Now that it's cold again, my slow cooker has gone into overdrive. I had neglected it somewhat over the summer, but now I am using it once again to make stews, soups and roast meats galore. Sounds a bit Henry VIII doesn't it?

Clearly there is a flaw in using a 'slow' cooker for a tasty 'quickie', but actually, most dishes made in it require very little preparation, and you can leave it cooking all day while you're doing other stuff, so in terms of time and effort required from you, it is very quick, as opposed to being especially quick in cooking time.

I have gotten pretty into roasting joints in the slow cooker as cooking over a long time allows you to create really juicy, flakes off the bone style meat, much like pulled pork. This also means you can use pretty cheap cuts, because being fatty or sinewy is fine, as it will have time to dissolve into the meat and result in something juicy rather than chewy.

When I cooked this at the weekend, I used shoulder knuckle (the joint) which even from an organic farmers market butcher, who reared the lamb just outside London, only cost me a fiver. After trimming the fat from the outside, I got loads of proper meat off the bone.

Stick this in the slow-cooker in the morning, and then all you will need to do wen you want to eat it is knock up some potatoes, veg, and gravy.

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 lamb shoulder knuckle (if you can only find a whole shoulder, either cut off the blade and use for something else, or stick the whole thing in and have more juicy meat)

250mls red wine (1 large glass)

2 sticks of rosemary

4 cloves of garlic

1 carrot

1 onion

2 handfuls of cranberries, dried or fresh if you can find them

3 tablespoons of plain flour

500mls vegetable stock

salt/pepper

Directions

Chop the carrot and onion into quarters and throw into the slow cooker with the wine, garlic, 1 stick of rosemary and the berries.

Rub the lamb with a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper and stab a knife in four or five times in equally spaced places. Break up the remaining rosemary into the same amount of pieces, and insert it into the holes, pushing right down.

Place the joint into the cooker on top of the wine, and cook on medium for 8-10 hours.

After that time, remove the lamb from the cooker and wrap in foil to keep warm. Sieve the juices into bowl and discard the carrots etc.

To make the gravy, skim the fat off the top of the juices and mix with the flour in a saucepan to make a paste. If it becomes solid, add a little butter or olive oil. It should be the consistency of mayonnaise.

Fry for a min or two like you would when making a roux. Add the remaining juices and the veg stock, and bring to the boil to thicken, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Carve the meat from the bone, discarding the layer of fat from the top of the joint, and serve with mash, veg and the gravy.

Image via Raspberri Cupcakes