Slow Cooker Chicken Stew (with thanks to the Hairy Dieters)

I'm very fussy about meat. I hate skin and bones and gristly bits. However, I love saving money - not by buying cheap factory farmed meat, but by buying cheaper cuts of meat from local and ethical sources. Slow cooking cheaper cuts of meat helps to break down all the gooey bits and makes removing bones a nice, clean and easy task - perfect for squeamish people like me!

I'd seen this recipe in the Hairy Dieters Cookbook last year and thought it sounded good so, when I bought a pair of chicken leg quarters from Keelham Farm Shop this weekend, it seemed like a good candidate for a slow cooker adaptation.

The original recipe feeds four people and has quite a lot of liquid - a necessity when cooking it in the oven - so I made suitable changes to make the recipe in the slow cooker and to serve two people.

Tender and delicious

Mrs Roe's Hairy Dieters Old Fashioned Chicken & Veg Stew
Ingredients
1 1/2 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp dried thyme
2 good quality chicken leg quarters
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 rashers smoked back bacon, cut into 1cm strips
1 medium onion, chopped
1 celery stick, thinly sliced
150g chestnut mushrooms, cut into quarters
250ml dry cider
100ml chicken stock
200g carrots, cut into large chunks
1 thin leek, sliced into 2cm pieces
Sea salt
Black pepper

Method

1. Mix the flour and thyme with some salt and plenty of black pepper. The original recipe says to use a plastic freezer bag, but I just did mine in a shallow bowl.
2. Break the chicken legs on the joints, and cut into two pieces - you'll have two drumsticks and two thigh pieces. Leave all the bones in, but trim off any excess fat. Remove the skin if you want to (I didn't bother).
3. Evenly coat the chicken pieces with the seasoned flour and shake off any excess. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown the chicken pieces on all sides. Remove and place in the slow cooker.
4. Fry off the bacon, celery and onion for about 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms and fry for another couple of minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the remaining flour, then add to the slow cooker with the chicken pieces.
5. Deglaze the pan with half of the cider, then pour this into the slow cooker, along with the stock and the rest of the cider. Add the carrots and leeks and stir.
6. Cook the stew on low until the chicken is very tender and the bones can be removed cleanly. I left mine for about five hours, but the time needed will depend on your cooker.

• I didn't have any thyme in the cupboard, so I used oregano, which worked well and tasted good. I think rosemary would be worth a try as well.
• I didn't halve the weight of the mushrooms, as 75g seemed rather mean when I weighed them out.
• We ate this with a serving of lovely, fresh green kale. If you want to add potatoes, I think baked would be good.
• Make sure you choose a good quality cider for this recipe, as it really makes a difference to the flavour. Sticking half a can of Strongbow in it probably won't be a good idea. I used Samuel Smith's Organic Cider.

Pot Roast Brisket

I'm not sure how I've managed to get to the wrong side of 35 without having ever made a pot roast. I've done braised beef and beef stew, but I've never pot roasted a brisket. It occurred to me that this was an oversight on my part, especially as I have fond memories of my mum's pot roasts, made with rolled brisket, donkey carrots and old potatoes. The gravy was the best bit - perfect for mopping up with a thick slice of Warburton's Toastie.

So, on our weekly visit to Keelham Farm Shop, I bought a smallish rolled brisket joint - it cost just over £5 - some big thick carrots and a bag of spuds. On Sunday, I chucked them in the slow cooker with some other ingredients and made my very first pot roast. It will not be my last. Unfortunately, the way something tastes doesn't always match the way it looks. It didn't look appetising in the slightest, which is why there isn't a photo here. Maybe next time my efforts will be more photogenic.

Anyway, feel free to give it a try and let me know what you think!

Mrs Roe's Pot Roast Brisket

Ingredients
Rolled brisket (slightly less than 1kg did 4 portions)
1 large onion, peeled and cut into slices
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 white potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 beef stock cube
50ml hot water
30ml Worcestershire sauce
Salt & pepper
2 tsp gravy granules

Method

1. Turn the Crock Pot onto low. Place the onion slices in the bottom of the Crock Pot and lay the beef on top (you could brown the beef first if you wanted - I didn't have time).
2. Scatter the potatoes and carrots around the joint.
3. Mix the stock cube and Worcestershire sauce into the hot water and pour over the meat. Season with a little salt and plenty of pepper.
4. Cook for about 8 hours, then remove the meat. It should be falling apart. Shred it with 2 forks.
5. Mix the gravy granules into the stock to thicken it, then tip the shredded beef back in. Mix thoroughly so the gravy coats the meat.
6. Serve with steamed veg (we had broccoli).

We decided to shred the meat, but you could try slicing it instead.
I think this would be really good in one of those giant Yorkshire puddings (if I was capable of making them!).

Chilli con Bolognese

The last of the Bolognese sauce became a chilli tonight and it was good. So easy, I think posting a recipe is a bit of a cheat, but you might like to try it, so read on if you do...

You can't beat a good chilli on a cold winter's day.

Mrs Roe's Chilli Bolognese

Ingredients

1/3 Bolognese sauce (here's the recipe)

1 x 400g can kidneys in chilli sauce

1/2 tsp smoked chilli flakes

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce

Method

Easy! Put everything in a pan, mix it all together and heat thoroughly. Simple as that.

We had it with rice, but it would be good with bread, or chips, or as a filling for enchiladas, or a topping for nachos... You get the idea!

I used Encona West Indian Hot Pepper Sauce, because it's what I had in the cupboard. It's good, because it adds a slightly tangy flavour as well as heat. You could use Tabasco, or leave it out completely if you don't want it too hot.

The smoked chilli and paprika give it a lovely flavour, but it can be hard to get hold of them so just use ordinary chilli flakes and paprika if you can't find the smoky stuff. I am on the last precious flakes of smoked chilli (which I bought from a Greek herbs and spices stall on a European market). I am dreading the moment when I run out.

Villetta Pasticcio (or Bolognese Cottage Pie)

We had a LOT of Bolognese sauce left after last night - I reckon we only used about a third of it - so I needed to think of something to use it for today. I decided to do some mashed potato and make a cottage pie. Easy, tasty and perfect for the miserable weather we're having.

Ready to eat!

Mrs Roe's Villetta Pasticcio

Ingredients

1/3 Bolognese sauce (see recipe here)

4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 dsp olive spread or butter

Salt & pepper

50g cheese, grated

Method

1. Spoon the Bolognese sauce into a shallow, heatproof bowl. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Boil the potatoes until done, then mash with the spread until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and spread over the surface of the Bolognese sauce. Don't smooth it out - you need spikes and bumps so it'll crisp up nicely.
3. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top, then place in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes.

I used a good, mature Red Leicester cheese for the topping. You need something strong that melts well, so cheddar would work perfectly.

If you wanted to up your veg intake, you could add some thawed peas to the Bolognese.

Crock Pot Bolognese Sauce

I've been fancying spaghetti bolognese for a while now, so I thought I'd try making the Bolognese sauce in the Crock Pot. One word can sum it up... Success!

This is my own recipe, give it a go and see what you think. I'd love to hear how you get on. It made A LOT of sauce - two generous portions for tea with wholewheat spaghetti, enough for tomorrow's experiment and a cereal bowl full to the brim (will have to think about what to do with that bit). I'd say that you could get maybe seven or eight portions of spaghetti out of it easily.

After about seven hours, lovely rich
and tasty Bolognese sauce.

Mrs Roe's Crock Pot (Slow Cooker) Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 large carrots, peeled, quartered lengthways and chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 rashers back bacon (smoked, unsmoked... whatever), chopped
500g lean minced beef steak
Beef stock cube
1 dsp oregano
200g mushrooms, chopped
2 tins chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
Ground black pepper

Method

1. Add the sunflower oil to a frying pan and heat for a bit, then add the onion and fry until beginning to soften. Add the carrots and continue to fry until the onions are starting to colour slightly. Stir in the garlic, then remove from the heat and scrape the mixture into your Crock Pot bowl.
2. Return the frying pan to the heat and add the bacon. Fry until the fat has browned, then add to the veg in the Crock Pot.
3. Now, brown off the mince in the frying pan before adding it to the Crock Pot.
4. Crumble over the stock cube, add the oregano, mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato puree and black pepper. Stir thoroughly to combine.
5. Cook in the Crock Pot on low for 7-8 hours, then turn the dial to the 'keep warm' setting if your Crock Pot has one.
6. Cook some pasta (spaghetti is traditional, obviously), divide between bowls and top with the sauce to serve.

You'll note that, apart from the tomatoes, I didn't add any liquid. It really didn't need anything and the sauce was a lovely, thick and rich consistency.

You could easily add other veg if you wanted to make it go even further - I would have used celery if I'd had any in the fridge.

It could have been improved with some Parmesan over the top of it and maybe some garlic baguette for juice mopping, but it copes perfectly well without these.