The wet and windy weather has returned, the summer heatwave is just a memory. Out come the wellies, raincoats and brollies, and we just know that in a matter of weeks we’ll be wrapped up in gloves, scarves, woolly hats and bemoaning the icy winds, frost and possible snow. We turn to the home comforts of casseroles, stews and steaming puds; we crave nursery food to keep us from inevitable starvation while we hibernate.
Right that’s the downside delivered. The upside is, with Autumn comes some of our best cooking gems. I’ve harvested most of the apples off my little tree and already succumbed to baking an apple sponge (with creamy custard obviously) and a toffee apple tart. Soon it’ll be crumble joy! But that’s for another blog.
Having braved the rain to pop out for a pint of milk and loaf of bread, I found myself poring over the meat counter. I nabbed a nice pack of lean stewing beef (ready cubed for laziness). At least it meant I actually almost skipped home, only almost – it is the weekend and lethargy rules.
I previously extolled my love of my bread-maker. Another kitchen technological essential is my slow cooker. Once we get into the Winter, this is a favourite friend – it’s so lovely to come home after a long day at work, in the dark, and inhale the aroma of succulent goodness as you walk in the door.
So today, with my beef I decided I’d prep up a stew ready for later. It’s so easy and so quick to do. I won’t bother with quantities – this is one where you just chuck in what you want and as much of it as you like to fill all the bellies you’re needing to feed. Raid the fridge, basically.
I dropped the ready-cubed beef into the slow cooker, and added half a chopped white onion, quarter of a chopped red onion (both left over from previous meals), a few medium-sized closed cap mushrooms cut in quarters to keep some chunkiness, and half a yellow pepper chopped up fairly small (another left over ingredient).
You may like to add sliced carrot, diced swede, slices of leek, tomatoes, greens. Anything, basically, that you fancy or have to hand. If you fancy it, add in some herbs or tomato puree.
If you want to make it more of a luxury adult meal, slug in a glass of decent red wine. No, not the over-vinegary cheap plonk you found undrinkable. If not suitable for drinking, it’s not going to make your stews taste better either.
Once you’ve added everything you want, grab some stock. You may have studiously simmered beef bones for hours, or, like me, grabbed a ready bought portion of beef stock and put the kettle on! You just want to put in enough liquid to not quite cover your stew mix. Give it a stir.
Then comes the hardest bit – put the lid on your slow cooker and turn it on to auto. Walk away and leave for at least 4 hours. You don’t need to keep returning to stir or fiddle. Just leave it be. If not used to slow-cooking, just occasionally check you’ve added enough liquid and not let it cook dry. But only add a small amount at a time. If doing this in the morning before heading out to work, turn this to low rather than auto. You don’t want it drying out in your absence.
The thing to bear in mind with a slow cooker (bit of a hint in its name), it cooks slowly. It doesn’t boil. Vegetables cook slowly so will take a while. Consequently, it’s not really suitable for you to pop raw potato into your stew. If you fancy adding potatoes in rather than as an accompaniment, I recommend either using cold leftover potatoes, if you have any, or just cook some first. Microwave in a suitable bowl with a tablespoon of water for around 5 minutes – done.
You can make up some dumplings and add those in too, from raw, straight onto the uncooked stew.
Once cooked, serve pretty much as you want. With buttery mash and fresh green veg would be my absolute comfort-food favourite. But you can use it to make a pie, simply add a puff pastry topping and pop the whole thing straight from slow cooker to oven for around 20-25 minutes. You can serve with a lentil mash, new potatoes, baked potatoes, wedges, or just a chunk of wholesome (homemade of course) bread and butter.
Slow cookers can be used for more than just a stew. They’re great for ‘roasting’ a chicken or gammon joint, or making a fab cake-based pudding. You can make soup in them. But sticking to stews, they make a fabulous sausage casserole or a goulash. You can buy them in various sizes, from individual to family, and they only use a low amount of electricity despite the length of time they’re on for.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend, despite the dismal weather.
Love,
Maggie x