Slow Cooking Is Hot
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday July 16, 2008
WINTER provides the perfect excuse to rug up, stay indoors and tuck into hearty comfort food.
You can't go past a rich casserole, simmering away in the slow cooker all day, filling the home with mouth-watering aromas before it is ready to serve in the evening.The slow cooker or the Crockpot to some is a great asset in the kitchen.They are especially useful for those who do not have much time in the kitchen but like the idea of knocking off work and arriving to a home-cooked meal.Newcastle Kitchen and Cutlery chef Glen Herivel said slow cooking had become popular again."It definitely is becoming more popular," Mr Herivel said."There are a lot more people buying cast enamel pots. There's a lot more focus on good, healthy food, and it's convenient."You put it on in the morning, come home and dinner is ready."There are plenty of benefits to slow cooking.The one-pot cooking method means there is little mess to clean up and recipes have the advantage of being suitable for cheaper cuts of meat.It is the less expensive cuts of meat that perform best in a casserole.Beef is perfect for slow cooking, particularly cheaper cuts such as chuck and gravy beef that offer rich flavour and succulent meat.However, if time is of the essence, topside, round and blade steak are great choices as they cook more quickly.Lamb shanks are also perfect for the slow cooker."It's mainly your second cuts that you want to use," Mr Herivel said."Even stuff like oxtail is starting to become popular again because it is really, really tasty. I think all of your second cuts are tastier than your first cuts."Root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, onions, leeks, parsnips, turnips, celery and celery are best suited to slow cooking, but other vegetables may also be used.The slow cooker is not limited to casseroles. You can also create soup, curry, risotto, roasts and the perfect bolognaise sauce.Preparation is quick and simple. Sealing the meat will retain the flavour but it is important not to rush the initial stage of browning the meat."Always brown the meat off for stews and curries first. Brown them off first, put all your stuff in, turn it on and let it go. Let it do it's thing."Coat the meat with salt, pepper and flour before browning in small batches of about 200 grams each, keeping the pan at a medium-high heat to ensure the meat does not stew in its own juices.After sealing the meat, add the remainder of ingredients such as vegetables, herbs and spices to the slow cooker.Vegetables cook slower than meat and poultry in a slow cooker so if using them, put vegetables in first, at the bottom and around sides.Add the meat and cover the food with liquid such as chicken, vegetable or beef stock, or a splash of red wine if you desire.Not all cuts of meat require cooking with liquid."It depends on the cut of meat," Mr Herivel said."If it's pork belly, that's quite fatty, so you don't need any liquid. The same for the lamb shoulder. There's enough in that to keep it moist."If you do it in a cast enamel pot with the lid on, that also helps keep the moisture in it as well."Certain ingredients tend to break down during extended cooking so add ingredients such as milk, cream and sour cream during the last 15 minutes of cooking time.Cooking on low can take eight to 10 hours while a high setting can lessen the time to about four to five hours."It's a trial and error thing with slow cooking but you normally can't go too wrong if you're using a second cut that has a bit of fat in it."You're normally pretty safe. There's usually enough fat in there to stop it drying out."Newcastle Kitchen and Cutlery is holding a slow cooking class at 10am on August 23."Anything to do with slow cooking we'll be having a crack at . . . slow cooking in oil, slow cooking in the oven, slow cooking on the stovetop and talking about using the slow cookers."We might even do some slow-cooked pork belly and maybe duck confit slow-cooked."The class costs $45 and bookings can be made on 4969 4188.
© 2008 Newcastle Herald
