Slow Cooker Forelegs of Lamb

Mooching around the meat counter I came across something I had not seen before, foreleg shanks of lamb. Slimmer and less meaty than a hind shank but also a fraction on the cost - 5 for £5.  So home I went and dragged out the slow cooker for a take on this recipe

Slow Cooker Forelegs of Lamb in Red Wine & Chorizo

5 forelegs of lamb

1 onion chunky chopped

1 glass of rioja

200ml beef stock

20ml balsamic vinegar

1 can of chopped tomatoes

3 sprigs of fresh rosemary

4 cloves garlic, peeled & halved

2 cooking chorizo, sliced

handful frozen peas

S&P

Chuck everything, except peas, into the slow cooker and mix about and whack on high for 7 hours.

Remove the shanks and place on a baking tray in the oven for 10mins at 180oc, to crisp up slightly.

Pour the sauce into a pan and reduce, whilst skimming off the fat.  Toss in the peas and season to taste, possibly add a drizzle of honey to sweeten if required.

Lay the lamb on a bed of mashed potato and liberally pour over the sauce.  Yum.

The meat was so tender it fell off the bone and in general was more satisfying than having cooked it in the oven.

Two chicken & Tomato Recipes

Ok, if you have read my blog before, you will know of my quest for as many different chicken and tomato dishes as possible, or so it seems. Obsession? Possibly. So this week I found myself cooking two similar dishes, there are subtle differences, so you get 2 for the price of 1 with the following recipes.

Chicken & Tomatoes on the Oven

Serves 2 Weight Watchers Pro Points per serving 17

4 chicken thighs with skin on

1 can chopped plum tomatoes

Handful chopped mushrooms
2 tsp olive oil

1 red pepper chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp Harissa paste

1 sprig thyme leaves, fresh

120g cous cous, dry weight

Heat the oil on a pan, add the garlic and Harissa paste and chicken and fry gently until golden.  Pour over the tomatoes, add the pepper, mushrooms and thyme and bring to a simmer, them pop into the oven at 160oc for 1 hour.

Make up the cous cous as per instruction and serve.

The harissa gives a lovely delicate spice flavour and the skin will go lovely and crispy on the chicken - a bit of a treat.  I used my terracotta cooking pot - for use on hob and in oven and it worked a treat, not to harsh on the frying, retaining the heat well in the oven.

Spanish Chicken in the Slow Cooker

Serves 2 Weight Watcher pro Points per serving 14

4 chicken thighs - skinless

80g Chorizo, cut into cubes

2 cans chopped plum tomatoes, or less if you prefer less sauce

1 onion, chopped

4 carrots, cut into batons

1 tblsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne

Toss everything in the slow cooker and cook on low all day or on high for 6 hours.

Serve with 150g new potatoes at 3pp to bring the total up to 17pp for the dish.

The meat was so tender in this dish it just fell off the bone, the seasoning was subtle but very tasty, the flavour of the chorizo really comes through.  I did make it up with the two cans of tomatoes and there would have been enough sauce for 4! so I will reduce the quantity next time.

This recipe I picked up from the Weight Watchers recipe exchange online, I think you have to be a member to view, but well worth it for a wide range of healthy recipe ideas.

Carolina Pulled Pork

One of the the New Years Resolutions that I enforced onto Hubby-with-low-tolerance-levels was that he cook once a week and I will do my utmost to not to put my two penneth in whilst he is doing so.  I find it hard to let anyone into 'my' kitchen.  So finding a little recipe from an iPhone app on recipes for the Slow Cooker he set about this delicious dish.

Carolina Pulled Pork

Serves 8

2.6Kg Pork Loin (although we only used a 1.5Kg piece)

2 medium onions, finely sliced

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp paprika

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup (23cl) cider vinegar

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tbsp chili flakes

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp garlic salt (which Hubby substituted 1 chopped clove fresh)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

In a bowl mix the onions, brown sugar, paprika, S&P.  Coat the loin with the mixture and put into the slow cooker.

Mix the vinegar, Worcs. sauce, chili flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic and cayenne.  Pour a third of this sauce over the loin and refrigerate the rest.

Cook the loin on Low for 8 to 10 hours (as we were using a smaller piece, we put it on for 7-8 hours)

Add a further third of the sauce 30 minutes before the end of cooking, we also put the heat up to medium at this point.

Remove the joint and pull apart with forks and use the rest of the sauce from the fridge to taste as you pile the pork into bread buns.

We drained the onions and spices mixture from the slow cooker and used it as a spicy, pickled topping to the pork.  We also cut the loin into two parts the first part we shredded with forks and ate hot, served with homemade coleslaw and my Pinto Beans.  The remainder kept in the fridge and sliced thinly into sandwiches for a few days afterwards.