Slow Cooker Whisky Lamb Shanks (Jamie Oliver)

Source video by Jamie Oliver on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules.

Jamie's Friday Night Feast whisky lamb shanks adapted from a three-hour oven braise into a slow cooker recipe. Six French-trimmed lamb shanks are browned hard on the hob, lifted out, then a deep mire-poix base (smoked bacon, two onions, carrots, swede, celery) caramelises with classic haggis-style spices (black pepper, allspice berries, cloves, fresh nutmeg). A tablespoon of thick-cut marmalade goes in for shine, flour for body, four shots of Scotch flame off the alcohol, and a litre of beef stock follows. Everything moves into the slow cooker for 9 hours on Low. Serve over a cheesy leek pearl barley risotto, cooked separately on the hob.

Ingredients

• 6lamb shanks, French-trimmed at the top
• olive oil, split between rubbing the lamb and a glug in the veg pan
• sea salt and black pepper, rubbed over the shanks before searing

• 4 slicessmoked bacon, finely chopped
• 3bay leaves
• 1white onion, cut into big chunks
• 1red onion, cut into big chunks
• 2carrots, cut into big chunks
• 0.5swede, cut into 2.5 cm chunks
• 1celery stick, chopped

• 1 tbspwhole black peppercorns, bashed in a mortar with the other spices, then sieved
• 10allspice berries, bashed in a mortar with the other spices, then sieved
• 5whole cloves, bashed in a mortar with the other spices, then sieved
• 0.5whole nutmeg, grated into the mortar with the other spices

• 1 tbspthick-cut marmalade
• 1 tbspplain flour, heaped
• 100 mlScotch whisky, flambé in the pan to burn off the alcohol
• 1000 mlbeef stock

• 2leeks, white parts only, halved lengthwise and finely sliced
• butter, a knob for the leeks
• fresh thyme sprigs, a couple of sprigs
• 450 gpearl barley
• 1500 mlchicken stock
• 500 mlwhole milk (add late)
• mature cheddar cheese, grated (add late)

Method

1. Rub the lamb shanks with olive oil, salt and pepper. Brown them all over in a hot frying pan over medium-high heat in batches. Transfer to the slow cooker.

   ~15 min

2. Add a glug of olive oil to a large pan over medium heat. Fry the chopped bacon and bay leaves until starting to colour.

   ~4 min

3. Add the chunked onions, carrots, swede and celery. Caramelise hard for 15 minutes, stirring often, until everything carries deep colour.

   ~15 min

4. Bash the peppercorns, allspice berries, cloves and grated nutmeg together in a mortar, then sieve them over the caramelised veg. Stir.

   ~3 min

5. Add the marmalade and let it melt into the pan. Sprinkle in the flour and stir for a minute.

   ~2 min

6. Pour in the Scotch whisky. Carefully tilt the pan to flambé (or simmer hard for 2 minutes) until the alcohol burns off.

   ~2 min

7. Pour in the beef stock. Bring to a simmer, then tip everything over the lamb in the slow cooker.

   ~3 min

8. Lid on. Cook on Low for 9 hours (or High 6 hours) until the meat falls off the bone with a shake.

   ~540 min

9. About an hour before serving, start the pearl barley risotto. Melt the butter in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the sliced leeks, thyme sprigs and a splash of water. Cook gently for 15 minutes until soft and sweet.

   ~15 min

10. Tip in the pearl barley and chicken stock. Cover and simmer for around 40 minutes until the barley is tender.

    ~40 min

11. Stir in the milk and the grated cheddar. Take off the heat and let sit covered for 5 minutes.

    ~5 min

12. Plate up: a generous spoon of barley risotto, a shank on top, a ladle of veg and gravy spooned over, finished with a few thyme tips.

    ~3 min

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