From ancient to modern

I had to use up the last bit of my slow cooker box.  It was a lamb flank and I have never used this cut of meat before.  I can’t say I liked the look of it much either.

I knew it needed long slow cooking so I let it simmer in the slow cooker overnight.  This morning I liked the look of it even less.

It seemed to consist largely of bones and fat with connecting strips of greyish meat.  I stripped all the meat off the bones and made a decision not to turn the results into a traditional Victorian stew, but to transform it into a very modern Jamaican Pepperpot.   So I added onions, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, butter beans, and standard and sweet potatoes.  I spiced it with allspice, ginger, garlic, herbs and loads of chillies.  Then I served it with some baked butter dumplings.

Frankly, it was still horrid.  The lamb was not tender in spite of having been cooked very gently for 10 hours – it was stringy and gelatinous.  And in spite of all the spices it still had a rather gamey, rancid taste.

Perhaps the Victorians would have done better with it.