Chef Jack Ovens Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks

Source video by Chef Jack Ovens on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules.

Jack's original is a hob sear plus a 3.5-hour braise at 180 C, the slow cooker version is the same recipe with the braise time stretched. Four lamb shanks (combined 1.6 kg) sear hard in olive oil until golden all over. Out, in goes a roughly chopped onion, two carrots, a rib of celery and three small kipfler potatoes; sautéed a couple of minutes to pick up the fond. Then four crushed garlic cloves and another two minutes. Tomato paste joins for depth, then 500 ml cheap red wine, 1 litre of chicken stock, whole cumin and fennel seeds, bay leaves, rosemary, dried oregano and fresh thyme. Shanks back in, lid on, into the slow cooker on low. After the cook the braising liquid strains into a saucepan and reduces by two-thirds on the hob to a thick glossy sauce, this is what makes the dish. Served with shallow-steamed snake or green beans finished in clarified butter.

Ingredients

• 2 tbspolive oil
• 1.6 kglamb shanks, about 4 shanks, combined weight
• 1 onionbrown (yellow) onion, roughly chopped into medium pieces
• 2 medium carrotscarrots, roughly chopped
• 1 ribcelery rib, roughly chopped
• 3 small-medium potatoeskipfler potatoes, halved, quartered, then evenly chunked
• 4 clovesgarlic cloves, peeled and crushed with the side of a knife
• 60 gtomato paste (concentrate)
• 500 mlcheap red wine
• 1000 mlchicken (or vegetable) stock
• 19 gwhole cumin seeds
• 14 gwhole fennel seeds
• 2 leavesbay leaves, fresh or dried
• 2 sprigsrosemary sprigs, fresh or dried
• 2 gdried oregano
• 7 gfresh thyme, leaves picked, woody stems discarded, roughly chopped
• 5 gsea salt flakes
• freshly cracked black pepper, 20 cracks

• 200 gsnake beans or green beans, snake beans halved; regular green beans stemmed (add late)
• 40 mlhot water, to shallow-steam the beans (add late)
• 14 gclarified butter (add late)
• 2.5 gfine salt (add late)

Method

1. Heat a large pan over high with the 2 tbsp olive oil. Lay the lamb shanks in, sprinkle with sea salt, and sear in batches if needed until golden all over, moving them around regularly.

   ~12 min

2. Lift the shanks onto a plate.

   ~1 min

3. Into the same hot pan add the chopped onion, celery and carrots. Stir to pick up the fond and sauté 2 minutes.

   ~2 min

4. Add the chopped kipfler potatoes, the crushed garlic cloves and a pinch of salt. Sauté another 2 minutes.

   ~2 min

5. Stir in the 60 g tomato paste. Pour in the 500 ml red wine and the 1 L chicken stock.

   ~2 min

6. Add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaves, rosemary, dried oregano and chopped thyme. Season with the 5 g sea salt and 20 cracks of pepper. Stir to break up the tomato paste.

   ~2 min

7. Tip everything into the slow cooker. Nestle the seared lamb shanks in so they are mostly covered by the liquid. Cover.

   ~3 min

8. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours until the meat is falling off the bone.

   ~480 min

9. Lift the shanks onto a plate. Tip the contents of the slow cooker through a sieve into a saucepan, keeping the strained veg back with the shanks for serving.

   ~5 min

10. Bring the strained liquid to a hard boil and reduce by two-thirds, 25 to 30 minutes, until thick and glossy.

    ~28 min

11. Meanwhile cook the beans: in a hot pan add the halved snake or green beans with the 40 ml hot water. Steam 2 minutes with the 2.5 g salt and a turn of pepper.

    ~2 min

12. Add the 14 g clarified butter to the beans, melt through and sauté another minute. Remove.

    ~1 min

13. Plate the beans, spoon a little of the reduced lamb sauce over them. Pile the strained braising veg in the middle. Sit the lamb shank on top. Pour over more of the reduced sauce.

    ~3 min

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