This month's Delicious magazine had a great recipe for beef bourguignon. It looked so good that I decided to adapt it to the slow cooker. The results were fantastic. It does require a little preparation the day before because to enhance the flavours, you will need to marinate the meat in red wine. The results are worth it though.
Ingredients
2kg chuck steak, cut into small pieces
750ml bottle red wine
1/4 cup plain flour
1/3 cup olive oil
150g pancetta, rind removed, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 leeks (pale part only), thinly sliced
3 carrots, chopped
500ml beef stock
4 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
Chopped flat leaf parsley, steamed green vegetables and buttered potatoes to serve.
Place the meat in a bowl and pour over the red wine. Cover and marinate in the fridge over night.
The following day, bring the meat back to room temperature and drain but reserve the wine.
Toss the drained beef with flour. Heat 1 1/2 tbs of oil in a large frypan and fry the beef until browned all over. Set aside. Add another tablespoon of oil to the frypan with the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes until starting to crisp. Add the garlic, leek and carrot, then cook, stirring for raound 2-3 minutes. Stif in the beef.
Transfer the meat dish from the fypan into a slow cooker. Pour in the stock and reserved wine. Add the thyme and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Switch slow cooker onto low and cook for 8 hours.
Serve the dish with steamed vegetables and potatoes. Sprinkle with parsley.
Source: Delicious Magazine, Issue 127, June 2013, pg. 64.
Three girls. Three slow cookers. One common appetite for culinary adventures! Three Slow Cookers was born over dinner one evening. Cardamon, Paprika and Saffron were sharing a lovely slow cooked meal, and wondered how they could discover more about the wonders of slow cooking. Paprika suggested: “ A blog!”. Cardamon and Saffron agreed: “Yes!”. And the rest, as they say, is blogging history. Enjoy!
Saturday, 22 June 2013
Monday, 10 June 2013
Catherine's comfort soup
This long weekend, I had a terrific visit from a lovely cousin who came to stay with me. We were on the go for most of the time - apart from some downtime to enjoy a Downton Abbey mini marathon! - so, we put the slow cooker to good use to make a lovely, warming soup to come home to after a busy afternoon of socialising.
Earlier that morning, we had visited the local markets and bought some gorgeous homegrown produce, including some beautiful parsnips and sweet potato. Here's how we made our soup:
Chop a brown onion and put that in the slow cooker with some chopped fresh organic garlic.
Add the spices: turmeric; cinnamon; nutmeg and ground ginger. Stir well in the pre-heated slow cooker.
Add the chopped vegetables: pumpkin; parsnip; sweet potato.
Boil the kettle. Add about four cups of boiling water and two vegetable stock cubes.
We left the slow cooker on high for about three hours and then on low for about another three or so hours while we were out and about. When we were ready to enjoy our soup with some delicious rye and caraway sourdough, we blended the soup to a think and creamy consistency.
The soup was delicious!!! I think we will want to make it again. As my cousin said, "It's a keeper!"
Earlier that morning, we had visited the local markets and bought some gorgeous homegrown produce, including some beautiful parsnips and sweet potato. Here's how we made our soup:
Chop a brown onion and put that in the slow cooker with some chopped fresh organic garlic.
Add the spices: turmeric; cinnamon; nutmeg and ground ginger. Stir well in the pre-heated slow cooker.
Add the chopped vegetables: pumpkin; parsnip; sweet potato.
Boil the kettle. Add about four cups of boiling water and two vegetable stock cubes.
We left the slow cooker on high for about three hours and then on low for about another three or so hours while we were out and about. When we were ready to enjoy our soup with some delicious rye and caraway sourdough, we blended the soup to a think and creamy consistency.
The soup was delicious!!! I think we will want to make it again. As my cousin said, "It's a keeper!"
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Pumpkin Soup
This is a great classic pumpkin soup recipe that will work well when you are up against it. I have experimented with different types of pumpkins over the years but my favourite is still the Jap variety. For me, this gives a far stronger pumpkin flavour but you can use whatever type strikes your fancy.
Ingredients
30g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large leek, sliced thinly
1.8 kg pumpkin
1 large potato, chopped coarsely
3 cups chicken stock
3 cups water
Heat the butter and oil in a frypan. Melting butter, while it's coated in oil, will prevent it from burning.
Place the leek in the fry pan and stir until soft.
Place the leek, pumpkin, potato, stock and water in a slow cooker.
I like to add some pepper at this point which seems to give it extra flavour.
Cook, covered, on low for 6 hours.
After 6 hours, turn off the slow cooker and cool it for about 10 mins.
Blend the soup. I use a hand held blender and it is really easy to do but you can put it through a food processer in batches.
Once the soup is blended, turn the slow cooker onto high and cook the soup for about 20 mins. If you want to thicken the mixture up, take the lid off while it is set on high and this will work well.
You can serve it with cream and chives or with whatever garnish takes your fancy. Too easy!
Source: Slow Cooking/ food director Pamela Clark, 2010.
Ingredients
30g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large leek, sliced thinly
1.8 kg pumpkin
1 large potato, chopped coarsely
3 cups chicken stock
3 cups water
Heat the butter and oil in a frypan. Melting butter, while it's coated in oil, will prevent it from burning.
Place the leek in the fry pan and stir until soft.
Place the leek, pumpkin, potato, stock and water in a slow cooker.
I like to add some pepper at this point which seems to give it extra flavour.
Cook, covered, on low for 6 hours.
After 6 hours, turn off the slow cooker and cool it for about 10 mins.
Blend the soup. I use a hand held blender and it is really easy to do but you can put it through a food processer in batches.
Once the soup is blended, turn the slow cooker onto high and cook the soup for about 20 mins. If you want to thicken the mixture up, take the lid off while it is set on high and this will work well.
You can serve it with cream and chives or with whatever garnish takes your fancy. Too easy!
Source: Slow Cooking/ food director Pamela Clark, 2010.
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