Slow Cooker_ The Best Cookbook Ever - Diane Phillips [115]
Cottage Pie
Lidgate, a butcher shop in London’s Holland Park area, sells cottage pie to bake at home, and it is divine. My daughter lived around the corner from this wonderful store, and we frequently bought meats there for dinner when I visited. But on nights when we didn’t feel like cooking, the cottage pie would soothe us after a long day on the go. Cottage pie should consist of lamb and vegetables in a rich sauce, covered by rich mashed potatoes. The whole shebang cooks in the slow cooker, which will keep it warm until you are ready to serve it.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2½ to 3 pounds lamb shoulder, fat trimmed, cut into ½-inch chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1½ teaspoons dried thyme
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup beef broth
3 medium carrots, cut into ½-inch dice
1 cup frozen petite size peas, defrosted
1½ cups frozen white corn, defrosted
Mashed Potatoes for Stews or Pot Pies
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
mix the flour, salt, and pepper in a large zipper-top plastic bag. Add the lamb, toss to coat, and shake off the excess flour. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the lamb a few pieces at a time and brown on all sides. Transfer the browned meat to the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker.
add the onion and thyme to the skillet and sauté until the onion is softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in both broths and heat, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour the contents of the skillet over the lamb. Cover and cook for 3 hours on high, until the meat is tender. Add the vegetables to the stew and stir to combine.
cover the stew with the mashed potatoes, being careful not to push the potatoes into the stew. Dot the top of the potatoes with the butter. Cover and cook for another 1 hour, until the butter is melted.
scoop servings of the stew covered with mashed potatoes onto each plate.
serves 8
Dubliner Stew
Ireland is famous for their lamb stews, and this one is traditional home cooking—just meat, vegetables (potatoes, of course!), and a delicious slow-simmering sauce. Serve this with Irish soda bread to sop up the wonderful sauce, or hollow out small round loaves of bread and serve the stew in the bread bowls.
12 to 14 baby carrots
14 to 16 tiny new or white creamer potatoes
¼ cup olive oil
3 pounds lamb shoulder meat, fat trimmed, cut into 1-inch chunks
1½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups pearl onions, peeled
1½ cups chicken broth
1 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups petite frozen peas, defrosted
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
arrange the carrots and potatoes in the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the meat evenly with the salt and pepper. Add the meat a few pieces at a time to the skillet and brown on all sides. Transfer the meat to the slow-cooker insert.
add the onions to the same skillet and cook until the onions begin to color a bit, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth to the skillet and heat, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Transfer the contents of the skillet to the slow-cooker insert and stir in the beef broth and thyme. Cover and cook on on high for 3½ to 4 hours or low for 7 to 8 hours.
skim off any fat from the top of the stew. Stir the peas into the stew. Mix the butter and flour until smooth and stir a bit at a time into the stew as well. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes on high until the sauce is thickened.
serve the stew from the cooker set on warm.
serves 6–8
Ground Lamb
Ground lamb isn’t found as often as ground beef or pork in the supermarket, but it makes some terrific meatballs or meat loaf for dinner in the slow cooker. Think about using lamb for meatballs at your next party because they are flavorful and tender when cooked in their