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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Osso Buco Slow Cooker
Considering how much I love lamb shanks I am surprised it took me this long to cook Osso Buco for the first time. I always use Hugh’s recipe for the shanks (River Cottage’s Citrus Braised Lamb Shanks) so it is a no surprise I am using his Osso Buco Alla Milanese.

You will be using thick slices of beef or veal shins with the shin bone still present. Look at the beautiful rich colour.

The result was tender beef that was falling off the bone and a lovely sauce that was hearty but less fatty than you would get cooking with lamb.

Note: Pop this on early in the day because it might take 6 hours or more on your slow cooker’s medium setting.

You will be:
1. Preparing everything
2. Sealing the beef shins
3. Sweating the vegetables
4. Slow cooking everything
5. Serving
You will need:
- Ingredients:
  - 4 – 6 slices of beef shin with the bone still in the middle (about 1.3kg)
  - enough plain white flour to coat the shins
  - table salt and cracked black peppercorns to taste
  - 50g salted butter
  - A couple of slugs olive oil
  - 2 garlic cloves, diced
  - 2 celery sticks and their leaves, chopped
  - 2 brown onions, chopped
  - 1 carrot, chopped
  - A handful of snow peas, whole
  - 2 cups dry white wine
  - 2 cups stock (I have used homemade Slow Cooker Chicken Stock and Italian Beef Stock: Brodo Di Manzo but use anything you have to hand)
  - A handful of chopped mushrooms (optional)
- Equipment:
  - 1 long sharp knife
  - 1 chopping board
  - 1 frypan
  - 1 slow cooker
Preparing everything
1. While you let the beef shins come to room temperature prepare the:
  - 2 garlic cloves, diced
  - 2 celery sticks chopped
  - 2 brown onions, chopped
  - 1 carrot, chopped
  - a handful of snow peas, whole
2. Dry the beef shin slices with paper towel, season with salt and pepper and then dust them in the flour.
Sealing the beef shins
1. Turn your slow cooker on to high, add a slug of olive oil and cover.
2. Melt the 50g of salted butter in a frypan and then add a good slug of olive oil.
3. Brown both sides of the shins (if they start to curl on you during cooking, clip the outer ring of connective tissue with kitchen shears).
4. Add them to the slow cooker.
Sweating the vegetables
1. Add the 2 cups white wine and the 2 cups of stock to the same frypan and bring to a gentle boil.
2. Reduce the heat to low and then add the vegetables.
3. Cook until they soften and then add everything to the slow cooker.
Slow cooking everything

Turn the slow cooker down to medium or low and cover. Mine took 6 hours before the beef was ready.

Serving

Serve on a bed of basmati rice with extra vegetables and some of Hugh’s gremolata.

Enjoy,

PK

Related Links:
- see all recipes using beef here
- see all slow cooker dishes here
- see more River Cottage posts here
Written by

PK

·

September 22, 2017
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Gremolata
If like me you love slow cooking cuts of meat like lamb shanks and osso bucco you will love the addition of this garnish. It brings tastes of the grassy parsley, cleansing citrus flavours and then the bite of the garlic. It counters the meatiness of the slow cooked meats’ sauce perfectly.

I even love making it as its simple ingredients list looks and smells amazing.

You will need:
- Finely grated zest of one lemon
- 1 finely sliced garlic clove (small)
- 2 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped
Steps:
1. Dice the pants off the parsley (this bit takes the longest).
2. Chop the garlic, add it to the diced parsley and dice some more.
3. Grate the lemon zest and the fold it into the garlic/parsley blend.
4. Drizzle a very tiny bit of lemon juice (optional, for consistency).
Enjoy,

PK

PS. Thanks Hugh 🙂
Written by

PK

·

August 21, 2017
PK Makes River Cottage’s Citrus Braised Lamb Shanks
Everyone has a dish that they feel slightly guilty about. Guilty because somehow it turns out exceptionally good every single time. This is mine and it has magical powers :).

It is originally from the hit Channel 4 series and books, ‘River Cottage’ and I merely adapted it to work in a slow cooker. I like dishes that are a bit different and I prefer this lighter white wine and citrus version over traditional red wine based lamb shank recipes.

River Cottage’s Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstool can’t have known its romantic power when he added this dish to his cookbook though, surely not. It was the first meal I cooked for my wife to be and she fell madly in love with me. That’s the magical bit and might contradict her version of events :).

You will be:
1. Sweating the vegetables in the slow cooker.
2. Browning the lamb shanks and deglazing the frypan.
3. Cooking it slow.
4. Serving.
You will need:
- Ingredients:
  - 4 lamb shanks
  - 2 carrots
  - 1 large brown onion
  - 2 celery sticks
  - 2 bay leaves
  - 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  - a few sprigs of fresh thyme or lemon thyme
  - a small handful of parsley or celery leaves, chopped
  - 1 large orange
  - 1 large lemon
  - half a bottle of white wine (I used a Sauvignon blanc)
  - 1 cup of home made stock (I used chicken stock as that was all I had) or 1 cup water
  - several slugs of olive oil
  - a good slug of tomato paste
  - ground rock salt to taste
  - cracked black peppercorns to taste
  - 0.5 Tbsp whole black peppercorns (optional)
  - A handful of small or chopped mushrooms (optional)
- Equipment:
  - a chopping board
  - a long sharp knife
  - kitchen tongs
  - a wooden spoon
  - a citrus zester
  - a citrus juicer
  - a large frypan
  - a slow cooker
Steps:

Sweating the vegetables in the slow cooker
1. Put a slug of olive oil into your slow cooker and turn it on high, lid on.
2. Rough chop the:
  - 2 carrots.
  - 2 celery sticks.
  - handful of parsley or celery leaves.
3. Finely slice the 1 large brown onion.
4. Finely chop the 2 garlic cloves.
5. Add the above to your slow cooker to start them softening up, lid on (mix everything around occasionally).
6. Once the onions have started to soften, throw in the 2 bay leaves and the sprigs of thyme.
7. If you like a bit of peppery kick, chuck 0.5 Tbsp of black peppercorns in too.
8. Juice and then zest the lemon and the orange and add to the slow cooker (retain some of the mixed juice and zest for serving time).
9. Add the 1 cup of stock or 1 cup of water and mix gently.
10. Add a good slug of tomato paste.
11. Add a handful of small mushrooms now if you are using them.
I love seeing ingredients together like this:

Nice and soft:

Browning the lamb shanks and deglazing the frypan
1. Season the 4 lamb shanks with salt and pepper.
2. Chuck another slug of olive oil into the pan and bring to medium heat.
3. Slightly brown every surface of the shanks. Yep, even the ends with a bit of creative meat stacking :).
4. Then add them to the slow cooker.
5. I now deglaze the frypan with half a bottle of white wine. When boiling I then add it to the slow cooker.
6. If the slow cooker looks a bit full don’t panic. Everything will shrink down as it cooks :).
Cooking it slow
1. Turn your slow cooker to medium and cook for at least 2 hours using kitchen tongs to periodically move the shanks around.
2. Now you can keep the slow cooker on medium for speed or turn it down to low for a slower cook (my preference).
3. When the meat is literally falling of the bone, when you are giving it a gentle mix with the kitchen tongs, it is ready.
Serving

I generally serve the shanks on a bed of mashed potato with some steamed green vegetables alongside. This time though I cooked my PK’s NoRecipe Oven Baked Potatoes and served the shanks on the bone with some greens.

Remember how we set aside some mixed zest and juice? Sprinkle a bit of the zest and then drizzle some juice over each serve to freshen the citrus flavours and aromas.

On or off the bone this dish is visually appealing:

Make this dish for someone you love,

PK
Written by

PK

·

February 17, 2017