Category Archives: slow cooker

Chicken Cacciatore

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Serves 6

1 tbs olive oil
1.5kg chicken pieces
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 cloves garlic, minced
400g can crushed tomatoes
¼ cup chicken stock
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sugar
4 anchovies
¼ cup white wine
A handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
A cup of pitted Kalamata olives

Heat olive oil in a heavy-based pan. Add chicken pieces a few at a time and brown on all sides. Remove and place in the bottom of a slow cooker. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until golden-brown. Add the chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, anchovies and sugar and bring to the boil. Stir frequently until liquid is reduced by almost half. Add the tomatoes, basil, wine, salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken pieces, cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken is tender. Add the olives about 20 minutes before serving.

If the sauce is still too runny when the chicken is cooked, remove chicken to a plate and transfer sauce to a pan. Cook sauce over medium-high heat until reduced, then pour over chicken before serving.

If using a casserole dish, increase the stock to 1 cup and the wine to 1/2 cup and cook in the oven at 150C for 1-2 hours.

Hearty winter beef and mushroom casserole

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First off, I have to apologise for the lack of a photo. What can I say? Beef casserole looks like… well beef casserole, and I can never seem to photograph it in a way that makes it look appealing. This turned out brilliantly though, so take my word for it and give it a go anyway.

The best thing about it is the no-fuss method. No browning, no mucking about, you don’t even need to peel the potatoes; just throw everything in and let it cook.

Serves 6

1.5kg chuck or blade steak, cut into 3cm cubes
¼ cup plain flour
¾ cup beef stock
salt & black pepper
a handful of fresh thyme sprigs (or ½ tsp dried thyme)
¼ cup tomato paste
A few glugs of shiraz (if you prefer to measure, ¼ cup should do it)
1 tsp crushed garlic
500g baby washed potatoes, cut into quarters
3 medium carrots, cut into chunky pieces
250g mushrooms, cut into halves, or into quarters if they’re big

Place beef cubes into the slow cooker, sprinkle the flour over and stir to coat the meat.

Combine stock, salt & pepper, thyme, tomato paste, wine, and garlic in a bowl. Pour the mixture over the beef, then add the potatoes, mushrooms and carrots. Give it a good stir, cover and cook on low for about 8 hours.

If you don’t have a slow cooker, use a large covered casserole dish and cook at 150C for about 3 hours or until beef is tender and veggies are cooked.

Serve with a green salad or steamed green veggies.

Peposo (Tuscan beef stew)

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I spotted this recipe in the current issue of Delicious whilst I was flying over the Tasman, and just knew it would lend itself to the slow cooker. I was right – it was utter perfection.

Serves 6-8

1.8 kg beef shin, trimmed and cut into 5cm cubes
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 anchovy fillets in oil, drained
1/3 cup tomato paste
4 sprigs rosemary
1 cup red wine
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Place everything into an oven-proof casserole (or a slow cooker) and stir to mix. Add enough water to just cover the beef, about a cup. Cook at 150C for four hours (or 8 hours on low in the slow cooker). The meat will be oh-so-tender.

This is meant to be a peppery dish, so add lots of pepper ….or not, if you don’t like spicy food.

It’s traditionally served with polenta, rocket and parmesan. I dislike polenta, so we had pumpkin and kumera mash instead, and since we didn’t have any rocket, I did steamed broccoli.

Tip: Use a decent wine in the recipe, and you get to enjoy the rest with your meal.

Casablanca Chicken

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I took the new slow cooker for a test drive today and the verdict is a big thumbs-up! This was something I made up this morning, pretty much based on what we had available. A few minutes preparation in the morning, chuck it in, turn the knob and voila! Dinner at 6:00pm.

Like most casseroles, the photo looks a bit…um… Well, let’s just say I could use a food stylist.

Serves 6

½ tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 whole cinnamon stick, broken into 2-3 pieces
4-6 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
½ tsp hot paprika (optional)
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
½ cup chopped coriander leaves and stems
½ cup roughly chopped dried apricots
1 sachet tomato paste
1 cup chicken stock
Zest and juice of one orange
½ butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into 5cm cubes

1 tbs olive oil
1 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1.5kg skinless chicken pieces, with bones
2 medium onions, chopped

Place all ingredients except oil, pumpkin, chick peas, chicken and onion into a large casserole or slow cooker, mix well. Toss in the pumpkin and chickpeas, stir through. Heat half the oil in a non-stick pan and fry onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Remove and add to the mixture in the casserole. Add the remaining oil to the pan, brown chicken a few pieces at a time and add to the mixture in the casserole.

Cover and bake at 150C for about 2½ to 3 hours or until chicken is tender. If using a slow cooker, cook on the low setting for about 7-8 hours.

I recommend serving this with a green vegetable in season – and some couscous if you like. You could add a small bowl of harissa, so people add the appropriate level of heat to their own serve.