I've taken Mum's advice and gone for lots of flavour - as she says sometimes things come out of a slow cooker tasting of very little. I bought some lamb neck at the butcher stall in Pimlico market yesterday and have aimed for a tagine style stew.
So, at 11am this morning, I chopped onion, garlic and carrot into big chunks and put half in the slow cooker. I sprinkled this with cumin, paprika, salt and pepper, and thyme. Then I seared the lamb in a pan and put it on top of the veg, then added the rest of the veg on top, with some more herbs and spices. I put in a pint of water and started the cooker off on medium.
At about 4pm I added some tomato puree to the stock and stirred it in, and then some halved dried apricots and sultanas. I also sprinkled in some ground almonds.
Am going to give this another couple of hours on low setting, and then serve with mash. Will have to report back on how it turns out.
Also on the agenda this afternoon, a wholemeal tin loaf courtesy of a new book given to me for my birthday '100 Great Breads' by Paul Hollywood. And I'm also going to make some flapjack as a tasty snack to take to work next week.
So, the results. I've just had a delicious bowl of fruity, slightly spicy lamby stew, with soft fluffy mash underneath. Before serving I did take the lamb next pieces out, take the meat off the bones, and popped the lovely tender meat back into the juices.
The flapjack looks good, and is lovely and golden, and even looks like its going to stick together - hooray. But the bread is a disaster - just didn't want to do a 2nd rise. Perhaps because it's wholemeal and needs longer, or maybe I didn't knead it enough. Who knows. Better luck next time.
