Where can I find some good ham or lamb shanks for Christmas dinner?

[JingsMahBucket]

(Sorry, my ADHD hyper focus took over and this is a long meaty post... I hope someone else can benefit from my research.)

Hi folks, notwithstanding going to a butcher, does anyone have a recommendation for cooked /pre-seasoned or sauced lamb shanks? I asked my husband what he wanted for Christmas dinner and he said some kind of shank or knuckle that’s slow cooked. He was thinking lamb, pork or I think probably even a beef shin would be okay. We normally have turkey but we’re looking for something different this year.

I would normally take on this task to make it from scratch and I’m a darn good meat cook but I feel like taking a slightly easy option out this year. I’m also thinking of getting a porchetta for myself too. We can have that for New Year’s Day or something.

My locally available stores are a big Tesco, big Morrisons, M & S, Lidl, Iceland, and Aldi. I don’t mind ordering delivery from Cook or ordering a click and collect from Waitrose and traveling to get it. Actually, thinking about it now, I wouldn’t mind ordering a delivery from an online butcher either.

Caveats:

• To be frank, Tesco Finest food doesn’t really wow me and doesn’t seem to be great value compared to M & S. Does anyone have direct experience with their Christmas food?

• We both absolutely hate mint sauce so will not buy a “lamb with mint sauce/gravy” affair. Red wine or regular gravy would be totally okay.

• It’ll just be the two of us sharing the dinner. We don’t mind having leftovers to gnaw on for a couple days either.

Question: How likely are some of the options to be gone if I don’t buy them in November or early December and freeze them for later?

M & S

• Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks w/Vegetables | 1.34 kg for £25. This isn’t suitable for freezing though. How likely is it to be sold out?
• Slow Cooked Porchetta | 2630g for £50 . I’d have to order it though.

Tesco

• Tesco Finest Crackling Porchetta Pork Joint | 2.1-2.4kg for about £24 with Club Card
• Slow Cooked Gammon Shanks Honey And Mustard | 545G for £5.50

Waitrose

• 2 Slow Cooked Gammon Shanks | 1kg for £12

Dukes Hill

• Boiled Ham Hocks | 2 x 750g for 9.95

Anyway, this post is long enough. Are there any suggestions for Lidl, Aldi, or Iceland to consider? I also don’t mind doing a test run and buying something in early November… you know for (meaty) science.

M&S Christmas Food to order has these
https://christmasfood.marksandspencer.com/collection-slow-cooked-british-shin-of-beef-with-bordelaise-sauce-serves-8-/p/fdp60430496

https://christmasfood.marksandspencer.com/cfto-odb-slow-cooked-porchetta-serves-4-/p/fdp60630459

https://christmasfood.marksandspencer.com/british-slow-cooked-whole-lamb-leg-with-a-rich-lamb-ruby-port-and-red-wine-jus-serves-8-/p/fdp60526279

As well as the slow cooked turkeys, which come out surprisingly well

all are freezable

@Defiantly41 Thank you! I have my greedy eye on the M & S porchetta. Have you tried it before? They also have a smaller one that’s only £30 but I’d have to travel to a bigger city with a larger M & S food hall to get it.

I can’t really compare the different supermarkets but I did recently get the porchetta and the lamb roast from Cook and they were both amazing - exceeded my expectations (which they should have done really as cost was eye watering!)

@PlainJaneSuperbrainthe2nd ooooh thank you. Maybe I’ll just order the porchetta from them and cook the ham hocks myself and glaze them.

I always cook a big piece of gammon at Christmas, usually glazed with marmalade/brown sugar/allspice. (Smells gorgeous while it’s cooking.) I will only buy U.K. reared pork ham/gammon, any from e.g. Denmark is bound to be factory farmed, so around here that means Waitrose.

M&S does have only U.K. pork etc. but the pieces are usually too small. It keeps for ages in the fridge, so I always want a nice big piece - we’ll be eating it into the New Year.

I’ve had lamb shanks from Lidl, M&S, Asda, Waitrose and Sainsbury. The Waitrose ones were voted the best by everyone! The gravy was rich and delicious and the meat fell away from the bone. Definitely a 10/10.

There was very little between them all TBH. Lidl were the least favourite because the gravy was a lot thinner and the meat a bit more fatty but still a 7/10. As an aside, Lidl grass fed steaks are THE BEST (I cook a lot of blind taste tests/comparisons from the supermarkets above - it’s quite a lot of fun!)

Just for info - other top scorers were beef brisket from M&S which was A-MA-ZING and the pulled pork from Waitrose was also fab.

Another vote for Cook, their lamb shanks are gorgeous!

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER @IsThisTheWaytoSlamMyPillow @1apenny2apenny thank you so much for your meaty advice. I can't believe I'm just returning to my thread now. I thought it was lost in the Christmas board melée. 🙂

In the meantime, I discovered that Aldi is selling a porchetta as well this year. I saw it in their Christmas brochure and it's only £14.99.

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER may I have your glaze recipe please? Is it really sweet?

I have had the lamb shanks from Cook and they were nice