Spiced beef

According to wikipedia Spiced beef is a cured and salted joint of rump or silverside beef, which is traditionally served at Christmas or the New Year in Ireland.

I remember eating spiced beef as a child, it was always a Christmas special, though not usually eaten on Christmas day. Downey's butchers in Terenure, near where I grew up, was known for its spiced beef, and it was a favourite of my father's. In the last few years, I have usually cooked a spiced beef in the run up to Christmas, and it is a special dinner. This year I bought it from James Whelan butchers, planning to cook it on the 23rd December, when the family (including my mother) would be together to enjoy it.

It was my mum who suggested I try cooking it in the slow cooker. I was afraid that it might get a little overdone, but since I was at work on the 23rd, and I didn't want her to have to cook it, I decided to give it a try - and I'm glad I did. This is definitely how I'll cook it in future.

Preparation

This took almost no preparation at all. I chopped up two onions and put them at the bottom of the crock pot, and set the spiced beef on top. I then poured over a 500ml can of Guinness. I put the lid on the cooker, set it to cook on low and left it for 8 hours.

Shortly before eating, we prepared some mashed potato and some peas - because we were too lazy to prepare any other vegetables.

The Outcome

The spiced beef was absolutely as it should be, and certainly not overcooked. It was tender and full of flavour - not at all dried out. The mashed potato was a perfect pairing.

The Verdict

If you can get your hands on a good piece of spiced beef, this is absolutely the way to cook it. Between the 5 of us, we finished off every piece. Ms Fussy Eater cut off all of the delicious spices, of course, but that's her choice. The Teenager had no such qualms and ate his dinner heartily.

No pictures, I'm afraid.

Slow Cooked Chicken with Tarragon

It has been a little while since I last blogged - there's a lot going on in the house at the moment. But that doesn't mean I haven't been using the slow cooker! I bought another book on my kindle - Slow Cooking Properly Explained, by Dianne Page. This gives me another set of recipes to drool over.

For Sunday dinner, almost two weeks ago, we decided to cook chicken again. Following the success of the Fall Off the Bone Whole Slow-Cooked Chicken, I contemplated making it again. But, in my quest to try as many new recipes as possible, I went instead for this Slow Cooked Chicken with Tarragon, from Page's book.

Since I had the whole day to look after this, I went with the recommendation to use the high setting on the crock pot. Interestingly, Dianne Page suggests that "whole birds are best cooked on HIGH only - to ensure thorough cooking". This makes sense, I guess, though isn't always practical. Anyway, it meant that I only started preparing this in the early afternoon, for dinner at 6pm.

Preparation

I started by heating about a tbsp olive oil and a tiny knob of butter in a pan and then browning the whole chicken all over. I did notice, when I last cooked a whole chicken in the pot, that the skin was very pale and unappetising, though the chicken was delicious. This first step did definitely improve the appearance of the chicken, without necessarily adding any fat to the result.

The whole chicken was put into the crock pot and seasoned with some salt and pepper. I then added the juice and rind of a lemon and a generous tsp of dried tarragon. The recipe just called for the juice of half a lemon, but my chicken was bigger and I thought it would add more flavour.

Then the chicken cooked on high for 4 hours. An hour before the end of cooking time I prepared some roast potatoes and roast vegetables.

The reciped suggests making a gravy by mixing 1tbsp cornflour into the strained juices from the pot, but I just dribbled the juices over the chicken when serving - gravy wasn't necessary.

The Result

Yummy! This was really delicious, tender chicken. As you can see in the picture, it did fall apart when taken out of the pot, and carving was easy (or not necessary). The flavour of the lemon and tarragon was pleasant and not overpowering. The meat was tasty and not at all dry.

There was plenty for 5 of us, with almost a whole breast left over for sandwiches during the week.

The Verdict

Both children devoured their dinner, polishing off a leg each, with Mr Teenager going back for more. Their only complaint was a lack of crispy chicken skin.

On balance, I think I preferred this recipe to the previous one, though either was delicious.

Fall Off the Bone Whole Slow-cooked Chicken

A couple of weeks ago I bought a book on amazon, for my kindle - The Skinny Slow Cooker Recipe Book. But I didn't even open it, until yesterday. It has 40 recipes for the slow cooker, all healthy and low in fat. I intend to try a few of these, and started yesterday with this Fall Off the Bone Whole Slow-cooked Chicken.

As I have previously mentioned, we like to have a proper Sunday dinner together. Roast chicken is often a favourite, but yesterday we decided to give this recipe a go.

Preparation

I started by slicing two onions into rings, and putting these at the bottom of the crock-pot. Then I mixed together a tsp each of paprika and dried thyme with two crushed garlic cloves (I didn't have the onion and garlic salt specified in the recipe). This I spread over the top of the chicken, which weighed about 2kg. Then I put the chicken on top of the onion, put on the lid, and switched the pot to low. I left it for about 8 hours. 

Close to the end of cooking, we prepared some mashed potato, mashed carrot and parsnip, and some lightly cooked courgette. 

The Result

The chicken looked a bit pale, though it was brightened somewhat by the colour of the paprika over the top. It fell apart as I lifted it out of the pot, making it very easy to serve legs and wings, and chunks of breast. We served 5 good portions and still had a whole breast left over. There was also about 400ml of chicken stock, which has been retained for soup. 

The Verdict

Everybody enjoyed the chicken, which was tender and tasty. Both children finished off a chicken leg, the only complaint was that the skin wasn't crispy. The breast was tender and not at all dry. The teenager enthusiastically declared it all to be delicious. 

Definitely we will use this recipe again. 

Slow Cooker Ham

On Sundays, we normally try to have a good old-fashioned family Sunday dinner, often a roast. Last Sunday, we thought we'd have a roast chicken, but unfortunately by the time we got to the local shop, there were no whole chickens available. Instead, we bought a nice piece of bacon; enough for dinner plus leftovers. This is always a favourite with the family, either boiled on the stove, possibly in coca-cola (a la Nigella) or baked in the oven. 

This time I decided to cook it in the crock-pot. I didn't follow a recipe, just went with my own instincts.

Preparation

I chopped an onion and two carrots roughly and put them in the bottom of the pot. I trimmed the piece of bacon of any visible fat and put it on top of the vegetables. Then I put about half a cup of water into the pot, put the lid on and set it to high. We left it for about two and a half hours, and enjoyed the aroma from the crock pot as the ham cooked away.

In the meantime, we prepared some potatoes and vegetables, roasting them in the oven with some garlic. 

The Result

When we first opened the crock pot, the meat wasn't quite ready, but we could cut enough from it for dinner. We put the rest back into the pot, on high, for another half hour. It was absolutely delicious, with a lovely flavour from the meat, and a tasty stock which was poured over the plates, and some kept in the fridge for another day. The meat was very tender, though not falling apart. Mr Teenager went back for seconds and thirds.

There was plenty left over for some sandwiches during the week, and we also used some to make a delicious pasta dish on Monday - something resembling a healthy carbonara, where the stock was also used to make a yummy (if a little salty) sauce. 

The Verdict

Everybody agreed that the ham tasted delicious, especially the teenager, who gave it 17/10. Ms Fussy Eater, who was developing tonsillitis at the time, had no complaints. I will definitely use this cooking method again - very healthy, but full of flavour. 

Trisha Yearwood's Slow Cooker Pork Loin

Last Sunday we started a new healthy eating regime. I had a pork loin in the freezer and thought it would make a good, healthy Sunday dinner. I did a bit of a search for a slow cooker recipe and one thing that seemed to come up constantly was Trisha Yearwood's recipe. Lots of people said it was delicious, so I found this version, which satisfied all my healthy eating requirements.

Adjustments
My piece of meat was about 3 and half pounds, so a little bigger than in the reciped. I left out the tbsp oil, and used less cornstarch in the gravy. I used a clove of garlic, crushed, instead of the garlic powder.

Preparation
First thing on Sunday morning, I removed as much visible fat as possible from the pork loin. I followed the reciped, mixing the garlic, ginger, thyme and pepper, and then rubbing this all over the pork. I didn't brown the meat, but put it straight into the crock-pot adding the ckickend stock, lemon juice and soy sauce. The pork then cooked, on the low setting, for about 8 hours.

About an hour before eating, hubby prepared some potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, courgettes and garlic, and we put this into the oven to roast, with a bit of spray oil.

As the afternoon progressed, the most wonderful smells were coming from the crock-pot, even the teenager noticed!

The Result
When we opened the pot, the pork was almost falling apart. There was a lot of juice, which I removed and used a little bit of cornflour to thicken slightly. It was still possible to slice the pork, but we couldn't have done this if we'd left it any longer. Served with the gravy and roast vegetables, it was delicious. The teenager and hubby both had second helpings.

There was quite a bit of meat leftover, which the teenager had in his school lunches all week - making big sandwiches into which he also poured cold gravy.

The Verdict
Unfortunately Ms Fussy Eater wasn't with us on Sunday, so she didn't get a chance to report. However, the teenager gave the pork loin a very strong 17/10 (yes, seventeen). The au pair also seemed to enjoy it.