Slow cooker spice-honey lamb shoulder with jewelled rice
There’s something lovely about slow-cooker cooking. It makes meat juicy and really concentrates flavours. It’s impossible to overcook meat using a slow-cooker and unless you leave the lid off yours and go walkabout for a few days, nothing ever burns in one either. Just get your basics right (a decent cut of meat, a handful of flavoursome ingredients and just enough liquid to keep things juicy), and you’re golden.
We resisted buying another slow cooker for the longest time… after all, these things are clunky and not the prettiest appliance to perch on your bench-top. They’re hard to store. Drop the lid just once, and it shatters like windscreen glass (we know this from bitter experience). But we got suckered back into buying one by the promise of setting, forgetting, then dishing up the warming winter flavours of our wildest, meat-filled dreams. And we’ve not been disappointed except yes, the things are still very fugly. This lamb, for example, is delish. And SO idiot-proof. These days you can even buy slow-cookers with a sear function, which is ever so handy because there’s a rub with the slow cooker. Which is that you still need to brown things first (meat, sometimes vegetables etc) before flipping the switch. Why? It comes down to the Maillard reaction, which is the technical name for the deliciousness that happens when you sear meat, brown vegetables, roast or fry potatoes and grill vegetables etc. (We’ve got a piece coming out about this soon. Keep your eyes peeled.) Browning (searing) gives flavour, and locks in juices. So if you’re looking for slow-cooker meat recipes where you just dump everything in a cooker willy nilly, with no preliminary browning, you won’t find them here. Same goes for dealing with the liquid at the end; you really need to pour it off, let the fat settle, skim that off, then boil the liquid hard to reduce it down and give it some body and lushness. We heaved the onion after cooking as it's soggy and tasteless after 8 hours in a humid environment, but if you can think of a better use for it than composting, go for it. It gave its life to give the meat something to sit on and add flavour to the braising liquid, may it R.I.P. And if you want to make your rice more jewel-y, scatter over some pomegranate seeds before serving if you have some to hand. Throw in a lovely fresh, leafy salad, bolstered by handfuls of mint, to round everything out.
SERVES 6-8
1 x 2.2 kg lamb shoulder, excess fat trimmed
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large onions, cut into wedges
300ml chicken stock
3 tsp baharat*
4 garlic cloves, finely grated or chopped
60ml (¼ cup) honey
2 tsp each sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-3 tsp balsamic or red wine vinegar, or to taste
green salad, to serve
Jewelled rice
300g (1½ cups) basmati rice
30g butter or ghee
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely grated or chopped
1 fresh bay leaf
1 tsp ground turmeric
560ml (2¼ cups) chicken stock
55g (⅓ cup) dried sweetened cranberries
55g (⅓ cup) currants
1-2 tsp finely grated lemon zest (optional)
80g (½ cup) coarsely chopped blanched almonds, toasted
Use a sharp knife to score 2.5cm diamonds into the top side of the shoulder. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based frypan over medium-high heat, then cook the shoulder, scored side down, for 7-8 minutes or until well browned. Turn, then cook for another 5 minutes to seal the other side. Alternatively, if your slow-cooker has a hob-proof cooking insert, use that to sear.
Meanwhile, scatter the onion over the base of the slow cooker insert and pour in the stock. Place the shoulder on top, scored side up, then rub over the baharat and garlic. Season well with the salt and pepper, then drizzle over the honey. Cover, then cook the lamb for 8 hours on low, or 6 hours on medium. Carefully remove the lamb from the cooker and strain off the cooking liquid into a jug. Discard the onion. Return the lamb to the cooker, then cover and keep warm. Allow the fat to rise to the top of the cooking liquid, then skim it off and discard it. Pour the liquid into a saucepan, add the vinegar, then bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Cook for about 6 minutes or until it has reduced and thickened a little.
Meanwhile, for the rice, rinse the rice and drain well. Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the onion, garlic and bay leaf, then cook, stirring, for 6-7 minutes or until the onion is tender. Add the rice and turmeric and stir for 1 minute or until fragrant and the rice is coated. Add the stock, cranberries and currants, bring to a simmer, then cover the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 12 minutes without lifting the lid, then remove the pan from the heat and stand, covered, for 10 minutes for the rice to finish steaming. Stir in the lemon zest, if using, and the almonds. Serve the rice with the lamb, with the reduced cooking liquid poured over, and a crisp, fresh salad of your choosing.
* Baharat is a Middle Eastern spice blend suitable for lamb, fish, chicken and beef.
