Slow cooked, no pressure deliciousness
If you haven’t yet caught on to the slow cooker craze, it’s time to get cooking – but slowly does it. Once a favourite kitchen accessory, the electric version of the old fashioned steel crockpot is making a quiet, relaxed comeback. And it’s not hard to see why.
“For individuals and families with a busy schedule, the slow cooker is more or less a one-pot-wonder. Just throw in the raw ingredients in the morning, turn it on, walk away and forget about it for six to eight hours. It’s so easy,” says Dominic Smith, senior food editor at MasterChef magazine.
The resurgence of the slow cooker has been sparked by a recent budget conscious nostalgia for hearty, healthy food which is quick and easy to prepare. And with household grocery bills soaring, the slow cooker is a great solution.
“Good old fashioned values and just all round value for money have contributed to the slow cooker’s increasing popularity,” says Dominic.
With winter here, warming dishes such as soups, stews, casseroles, curries, roasts and even desserts are all very easy to conjure up left to their own devices over periods of four hours, six hours or eight hours. The slow cooker has also sparked a revival in the demand for cheaper cuts of meat which benefit most from a long, slow cook for that fall-off-the-bone, slow cooked deliciousness.
“Meat based dishes using secondary cuts such as shanks, ribs, belly and blade are best. Slow cooking these types of traditionally less fashionable types of meat are best suited to this cooking technique as the gelatinous tissues within the meat produce a rich, flavoursome sauce,” says Dominic.
In the past two to three years, Australian retail sales of electric slow cookers have soared and for a mere $50 - $70, you can pick up the very latest models from respected brands such as Sunbeam and Breville.
Slow cooker recipe books are now permanent fixtures on the cookery book bestseller lists and the internet has exploded with a plethora of slow cooking blogs, recipe sites and forums. Food manufacturers such as McCormick and MasterFoods have even introduced convenient slow cooking recipe sachets to meet the growing demand for even easier to prepare slow cooked dinners.
Within just minutes, you too can be on your way to slow cooking heaven. And one thing’s for sure, there’s nothing better than coming home to the enticing aroma of a slow cooked dinner as you walk through the door.
| HOMELOANS SLOW COOKER RECIPE  Slow cooked lamb shanks
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS 2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chilli paste (optional)
4 lamb shanks 3 sprigs thyme
3 tbsp white wine
1cup beef stock
4 Roma tomatoes, cut into small pieces
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp chopped parsley or chopped coriander leaves METHOD In a small bowl, mix half the oil with the tomato paste, cumin and chilli paste. Brush or rub the meat with this paste. On
the stove top, heat the remaining oil in a large pan and brown the meat
for a few minutes. Add the thyme, wine, stock, tomato and garlic, and
season with a little salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to your slow
cooker. Allow to simmer for 8-10 hours on low, or 4-6 hours on high,
until the mixture falls away from the bone. Do not lift the lid during
cooking. Just before serving, stir in the chopped parsley and serve with mashed potato and a green salad. Adapted from New Trim Lamb Shanks in Gabriel Gate's Guide to Everyday Cooking, Allen and Unwin |
For further great slow cooker recipe books, head to your local book store or hop online. Recent best sellers include Slow Cooker by Sally Wise and Slow Cooking by The Australian Women’s Weekly.
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