I am finally prepared to say goodbye to the summer. I love summer (and this summer I got married, woohoo) but autumn, oh autumn, is fantastic.
My beloved slow cooker gets hoisted out, dusted off and used almost endlessly between October and March. Today, I am working from home which is the WORST day to use a slow cooker. At 8am this morning I chucked all the ingredients for ham in cider in the slow cooker (recipe below) and contemplated what the neighbours would think as I stood in my kitchen in pyjamas, holding a tin of Magners cider whilst singing “Wheels On The Bus” to the children. Hours later and the food is smelling AMAZING and has made me so hungry. I’ve eaten three of the boys flapjacks and I’m starting to wonder how much of the ham I could get away with ‘testing’.
Here’s one of my favourite easy recipes – based on an old Nigella Lawson recipe for ham cooked in Coca Cola that was SO good that I ate nearly half of a “serves six” dish! It’s one of the few dishes that I make that doesn’t have garlic, chilli and onions as the base.
At the bottom of the pot put a load of sliced celery and carrots cut into two or three long pieces with the meat resting on top.
Peel and chop an onion in half and push about 6 cloves into the onion.
Throw a pinch of whole black peppercorns (about 10 -15) in.
2 bay leaves.
A quarter of a star anise.
Some fresh herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary or whatever you have) tied into a bundle with a piece of string.
Shove all the above around the meat and cover with a mixture of cider and water (50:50) or all cider if you’re feeling particularly crazy. Cook for 6 – 8 hrs. Slow cookers cost very little to run but, depending on the capacity and setting it isn’t always cheaper than turning a conventional oven on. I use cheaper cuts of meat in a slow cooker (don’t tell my Mum, she’d be horrified) because the length of cooking time makes everything so tender. The fantastic blogger / campaigner, Jack Monroe at agirlcalledjack , has some utterly delicious recipes for amazing slow cooker meals that work out at as little as 30p per portion!
After washing your slow cooker (a removable bowl is a Godsend) you can even set it up last thing at night to have some hot porridge for you in the morning. Good stuff, eh?
I use a five litre slow cooker that includes warm, low and high setting. If the recipe doesn’t quite work the first time, just give it another try and adjust the cooking time or seasoning adjustments as you need to.
Remember, recipes are an individual thing – make it your own! To view our slow cookers click here
