A simple, hearty braise inspired by the video: bone-in leg/shank pieces slow-cooked outdoors in a Dutch oven over coals with cream of mushroom soup, French onion soup mix, Worcestershire, mint sauce, onions, garlic, mushrooms and rosemary. The result is fall-apart tender meat in a rich, savoury gravy.
Ingredients (serves 4–6)
- 2 large bone-in lamb legs/shanks (or equivalent beef cuts), vacuum-packed style as shown
- 2 × 420 g cans Campbell's condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 2 × 40 g packets French onion soup mix (Woolworths Essentials or similar)
- Worcestershire sauce (Holbrooks or equivalent) – a good few dashes
- Fountain Thick Mint Sauce (or similar) – a couple of tablespoons
- 2 brown onions, roughly chopped
- 3–4 garlic cloves, smashed or chopped
- 200–300 g fresh mushrooms, sliced
- Fresh rosemary sprigs (a small handful, chopped)
- Black pepper
- Olive oil or cooking oil
- Optional: a splash of water or stock if the sauce needs thinning later
Method
- Prep the ingredients — Chop the onions, smash/chop the garlic, slice the mushrooms and roughly chop the rosemary. Open the soup cans and have the French onion packets, Worcestershire and mint sauce ready.
- Season and brown the meat — Season the meat generously with black pepper. Heat a little oil in a large Dutch oven (or heavy cast-iron pot) over medium-high heat / hot coals. Brown the meat well on all sides to develop flavour, then set aside if needed.
- Build the sauce base — In the same pot (or directly with the meat), add the chopped onions and garlic. Cook briefly until starting to soften. Stir in the sliced mushrooms and rosemary. Add both cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup, both packets of French onion soup mix, a generous splash of Worcestershire sauce and a couple of tablespoons of thick mint sauce. Mix everything together. If the mixture looks very thick, add a small splash of water.
- Braise — Return the meat to the pot (or nestle it in if it never left). The liquid should come at least halfway up the sides of the meat. Cover with the lid. Cook low and slow over coals (or in a low oven at ~160 °C / 320 °F) for 2–3½ hours, turning the pieces occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the meat is very tender and starting to pull away from the bone. The sauce will thicken and darken into a rich gravy.
- Finish and serve — Taste and adjust seasoning (more pepper, Worcestershire or a touch more mint sauce if desired). Spoon the meat and plenty of the mushroom–onion gravy into bowls. Garnish with a little extra chopped herbs if you like.
Serve with mashed potato, crusty bread, or just as is. The leftovers reheat beautifully.