Crosshairy
Well-Known Member
Recipe works with whitetail just as well. If you've never tried it, butternut squash tastes a lot like sweet potato, but without the longer fiber strands inside.
- Trim the biggest pieces of silverskin off of the exterior of the shank meat so that the meat itself gets a bit of sear and seasoning.
- Season liberally with salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, and rosemary (optional)
- Put water or whatever stock you have on hand in the crock pot (I suggest several inches of water level) and get it going. Shanks will make their own broth with all of the extra connective tissue and bone, so don't be worried if you don't have broth. I cooked mine on high heat for 5 hours and it was very, very tender.
- Get skillet hot, add a bit of oil
- Sear the shank, then drop it into the crock pot.
- Slice a large yellow onion (or 2, if you like lots of onion) up and sautee that with additional seasoning, oil, and garlic.
- If you have any residue in the pan, use a bit of wine to de-glaze the pan, and pour all of that into the crock pot.
- Peel the butternut squash (I use a carrot peeler) and cube it up into 1" cubes or so. Exclude the seed core (note: butternut squash seeds are good for roasting and taste similar to pumpkin seeds, if you are interested).
- If you are going to let it cook more than 4-5 hours, wait until later to drop in the squash cubes. Otherwise, proceed. The squash will get soft and turn mushy - long cook times make this worse. It doesn't affect the taste, but something to consider. If you want to preserve the larger chunks, avoid stirring it much prior to serving.
- Optional extra seasonings, depending on what you like: cumin, paprika, and nutmeg can all be added to make it more smoky/savory. I've also added a bit of cayenne to this before, to give it a "sweet heat".
- Trim the biggest pieces of silverskin off of the exterior of the shank meat so that the meat itself gets a bit of sear and seasoning.
- Season liberally with salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, and rosemary (optional)
- Put water or whatever stock you have on hand in the crock pot (I suggest several inches of water level) and get it going. Shanks will make their own broth with all of the extra connective tissue and bone, so don't be worried if you don't have broth. I cooked mine on high heat for 5 hours and it was very, very tender.
- Get skillet hot, add a bit of oil
- Sear the shank, then drop it into the crock pot.
- Slice a large yellow onion (or 2, if you like lots of onion) up and sautee that with additional seasoning, oil, and garlic.
- If you have any residue in the pan, use a bit of wine to de-glaze the pan, and pour all of that into the crock pot.
- Peel the butternut squash (I use a carrot peeler) and cube it up into 1" cubes or so. Exclude the seed core (note: butternut squash seeds are good for roasting and taste similar to pumpkin seeds, if you are interested).
- If you are going to let it cook more than 4-5 hours, wait until later to drop in the squash cubes. Otherwise, proceed. The squash will get soft and turn mushy - long cook times make this worse. It doesn't affect the taste, but something to consider. If you want to preserve the larger chunks, avoid stirring it much prior to serving.
- Optional extra seasonings, depending on what you like: cumin, paprika, and nutmeg can all be added to make it more smoky/savory. I've also added a bit of cayenne to this before, to give it a "sweet heat".
