Slow cooker favourites

I love slow-cooking things - I have an old slow cooker with a proper crockpot, does a lovely job. I always prepare the food until piping hot in a pan before transferring to the slow cooker.

This is a rather good recipe - Beef and Chorizo Stew

INGREDIENTS (exact measurements are not important)
Chorizo sausages - about 250g
Braising Steak - between 500g and 1000g depending on your budget / how many you are feeding
Onions - 2 medium
Tin of cherry tomatoes - 440g-ish
Black Olives (pitted) - 100g
Red peppers - 1 or 2
Garlic - 2 or 3 cloves (or as many as you like)
Paprika - 1 teaspoon
Cumin, G - 1 teaspoon
Dried Chilli Flakes - 1 teaspoon
Dried oregano - 1 teaspoon
Beef stock - 300ml

Brown off the braising steak and set to one side. Slice up the chorizo and brown off until the oil starts to come out - set to one side as well. In the same pan, gently fry the onions until softened (you might need to add a bit of olive oil), then add the sliced red pepper and soften that as well. Return the beef and chorizo to the pan, add the tomatoes, the crushed garlic, the olives, herbs and spices. Add enough beef stock to just cover everything - you can always add more later if you don't think there's enough.

Transfer the lot to the slow cooker and let it cook on low for 6-8 hours. It is utterly delicious.

Really, you can invent almost any casserole/stew meal in the slow cooker, just as you would with a regular oven. Just don't add as much liquid. Fry off the main ingredients, add the stock and bung in the slow cooker. Beef in ale is particularly good. (You won't need the whole bottle so use the rest of the ale to soak some dried fruit in overnight, and then make a very lush ale-cake with it the next day.)

You can also make THE best bone stock in a slow cooker - I save chicken carcasses/bones in the freezer until I have at least two chickens-worth, then put in the slow cooker with a carrot,onion,celery,peppercorns and leave on low for at least 24 hours. When strained and cooled, it is proper jelly-like stock. I freeze in silicon muffin-tin-size portions. It makes the most excellent soup with whatever vegetables are to hand.

TINK - I genuinely doubted your sanity on the topic of S/C Jackets, but I tried your method out yesterday and it worked a treat!

I left the Jackets in the S/C for 5 hours whilst we were out (wouldn't have risked leaving the oven on for so long with the house empty) and made the skins crispy whilst I prepared the fillings.

'Twas Tremendous! Thanks ~ :T:T:T

I tend to use the slow cooker to add quality to really cheap meats. I buy the cheapest mince available and once it's done 8 hours in the S/C it eats like shredded fillet steak!! No gristle or chewy bits, makes the most divine stuffing for Taco's or cottage pie etc...

nonnatus wrote: »

TINK - I genuinely doubted your sanity on the topic of S/C Jackets, but I tried your method out yesterday and it worked a treat!

I do my jackets in the microwave for 5-10 minutes, depending on how many and how big, then finish off in the oven to crisp them up.

Would be interested to know how the slow-cooked ones compare if you've tried the microwave/oven method.

Thanks