Lamb jerky likely won't make a Bonacini restaurant menu any time soon

So last night my sister called me from the supermarket, basket in hand, looking for accoutrements for the frozen half price lamb chunks that she had found. Woohoo! Half price. Way to go! I quickly scanned through the mental rolodex of appropriate accompaniments, taking into account this week's food restrictions (my sister, from time to time goes on cleanses, or has food intolerances that creep up and strike her gastricially in a terrible way) So of course, thyme, rosemary, garlic, mushrooms, parsnips, quartered lemon to replace the vino she can't have, carrots, zucchini came to mind. Since her plan was to crock-pot-it, provided that either the veg would stand up to the slow cooking, or contributed in some way to the sauce, all was good. I hung up the phone and made a mental note to speak to her in the morning and find out how it was. I also wrote it down to let her know that next time she should try adding sliced fennel, since that would add a nice mild licoricy flavour too.

So I spoke to her this morning and asked how the lamb was. "Lamb Jerky" didn't sound like a particularly appetizing response, and definitely not the one I was expecting. "How was the zucchini?" I asked. "pulp?" Apparently what we hadn't discussed was how long to leave a slow cooker on, and I suppose this was learning the hard way after ten hours of anticipated cooking. Although it was still tasty in a doggy treat, chew till you choke kind of way I am sure, I don't think that lamb jerky will make it onto a Bonacini restaurant menu any time soon.

So, in typical Sagitarian fashion, I thought that today I would dedicate this blog to her, and do a quick slow-cooker 101 for those who may need to be reminded of the basics.

Jen's Crockpot 101:

Pretty much any meat can be made in the crockpot. Here is a basic guideline if you don’t want to follow a recipe.

Add in any meat that you have on hand (beef, pork, lamb, chicken breasts, chicken legs, chicken thighs). This is also your chance to use those tougher cuts of meat such as:
Beef: round, brisket, flank, plate, shank, shin, leg, and chuck Flank steak (beef)
Pork: shoulder or butt
Lamb: shank or shoulder

If you have time brown the meat first in a skillet. If you don’t have time don’t worry just throw them in. You can even pull frozen meat and throw it in – Just add in a couple of hours more cooking time.

If you have any “sturdy” vegetables on hand throw them in if you want (potatoes, whole or cut up, carrots, celery, mushrooms, parsnips, rutabaga, cabbage in chunks). Any other veg are still fine to add, but keep in mind that they will contribute more to the sauce, and will not likely remain whole. Good choices include: tomatoes, zucchini

Add one can of any kind of any condensed soup (mushroom, chicken, celery, broccoli and cheddar etc.) Alternatively, if you have “packet sauces” like beef gravy, dried soup mix etc. these can be used in place. But boost up the liquid to the max amount in the next section.

Add ½ cup – 1 cup (or so) of any liquid (beer, wine, water, apple juice, tomato juice, chicken broth, beef broth,) You can also pitch in ½ to a whole cut up lemon in there too if you want a more acidic taste (perfect for lemon chicken, or greek lamb)

Add about ¼ tsp each of salt and pepper

Add ½ - 1 tsp of any seasoning you have on hand in any combination (oregano, basil, steak seasoning, garlic powder, onion flakes, real garlic, Italian seasoning etc).

Cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 5-6

Serve with any combination of rice, pasta, potatoes, salad, other veg.