batch of slow-cooked porkchops came out underwhelming (totally fine, just not blogworthy really), but this leg of lamb recipe (adapted from one at old standby A Year of Crockpotting) really worked. I used lamb purchased at a local foods "fayre" in town.

Ingredients
4 lb. boneless leg of lamb
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups prunes
~3/4 cup white wine (I used a chardonnay)
1 cinnamon stick

To Make
1. Place lamb in crockpot (note: I have a 6.5 liter cooker, though original recipe called for a 4-5 quart cooker, so if you have a smaller one it should still fit).
2. Mix salt, pepper, and rosemary together, rub all sides of lamb with mixture.
3. Sprinkle chopped garlic on and around lamb.
4. Add prunes around lamb.
5. Pour in wine, about 1/4 cup water (the water I added because I was afraid the lamb would dry out, being not as submerged in a larger cooker, but it's probably not necessary). Toss in a cinnamon stick.
6. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Warning: your home will smell almost oppressively amazing for about 7 hours while this thing cooks. But the result is a moist, delicious leg of lamb. I served it with quinoa and roasted carrots.

Slow cooker lamb with vegetables

Dinner tonight. This ended up being really delicious, and was so simple! Next time I make lamb, I'll probably add some herbs for pizzazz (I couldn't find decent fresh rosemary at the store today, otherwise that would have gone in), but this minimalist version was tasty enough for me. If you're into salt and pepper, you might want to add more of those.

Ingredients:
Boneless leg of lamb (~2 lbs)
4 carrots, cut into ~2 inch chunks
the rest of the celery in my fridge (~5 stalks), also cut into chunks
4 medium red potatoes, quartered
salt and pepper

To make:
1. Sprinkle/rub the lamb with salt and pepper. Place in slow cooker.
2. Add 1/2 cup of water to cooker.
3. Add vegetables to cooker on top of lamb*.
4. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours.

Oven-braised lamb shanks with sweet potatoes

This is a really straightforward use of lamb shanks, which are a meat I really like. The quantities below are for 1-2, depending on the size of the lamb shank and appetite.

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium/large onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bullion cube (chicken)
2 medium sweet potatoes, sliced (peel if you like, I don't)
1 large lamb shank, or 2 small ones (I used 2 shoulder shanks tonight)
1/3 cup white wine
1 bayleaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (fresh is better if you have it, of course)

1. Put oil in casserole dish, making sure it covers the bottom. Put lamb shank(s) in, roll around in oil until they are covered completely.
2. Pre-heat oven to 180 c (350 f), and put lamb in. Let it cook for 10 minutes or so, until lamb starts browning.
3. Remove lamb, and insert onion (and cover dish). Put back in oven until onion starts going clear (about 5-6 minutes for me)
4. Add garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper, and return to oven for 2-3 minutes.
5. Stir everything well, and add lamb and sweet potato slices. Cover about halfway with water, and add wine, bayleaf and crumble the bullion cube into the liquid.
6. Cover the casserole dish, and put in oven for 45 minutes. Turn the lamb shanks over, then cook for about 45 more minutes, when lamb is so tender it falls off the bone.
7. Optionally, If you like your meat a bit crispier, turn the meat over once more, and cook for 10-15 minutes uncovered.

If you feel like it, once you remove the lamb and potatoes, you can strain the liquid, reduce it and add a little flour to make a gravy. I don't normally bother.