Free Slow Cooked: 200 exciting, new recipes for your slow cooker by Miss South

good value, but can be greasy if not cooked carefully.
    The slow cooker is perfect for doing it well, allowing it to stay tender, but not to cook in its own fat. Served as a rolled joint, it makes a lovely Sunday lunch. Don’t forget to make your own good times!
    SERVES 4
    2 teaspoons smoked paprika
    1 teaspoon ground ginger
    ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
    ¼ teaspoon ground mace
    ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
    ¼ teaspoon sea salt
    ¼ teaspoon black pepper
    1 tablespoon vegetable oil
    1 rolled lamb breast joint, approximately 750g-1kg
    2 onions, quartered
    1 carrot, cut in batons
    ½ swede, cut in chunks
    150ml water
    Mix all the spices together along with the salt and pepper and combine with the oil to form a loose paste. Rub this all over the lamb breast joint. Marinate in the fridge overnight.
    When you are ready to cook, place the lamb, skin side down, in a cold frying pan and set over a medium heat. This renders off any excess fat. Seal the lamb on each side for about one and a half minutes, or until browned. Remove from the heat and set aside.
    Make a carpet of the vegetables on the base of the slow-cooker crock as you are going to use them as a vegetable trivet that you set the meat on. This will allow the meat to steam and roast without it being too fatty. Place the sealed lamb on the vegetables.
    Add the water to the vegetables and put the lid on the slow cooker. Cook the lamb on low for 7–8 hours. The lamb will shrink slightly as the fat renders out into the vegetables and a lot of liquid will gather in the slow-cooker crock.
    When the lamb is cooked, it will look soft and tender. Take it out of the crock and set aside to rest for 5–10 minutes. Using a hand blender, purée the vegetables in the slow-cooker crock into a thick glossy sauce.
    Serve this sweet, spiced onion sauce with the sliced lamb. It makes a lovely variation on a roast dinner.

GARLIC, ANCHOVY AND MINT LAMB SHOULDER
    This is probably the first ever dish I associated with a slow cooker. Years ago when I had not long moved to London, my boss at the time used to make it when we worked on a Sunday. She would rub the lamb with mint sauce, adding garlic and anchovy and popping it all in her slow cooker. I was rewarded for a day’s work with commission and an invite to pop round the corner to her house to join her family for dinner.
    The vinegar in the mint sauce marinates the meat as it slow cooks, making this the most tender lamb you’ll ever try. The only difficult bit for you is getting it out of the crock as it tends to just fall apart as you lift it. The tricky bit for me was watching her eat the leftovers in a roll on a Monday lunchtime and trying not to go green with envy.
    A 1kg piece of lamb shoulder will fit nicely into a 3.5-litre slow cooker and will probably be sold in a supermarket as a half shoulder. A larger whole shoulder will fit snugly into a 6.5-litre slow cooker and will, of course, serve more people. Simply double the amount of garlic, anchovy and mint sauce.
    SERVES 4–6 WITH LEFTOVERS
    1kg piece of lamb shoulder
    4 anchovies, each cut into thirds
    6 cloves of garlic, halved
    150ml mint sauce
    salt and pepper
    Prepare your meat by taking a small, sharp knife and poking small slits into it, each about 2–3cm deep. You’ll need about twelve of them. Wrap your anchovy pieces around the garlic. Stuff each one into the slits in the meat so they are obscured.
    Rub the mint sauce all over the surface of the meat and place the lamb into the slow-cooker crock. Season well with salt and pepper. The anchovies are salty, but their flavour mellows into the meat to become neither salty nor fishy, but just incredibly savoury.
    Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook the lamb on low for 8–9 hours. The meat will be transformed into something truly amazing. Serve with roast potatoes and green beans with mint sauce on the side.

LANCASHIRE HOTPOT
    This is the dish that Mister North most enjoys making in his slow cooker. He lived in Lancashire