Slow Cookin'

Wednesday night dinner was on its way, and I had a ton of chores to do. I needed something that would be hands-off, yet fabulously delicious. We decided that throwing meat in a crock pot would be the way to go. Adam found a scrumptious recipe for Zinfandel-Braised Leg of Lamb that could cook in the slow cooker all day long. I have to say that Adam did most of the work, but I put on the finishing touches of broccoli rabe sauteed with garlic, homemade foccacia, and mushrooms sauteed in garlic and wine to accompany the lamb. The recipe calls to serve the lamb over noodles, but Adam and Scott simply used the bread to sop up the juices.


Zinfandel-Braised Leg of Lamb (Cooking Light, March 2009)

My only suggestion for the recipe would be to rotate the lamb during cooking so the top of the meat doesn't dry out. I think if I had come home from work and flipped it once, the lamb would have been more moist and succulent.

1 (2 1/2-lbs.) boneless leg of lamb
1 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 Tbs. all-purpse flour
2 tsp. olive oil
1 Tbs. juniper berries, crushed [we couldn't find juniper berries, so we added a splash of gin, which is made from juniper berries]
1 tsp. whole allspice, crushed
6 garlic cloves, sliced
1 cup zinfandel or other light red wine
1 tsp. dried basil
2 bay leaves
6 cups hot cooked egg noodles (about 4 3/4 cups uncooked pasta)

1. Unroll lamb; trim fat. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Reroll lamb; secure at 1-inch intervals with twine. Sprinkle evenly with flour. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add lamb to pan; cook 6 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Place lamb in an electric slow cooker. Add juniper berries, allspice, and garlic to pan; cook over medium heat 2 minutes or until garlic is lightly browned. Add wine to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 3 minutes). Scrap wine mixture into cooker; add basil and bay leaves. Cover and cook on LOW 8 hours or until lamb is tender.
2. Remove lamb from cooker; keep warm. Strain cooking liquid through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Add remaining 1/2 tsp. salt and remaining 1/2 tsp. pepper to cooking liquid; stir. Remove twine from lamb, and discard. Break lamb into chunks with 2 forks. Serve lamb and cooking liquid over egg noodles.