The Cottage Smallholder

Lamb shanks are perfect for long slow cooking. The price has shot up over the years and now they are expensive to buy. Luckily Danny found some on the Tesco *CFC and I came up with this recipe. Lamb shanks actually have quite a bit of meat on them so we managed to get six Read More »

Years ago lamb shanks were a very cheap cut of meat. Now, with the return to forgotten cuts, they have become increasingly popular and the price for a couple of shanks has become quite high. So when I found a couple of these tasty lovelies half price on the Tesco CFC I squirreled them into Read More »

  I used not to be much of a fan of lamb casserole or stew. I think that I made it once for Danny and didn’t like it as it tasted bland and fattylike all the lamb casseroles I’d tasted before. Back then I didn’t have a slow cooker/crock pot – which is great for Read More »

  I spotted some *CFC lamb ribs – knocked down from £3.99 to £1.42 – so snapped them up. I’d never seen lamb ribs before – the price was tempting but how on earth was I going to cook them? I floated some recipe ideas past Danny. With zero response. “I’m happy to cook them.” He Read More »

Lamb can be greasy but these were delicious and not at all fatty. If our friend KC is reading this, then you can skip the rest, K! She hates lamb. We did not know this when we invited K and JP for Sunday lunch of roast lamb and dauphinoise potatoes. Poor K was too polite Read More »

I tend not to buy lamb shanks as they usually look so weedy and unappetising. Last week I spotted a half price pack of two lamb shanks on the Tesco condemned food counter. These were quite chunky (just under a kilo) and the original price was pretty stout too. They had been reduced from £7.95 Read More »

D generally cooks on a Friday. It used to be steak. Now it’s something a bit more economical. On Thursday I found a chunky pack of lamb loin chops in the fridge reserved for his chef spot. They’re cheaper than steak but still a big Friday night treat. When I pushed open the cottage front Read More »

Danny’s face fell ten years ago when John Coe stepped proudly into the cottage with a carrier bag bursting with home grown beetroot. Later he admitted that he hated beetroot. He imagined that beetroot had to be transmogrified to that vinegary stuff in jars. I made him beetroot soup and he loved it so much Read More »

We cooked Spanish lamb last weekend and still had lashings of lamb and sauce left over. Sometimes we are well intentioned, making a Shepherd’s pie with the remains. More often the remnants are jettisoned into the freezer and six months later the dogs polish off the bounty. Cold lamb doesn’t look wildly appealing. This week Read More »

“Let’s try making the Spanish Lamb in the slow cooker. It will be cheaper than using the oven and it might enhance the flavours even more.” It was better than the oven baked version, with more depth of flavour and the joint remained plump and succulent. This is a great, easy dish for lazy entertaining. Read More »