Slow cooker chef: warming winter mixed game casserole recipe
Unless you have a shotgun and access to rough shooting, game can be a very expensive treat in the UK. A small pack of mixed game from Waitrose will set you back around a fiver. So when Danny spotted two bags of mixed game marked down to £1.25 each he grabbed them with a chortle. “Oh dear,” I secretly thought, “This meat needs to be cooked immediately and I haven’t got the right vegetables for a game casserole.” But of course I had dehydrated ones – it’s difficult to switch on to this new source of bounty having just cooked with...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: Chicken and red pepper casserole recipe
The best piece of kitchen equipment that I bought in 2008 was my slow cooker. I found mine in a sale at Tesco and had no idea how much more flavoursome slow cooking can be. So why did I buy one? I had been seduced by Angela and the thought of slow cooked steak and kidney. Initially I reckoned that I would just use it in the winter but it’s used all year round now and saves us lots of cash as the electricity used to run it is minimal. And most things do taste better when they are slow cooked. Now I’ve got to grips with how to cook with...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: Broccoli and watercress soup recipe
“I bet we’re the first in the world to be having broccoli soup and flash fried squid for breakfast.” Danny dunked a chunk of crusty bread in his soup. With me still at home we tend to have a late brunch these days but yesterday was the first day that we’d gone wild and had soup and seafood. I’d bought the broccoli in the market. Two giant heads for a pound. As the vegetables don’t have a long shelf life we ate broccoli with the skirt of beef stew and the rest was chopped and popped into the slow cooker to make soup. I’d also...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: Warming winter stew with skirt of beef and baby carrots recipe
Last year my friend Jo mentioned skirt of beef. I’d never even heard of the cut before let alone spotted it in the butchers. “If you slice it very fine, it’s wonderful in a stir fry. And even better it’s so cheap.” I’ve since discovered that it’s the traditional meat used in Cornish Pasties. Although my Cornish pal Tessa uses chuck steak. Last week I went to the market to buy some vegetables – they are always knocked down in price at the end of the day. I bought two large bunches of baby carrots for a pound – these would...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: Venison and shin of beef casserole recipe
This is a really easy recipe that I made last week. I forgot to take a picture of the dish so have put up this photograph as it includes a brass deer that belonged to my mother as a child. I love eating venison but it’s so expensive here in the UK. We buy it when it’s marked down in price and stash it in the freezer for game pies and casseroles. Shin of beef is delicious too – slowly simmered for 8-10 hours the gristly meat transforms into a melt in the mouth treat. Combine the two for a casserole that is deeply satisfying on a...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: Apple and Orange butter recipe
“Taste this.” “What kind of fruit is that? It’s gorgeous. It would be great with the duck legs.” With 25 kilos of apples to turn into something delicious that would not put us off apples for life, I was experimenting with orange and apple butter. Simmered for hours in the slow cooker to increase the depth of flavour. The end result tastes tropical, almost like mangoes and apricots and has a wonderful deep orangey colour. Fabulous to use as a sauce for chops, chicken or even fish. A tablespoon would lift the apples in a pie. It’s...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: Spiced apple butter recipe
“Why this is delicious.” Seraphina licked the spoon and examined the tasting pot. “You could add some to an ordinary apple pie and really make it special.” After the success of the pear butter I thought I’d try my hand at apple butter. Fruit butter contains no butter. It has a spreadable saucelike consistency and is lighter than a fruit cheese. Fruit butter is a great way of preserving a glut as it seems to concentrate the flavour and a big bag of apples is turned into just a few jars – this recipe filled 5 x450ml jars. We...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: Easy passata recipe
“Now you are going to see a piece of kitchen equipment that hasn’t been used for twelve years.” Danny was goggle eyed as I moved the Wellington boots to access the kitchen cupboard. I’d remembered that years ago Seraphina had given me a food mill for pureeing apples. It was right at the back – a bit dusty but complete with a range of three grinding disks. After a few minutes I worked out how to assemble the beast and clipped it onto a saucepan. I glanced at the handle – this was an Italian model reassuringly named...
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