Slow Cooker Roasted Rack of Lamb

1.5 lbs Slow Roasted Rack of Lamb, with whole garlic cloves and rosemary, over cut Potatoes and Onions.

Easy Roasted Rack of Lamb

For all of you Slow Cooker fans out there, I put together a quick and easy Roasted Rack of Lamb recipe you can enjoy with ease. Thanks to the old “Set it and Forget it” method, you can prep this recipe hours in advance and walk away, with out a worry in the world, and back to an elegant meal. This is a “Well Done” recipe and, I don’t mean like a pat on the back. I’m talking about being cooked all the way through, like any roast should be, minimal ingredients and a few vegetables for a side.

Raw Rack of Lamb, dressed with garlic cloves, rosemary resting in a slow cooker with cut potatoes and onions.

Slow Cooking a Rack of Lamb

Personally, I prefer a pan seared rack of lamb that I can throw in the oven for 10 minutes or so but, that’s just me. I like my lamb medium rare and this recipe just isn’t that. Roasting cooks the meat all the way through.

The trick is to keep it tender and juicy and a slow cooker does just that. However, slow cookers made these days let out much of the moister right out of the pot and it sneaks out the sides of the crappy lids they’re now making. I firmly believe in trapping the moisture in there with a heavy glass lid. Some folks will just add water but, I’m telling you, you’ll never get the same results.

This is the first time I used a newer crock pot and I don’t like. If you’ve noticed recipes I’ve used in the past, I’m using a slow cooker from the 80’s, because they’re awesome, but my side handle broke off recently so I thought I’d give the new ones a try. I’ve been seeing the older Crock Pots, by Rival, showing up at my second hand stores and I think I’m going to start buying them up because these new ones suck!

Anyway, you might need to play with the roasting time, depending on the size of your Rack of Lamb. I cooked this 1.5 lbs rack for 6 hours and it turned out great. Honestly, it just needed gravy but, like I mention in the video tutorial, I highly recommend my Cherry Pie filling that can be used as a topping or glaze.

Roasted Rack of Lamb in a Slow Cooker with vegetables.

Roasted Rack of Lamb Ingredients

1 Rack of Lamb
2 Large Russet Potatoes, cut in chunks
1 Large Onion, Cut in Chunks
1 Sprig Rosemarry
8 Garlic Cloves

Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste on both the Rack of Lamb and the Vegetables. Set your Slow Cooker on low and roast for 5 to 6 hours. I recommend adding a gravy or my Cherry Pie Filling as a Cherry Glaze to top the Lamb(below).

Slow Cooker Roasted Rack of Lamb video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.
Cherry Topping Ingredients:

3 to 4 cups Fresh Pitted Cherries
1 cup Water
1 cup Sugar
1/8 tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder (or just cinnamon)
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
a pinch of Cayenne Pepper (optional, but it’s GREAT)
1 tbsp Cornstarch
1 tbsp Water

Just follow the instructions in the short video tutorial down below and I’ll show you exactly how to make a Cherry Glaze for the Rack of Lamb.

Cherry Pie Filling, Topping and/or Glaze video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.

Consider my other Lamb recipes: Garlic Crusted Rack of Lamb, Lamb Chops with Aju, Grilled Lamb Chops with Pesto, Leg of Lamb with Sweet Chili Glaze, Mint Panko Rack of Lamb, American Greek Gyro.

Meatball Sub Sandwich

The Best Meatballs and Sub Sandwich

Here’s a two for one recipe. Actually, it’s a 3 in 1 recipe, technically but who’s counting. You’re getting an amazing Meatball recipe, a fantastic Garlic and Greens Butter Spread recipe and a sub recipe that is out of this world delicious. I’m even going to plug my Spaghetti Sauce and Pizza Sauce recipes as a Marinara option, as well.

1.5 lbs of raw hamburger and 5 regular Bratwurst sausage’s (1 lbs).

Beef and Pork

The most important ingredients for a great meatball starts with the meat and, in my opinion, beef just isn’t enough. To really trick up the flavor you’ve got to add pork or pork sausage. In this case, I’m adding regular Bratwurst Sausage’s. Another good combination is the addition of veal. Ground beef, pork and veal make great meatballs, if you don’t want to use sausage. For this recipe, however, I like the Brat’s because of the additional ingredients put in that make the flavor of the sausage so unique in flavor, especially when it’s mixed in with beef to make meatballs.

2 dozen 1 1/2 inch raw meatballs in 2 cupcake tins, ready for the oven.

Baked or Pan Fried

Meatballs can be cooked several different ways. The easiest, in my opinion, is baking them. I love a good pan fried meatball, don’t get me wrong, but when you’re preparing several other foods or filming at the same time, it’s a lot easier to just throw them in the oven and let them do their thing. I like to use these mini cup cake tins because the catch the grease and they fit a 1 1/2″ inch meatball, perfectly. I bake for 15-20 minutes at 400° F.

Garlic and Green’s Butter Spread for the sub rolls.
Grilled Bread for the Sub Rolls

You have to grill the bread when you’re making a Meatball Sub. You just have to. If you don’t, the sauce will take over the bread and turn it into a sloppy mess. Maybe that’s your thing, though. Just maybe, that’s the way you like it and you can just skip grilling altogether. Either way, I wouldn’t advise that you go with out this lovely Garlic and Green’s butter spread. It is divine and, because I do prefer my buns grilled, I spread this butter over both sides of the inside of fresh sub roll and lay it down flat on a hot skillet for a few minutes or until it fully toasts the spread. Then I fill it up with goods, minus the sauce (don’t add the sauce until the end).

2 dozen cooked Meatballs, still in their cupcake tins, after baking.
Almost 2 dozen meatballs mixed in a pot of Spaghetti Sauce.
Marinara, Spaghetti or Pizza Sauce

Of course, it’s entirely up to you which sauce you use and how much effort you want to put into making a Meatball Sub. Maybe it’s just me but I think the flavor of the sauce get’s bolder in the title order; Marinara, Spaghetti Sauce then Pizza Sauce. I have 2 Spaghetti Sauce recipes and a good Pizza Sauce recipe, if you you’re interested in making it from scratch. Personally, and for the sake of ease, I prefer just going with a jar of Prego and if you’ve got a problem with that then choose something else. All I recommend, if you choose a store bought sauce, is that you stay away from Ragu, yuck!

Meatball Sub Sandwich video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.

Meatballs Ingredients: Makes 30 1 1/2″ Meatballs

1 1/2 lbs Hamburger
1 lbs Original Bratwurst, 5 sausages
13 Ritz Crackers
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tbsp Mexican Oregano
1 tsp Goya Adobo all purpose seasoning
2 eggs

1 Pinch of Kosher Salt and Pepper, optional

Oven 400° Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes.

Meatball Sub Ingredients:

6 to 8 Sub Rolls
24 oz Spaghetti Sauce
6 to 8 slices Provolone or Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated

Garlic and Green’s Spread
2 to 4 Green Onion
6 Basil Leaves
Hand full Fresh Spinach Leaves
2 Garlic Cloves
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 cube Butter, 1/2 cup
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Parmesan, fresh grated
1 pinch Kosher Salt and Pepper

Be sure to watch the video tutorial and I’ll show you how to make these incredible Meatballs and these Meatball Sub Sandwich’s.

Fried Mozzarella

Four Fried Mozzarella patties, plated with a ramekin of pizza sauce.

The BEST Fried Mozzarella

Everyone claims to have the “best” recipe for what ever they’re advertising but I’m telling you right now that nobody makes they’re Fried Mozzarella like this because they’re not using the right cheese. And, once I show you what I’m talking about, you’ll be convinced that I’m right and that this is, without a doubt, the best Fried Cheese.

Layered pieces of Low Moisture Mozzarella cheese laid down like dominoes on a plate.

The Perfect Cheese

I have memories of ordering Cheese sticks at Denny’s after the local bars would send us home for the night. I thought that they were amazing but, the truth was, I was just drunk because those Mozzarella sticks were crap as soon as they went cold. The batter sucked and the cheese got hard and rubber. Well, no more I say.

The secret to my Fried Mozzarella is Low Moisture Mozzarella. You’ve probably seen it at your grocery store or even had it melted on a Margherita Pizza. I serve it up sometimes with Cured meats like Prosciutto and Dry Copa or Genoa, sliced fruit and crackers. It’s a little bit saltier than regular Mozzarella, so there’s more flavor, and it’s got a lot more elasticity to it when it’s melted, because of the low moisture content; which is generally about 45 to 52% compared to the regular, as high as 60%.

A plate of breaded and battered Mozzarella ready for the to be fried.

Fried Cheese Breading and Batter

In this recipe, I don’t use a batter to coat the Mozzarella Cheese before frying. Instead, I use a basic seasoned flour, egg wash and seasoned bread crumbs breading or, in this case, Panko.

In the video tutorial, I instruct you to add a double layer of this coating. This is very important because it will create a wall around the cheese, as it melts in the frying oil, and it will prevent the melted cheese from leaking out into the pan or fryer which, in turn, creates a huge mess.

I fry these in hot oil, for just a few minutes, until they turn golden brown, let them cool on paper towels and serve with Pizza Sauce.

Fried Mozzarella video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.
Fried Mozzarella Ingredients: Makes 12

1 pckg Mozzarella, low moisture
1/4 cup Flour, all purpose
1/4 tsp, Old Bay
4 eggs, for egg wash
1/4 cup Water, for egg wash
1 1/2 cup Bread Crumbs, Seasoned
1 cup Vegetable Oil, for frying

Fry for 2 minutes at 350° Fahrenheit.

Follow the instructions in the short video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make the best Fried Mozzarella.