...to my dinner tonight.
When I walk through my front door tonight I will be able to smell my dinner cooking. This morning, before my eyes were even fully open, I dumped some stewing steak, sliced onions and mushrooms into the slow cooker. I sprinkled a couple of stock cubes in there, and poured hot water from the kettle over the lot.
I know for a fact it will be delicious. I've got some carrots to go with it, and some sprouts (even though they are evil!). If I can find the energy, I might peel some spuds and have mashed potatoes too, but if I can't I will be more than happy to settle for a chunk of crusty bread.
Even better, there will be enough left over to have for dinner tomorrow night, probably with a jacket potato.
I love my slow cooker. It makes life so much easier knowing that dinner will be ready and waiting for me whenever I want to serve it. I love that it makes the cheapest, toughest cuts of meat tender, flavoursome and delicious. I love that although I have plenty of fancier, more elaborate slow cooker recipes, just a bit of meat and stock and a few veg can be transformed into something good to eat.
Slow cookers don't allow liquid to evaporate, so the gravy will be very thin. I usually thicken it up by adding a little cornflour, slaked in a tablespoon or two of water, but a sprinkle of potato flakes stirred into the gravy can also do the job.
I can smell your stew now and am starting to feel hungry. I love it when the meat is so tender it melts in your mouth. Thank you for your comment on my blog. I've read through all your posts with interest.
ReplyDeleteLove from Mum
xx
I've mentioned elsewhere - adding a couple of handfuls of oatmeal to a slow cooked stew solves the problem of the thin gravy - it thickens up a treat and tastes really rich and creamy too.
ReplyDeleteI use my slow cooker for batch cooking too - a bolognese sauce cooked overnight tastes fantastic!