Making Stew (tips please)

icecubequeen

I made a lamb stew today and just used the bung it in recipe! lol :rotfl:

went along the lines of:

Lamb (diced)
carrots
onion
leek
celery
broth mix (pulses etc)
tin of tomatoes
2 tins of water
veg stock cube
beef stock cube
rosemary and thyme

brown off the meat, softened the veg for a bit and added the rest of the ingredients. Leave to simmer slowly and quietly for a few hours.

You could bung other veg and herbs etc in too, whateve you fancy.

Boomdocker

I have a small 1.5l hinari (that i got for free!) stashed in the bottom of my kitchen cupboard that I have promised myself will come out and and get used this winter. Stew is such a comfort food and a great winter warmer but I have always been a bit unsure of how to use it, these tips above all seem pretty straighforward. I understand the browning of the meat, softening the veg, not opening the cooker too often. Not sure of the timings though. Can someone give me a rough idea of how long to cook a basic stew mix on low, med or high. Is it essential to layer the food? I saw somewhere else that you shuld put veg/pots on bottom and meat on top but seems most of you bung it in and stir up and that to me sounds a lot less intimidating.

Boomdocker

Thought of one more quick question. Can I cook mince in a SC or does it break down over the long cooking time. I use a lot of beef and lamb mince in my stove/oven casseroles be great if they work in the SC too.

sandy2_2

Yes mince is fine in the slow cooker, just brown it a bit in the frying pan first. I always use slowcooker for bolognese sauce. If the mince clumps together a bit then, I use a potato masher on it!

mrbadexample

I defy you to ask any question that I didn't ask here.

Iguana

Pork cooked in cider can m,ake a nice light summer stew.

Gingham_Ribbon

You might find something useful in the slow cooker mini index.