Simon’s Beef Stroganoff

When I was little, I never enjoyed the Beef Stroganoff that was served up at the table. It wasn’t due to the flavour, which was quite nice. It was because the meat was too tough and it took me so long to chew through it that I would often run out of patience. It was dry, chewy and I needed copious amounts of water to wash it down. I would sometimes spit it into my serviette and sneak it into the garbage bin because it was just too hard to digest. I avoided eating and cooking this dish for a long time, as the encounters I had with it were less than appetizing! That was until I tried this version cooked by a friend. The meat was tender and the flavour so delicious, that I was sold on Beef Stroganoff again. I tried it in the slow cooker and the meat was cooked perfectly. This recipe will probably serve around four people, so double the quantities for a large crowd.  

Ingredients

500g steak chopped into thin strips

1 onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, crushed

60g butter

250g mushrooms

1 cup beef stock

1 tablespoon dry sherry

1 tablespoon tomato sauce

½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

½ cup sour cream

Place all of the ingredients, except for the sour cream, into the slow cooker. Place the setting on low and cook for 4-6 hours. I found that the quantities I have here only needed 4 hours but you may need longer if you double the amount. In the last hour of cooking, stir in the sour cream. I have made the mistake in the past of putting the sour cream in at the beginning of cooking. It doesn’t need the full 4 hours and will probably end up over cooking and curdling. I prefer to serve this dish with rice but it also works well with noodles.



How to choose a slow cooker

One of the main concerns people have about using a slow cooker is safety. The idea of leaving an appliance on all day, while out of the house, leaves many people reluctant to use them. I certainly had the same concerns when starting out. Leaving a slow cooker on the lowest setting is really the same thing as leaving a fridge turned on. There certainly are some slow cookers that come with an emergency cut off or timer built into them, which means that it will switch off after about 16 hours. This is great in case you really do forget that it is turned on. 

Slow cookers are often set on low wattage which makes them an energy-efficient option and it doesn’t really cost much to produce the meals that come out of them.

The long cooking process tenderizes cheap cuts of meat and makes them fall off the bone. The use of only one pot, means less washing up. Plus the low temperature makes cleanup easy. Just throw in the ingredients and you can get on with your day. Your slow cooker will do all the work when you’re gone and you’ll come home to a ready-made meal!

If you are looking to buy a slow cooker, the type you buy will depend upon how much you cook quantity wise. There are lots of versions out there which have different settings and options. When choosing a slow cooker consider features that will work for you such as shape (oval or round), size (4 litre or 7 litre), settings (programmable or manual), and features (tight lid, internal temperature reader, automatic food warming switch etc). Also, consider whether or not you want a cooker that sears and heats the meat up quickly as well as having the slow option. You can also find slow cookers and pressure cookers that are combined in the one device. We have placed a few links below that give summaries and reader reviews. We hope they are helpful!

http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/household/kitchen/ovens-and-cooktops/slow-cookers-review-and-compare.aspx

http://www.productreview.com.au/c/slow-cookers.html

French Toast

I am not a morning person and can’t prepare breakfast well first thing. I decided to trial French Toast in the slow cooker so that it could cook while I was sleeping. It turned out quite well, although you probably only need to cook it for about 6 hours. I left it on longer and it was slightly overdone.You can just place the bread in the slow cooker and pour the mixture over the top while it’s in there. I really wanted to make sure that all of the bread was covered so I battered each piece individually. Choose whichever way you think is the easiest. This recipe will serve 4-6 although it will depend on how hungry your guests are!

Ingredients

½ loaf of bread (white generally works best but you can choose whatever you prefer)

6 eggs

2 cups of milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Break each piece of bread in half. Combine the eggs, milk, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla. Dunk each piece of bread in the mixture and layer them inside your slow cooker. Set your slow cooker to the lowest setting and leave for 6 hours. If you take off the lid 15 minutes before it’s finished, it will turn brown and toast. Mine was already brown because I left it on for longer! You can serve it however you like. It is quite a sweet dish so tangy fruit like strawberries, blueberries and kiwifruit could be a good option to serve with it.

Gettin' figgy with it: Fig, pear and cinnamon paste

As the days lengthen, the air warms and the spirits rise, we pick, nibble and graze: pick over picnic spreads; nibble at cheese platters; and graze on tapas over drinks. With this in mind, I decided to make a sweet spread to serve with a sunny Sunday afternoon cheese platter. This is what I did:

First, I grated four lovely green packham pears and popped them in the pre-heated slow cooker.

Next, I chopped eight dried organic figs (after removing the tougher stalk) and added them to the pears.

Then, I poured in two cups of organic raw sugar.

Finally, I added a cinnamon quill and 1/4 cup of water and stirred the mixture to combine the ingredients.

I left the slow cooker on low for about five hours and then turned the slow cooker on high at the end with the lid off to reduce the mixture to a thicker consistency. After removing the cinnamon quill, I used a stick blender to get a more even consistency and then I was done.

The sweet, sticky result was just what I had hoped for, and I ended up with three jars worth of paste for my trouble!

And the sunny Sunday afternoon was just perfect ...

Jono does Jamie's Beef Tagine

This is an original Jamie Oliver recipe that was given to me by a friend. It is designed for a tagine but it can work just as well in a slow cooker. I also think that a saucepan will still give you similar results but it will require more monitoring and temperature control. The number of spices listed on the recipe could be a turn off for those of you that don’t want to go through the process of bashing them up. But it takes no time at all and the resulting flavour is definitely worth it! A pestal and mortar is the best tool for mixing and crushing spices. If you don’t have one, wrapping all the spices in glad wrap and bashing them with a wooden spoon will do the job. It is also worthwhile rubbing the meat in the spice rub and leaving it to marinate in the fridge the night before cooking.  

Ingredients- Serves 4-6

600g casserole beef

Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 bunch of coriander

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

800ml vegetable stock

1 small squash, deseeded and chopped

100g apricots

2 tablespoons flaked almond, toasted

Spice rub

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon ras el hanout spice mix*

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

* Ras el hanout spice mix which translates as “Head of the Shop” is simply a mix of spices and herbs that originated out of the Meghribi villages of North Africa. The specific quantities and spices varied from shop to shop depending on what the owner decided to mix. Below is a simple mix that you can do at home. I simply piled them all into the pestal and mortar and mixed them with the spice rub.  

1 ½ tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp cardamon seeds

¼ tsp hot paprika

4 whole cloves

¼ tsp ground tumeric

¼ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp ground allspice

Method

Mix all the spice rub ingredients in a pestal and mortar. Put the beef in a large bowl and massage it with the spice rub, cover it with glad wrap and leave in the fridge overnight or at least a couple of hours. This will add a beautiful flavour to the meat.

When you are ready to cook, heat some olive oil (and be generous) in a fry pan and fry the meat on medium setting for 5 mins. Add the chopped onion and coriander stalks and fry for another 5 mins. Tip in the chickpeas and tomatoes, then pour 400ml of stock and stir. Bring to the boil, then place all ingredients in the slow cooker and sit it on the low setting for 1 ½ hours.

At the  1 ½ hour mark, add the squash, the apricots and the rest of the stock. Give everything a stir then put the lid back on and continue cooking on slow for another 1 ½ hours. At the end of this time, take the lid off and if it is too runny, leave it off and let it simmer for 5- 10 minutes.

Serve with coriander leaves, almonds and seasoned couscous. I also like to serve this with some cucumber and Greek yoghurt.

Source: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/beef-tagine

Chicken, corn and pearl barley kind-of-curry

I can't quite remember how, but I got it in my head that I had to try cooking with pearl barley. So I looked at a few recipes, and came up with my own combo to try out.

Here's what went into the slow cooker:

5 chicken thigh fillets, diced
1 green capsicum
1 seeded and sliced red chilli
Grated fresh ginger
3 crushed garlic cloves
1 red onion
A dash of ground cumin
A few shakes of garam masala
Another dash of turmeric
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups of chicken stock
A little less than a cup of pearly barley
Cooked corn sliced off the cob (you could of course use frozen or tinned corn, but I just happened to have fresh corn in the fridge)
Preserved lemon (or some grated lemon zest if you have a fresh lemon on hand instead)

I put the slow cooker on low for just over 6 hours while I was out and about, and I was pleasantly surprised by the fragrant results when I came home.

I made a quick corn, tomato and coriander salsa to serve on the side and topped the dish with a dollop of the hummus I'd picked up from my Turkish friend at the markets in the morning.

The spices and texture of the corn and barley were really nice, and the salsa also brightened up the dish. And I finally got to give pearl barley a whirl!