Balsamic Glazed Lamb Shanks, Slow Cooker; ducks & deer

When I ordered lamb shanks from our new butcher I had no idea how big they would be, never having seen one in real life….

I ordered four.

Now I know better.

Two lamb shanks are plenty for a dinner for two, and, in our case, there is enough left over for lunch for mon mari.

This is my second dinner of lamb shanks.

I haven’t decided which is my favorite – so I ordered more lamb shanks.

A cooks’ quest is rarely finished.

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Balsamic Glazed Lamb Shanks, Slow Cooker

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Lamb shanks are perfect in the slow cooker…. meltingly tender. 

• Author: Katie Zeller
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 7 hours 30 minutes
• Total Time: 8 hours
• Yield: 2 servings 1x
• Category: Lamb
• Method: Slow Cooker

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 lamb shanks
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup (8oz, 250gr) tomatoes, peeled, chopped
• 2 tbs honey
• 3 tbs Balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
• 3 tbs tapioca
• 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) beef stock
• 1 tbs olive oil
• optional – if needed: 2 tsp instant tapioca or 1 tbs cornstarch

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Instructions

• Heat 1 tbs oil in a large skillet. Add lamb shanks and brown on all sides, Remove to plate.
• Add onions, garlic, to skillet and sauté briefly.
• Put onions / garlic in slow cooker. Put lamb on top.
• Add remaining ingredients (tomatoes, honey, vinegar, tapioca, thyme, stock) to skillet and heat almost to a simmer.
• Pour contents of skillet over lamb.
• Cover and cook, low heat, 7 1/2 – 8 hours, turning shanks half way through cooking time
• Check 30 minutes before serving and if sauce needs to be thickened add 2 tsp instant tapioca or 1 tbs cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbs water.
• When ready, remove to a platter and serve.

Notes

I browned the lamb shanks, then deglazed the pan to get all the brown bits for the sauce.

We’ve had a week of beautiful weather: warm sunshine (74F, 23C today), clear skies and no wind. Mon mari has mowed the lawn and the field; I’ve cleaned out the herbs and the spring flowers.

We’ve had the door open so the dogs can go in and out at will, barking at the lizards and anything else that moves.

We’re not the only ones enjoying it….

This morning on our walk we saw 5 deer in the field above our house:

And a few docks in the pond:

It’s so nice being able to walk the dogs at sunrise instead of in the dark.