Tips for Slow Cooking

Love your slow cooker for it’s time saving, safe cooking qualities. You can set it and forget it once you have filled it with delicious ingredients. Head off to work on a Winters day and arrive home to fantastic aromas and a quick, satisfying meal with plenty of left overs for lunch or the freezer.
Here are our top tips for Slow Cooking.
1. Choose a good slow cooker – I use a rectangular Breville. Very easy to use and large enough to hold a whole Duck or 4.5 kgs of Beef Short Ribs.
2. Brown the meats first before popping into the slow cooker for extra flavor.
3. Trim excess fats from meat. The Slow cooker will not allow any fat to drain away so use your judgement on the amount of fat you want to cook in.
4. You may want to adjust liquid components for cooking in a slow cooker unless your recipes has been specifically designed for a slow cooker. Never allow liquid to over fill.
5. Use the “Low” setting as much as you can. Slower is always better. (I sometimes use half “High” and half “Slow”)
6. In some cases you will want to add ingredients along the way. A little bit of thickener for the meat sauce perhaps, or lentils or pasta.
A Guide to cooking times – If a dish usually takes:

• 15 – 30 mins, cook it for 1 – 2 hours on High or 4 – 6 hours on Low
• 30 mins – 1 hour, cook it for 2 – 3 hours on High or 5 – 7 hours on Low
• 1 – 2 hours, cook it for 3 – 4 hours on High or 6 – 8 hours on Low
• 2 – 4 hours, cook it for 4 – 6 hours on High or 8 – 12 hours on Low

7. Leave the Slow Cooker to do its thing – every time you take the lid off, you are allowing heat to escape. Be patient!

 

Coriander and Peanut Pesto
Heat the Oil over medium heat add the Peanuts and cook until golden. Strain the Peanuts from the oil. Retain the Oil and cool. Blend the Peanuts in a food processor with the Chilli, Ginger and Garlic. Add the Herbs and half the reserved Oil and blend to form a smooth paste. Add the Sugar, Fish Sauce and Lime Juice and blend until the Herbs are finely minced. Gradually pour in the remaining Oil.

Spoon a pool of Pesto into the centre of your serving plate. Thinly slice the Lamb Rump and place over the Pesto. Serve with fresh Tomato Sauce or your favourite Meat Jus. Top with Crispy Fried Leek. Serve immediately.

Serves 6