Tuesday 9 September 2008

Adventures in...

Slow cooking.

I won't go on at length but we've been stuck in a rut food wise for quite a while. The less energy I have the less imaginative I become. I needed a kick start and found this, which takes you to a goldmine of slow cooker recipes. And within this site, there's another link to even more recipes.

There are two advantages to slow cooking. One it's incredibly cheap (a slow cooker consumes about the same energy as a lightbulb, if not less) and two it's ridiculously easy. Other than a quick browning of vegetables and meat all you have to do is bung everything in there in the morning and leave it for six hours.

Things I'm going to try include meatballs, meatloaf, a whole gammon, various chicken and pork recipes, sausage and bean stew, thai veg curry, lamb knuckle (cheaper cut) and a few self-created casseroles.

I just couldn't stand the prospect of the same old stuff all winter. And I think my son, as he's growing a foot a week, needs some good fuel inside him.

7 comments:

Reading the Signs said...

You could also try giving your son a cookbook, Seahorse. It worked in this household - even if the kitchen did look like the day after Armageddon.

seahorse said...

Yes, an interesting notion. He's truly gifted in the cakes department, but I'm trying to coax him towards putting a main together. So far he can heat stuff up. I'll start him on good old spag bol I think. He can't get that wrong...can he? So now I have two assistants, the slow cooker and the random cooker :-)

D Phoenix said...

My partner read your blog and now she wants a $250 stainless steel slow cooker. Not that we can afford it! But she seems sold on the idea and I'd like to try it as well. My mom used to make some great stews and I think my stomach would do well with some well cooked soft food.

If your son can get interested in cooking mains, that would be so good for his future independence. My mother got me into cooking (I think I started with helping make an apple pie) and I've really benefited from that early sense of ease in the kitchen. I don't cook like she did, but I feel at home in the kitchen like her. I just hope the child-chef clean up isn't too exhausting!

Welcome back to blogland, by the way :)

seahorse said...

Donimo say hi to your partner but do ask her 'How much???' No need. You can get them here for £25 or less. If you can't get one for that in Canada let me know and I'll ship you one over!

My son cooked homemade burgers tonight. Delicious! Haven't checked the kitchen though. Closed the door til tomorrow.

marmiteboy said...

How I love a good stew. As winter draws nearer I can't wait to get the slow cooker out. The prospect of Oxtail Stew is too much to bear as I eat an very uninteresting sandwich this lunchtime.

D Phoenix said...

That's just the super deluxe designer model. We can get regular and digital ones for $30 and up, so we'll be fine. Do you have any pointers for buying one?

I don't know if I would be adventurous enough to try oxtail!

seahorse said...

MarmiteBoy: Oxtail sounds mmmmmm. Must give it a whirl. I think the best thing about slow cookers is the scent wafting through the house.

Donimo: Mine was a gift so no pointers as such, but I know it's a Breville, and fairly cheap, but still v good. Re oxtail, I've never tried it either, but it's a hearty, wholesome dish by all accounts. If you want some ideas I have a word doc full of recipes off the net I can send you