Slow cooking doesn’t have to be in a slow cooker, Katy Hofstede-Smith makes some suggestions.
Autumn lends itself perfectly to the warming comfort of slow cooking. As the days start to get cooler, the nights draw in and the autumnal harvest provides excitement and masses of variety. Putting a few ingredients into a pot and returning after a few hours to a pot of pure deliciousness somehow seems so appropriate after the light freshness of summer feasting.
But slow cooking doesn’t have to be heavy and old fashioned. It can be used to embrace unusual cuts of meat, turning them into something outstanding with a few hours of love, seasonal game or any vegetable patch gluts that you have. One of my all time favourite slow cooked dishes and one certainly fit for entertaining is the Italian classic Osso Bucco made with the seldom-used shin of either veal or beef. Slowly simmered, the marrow bone turns into the most unctuous of sauces and the meat into a delicate pleasure. The Tuscans traditionally serve this with a saffron risotto, a lighter alternative to polenta or potato, but a mixed bowl of steamed vegetables or even some crusty bread would be just as delicious.
When the vegetable patch is groaning with so much excess it’s a treat to make the most of meat free meals and a Moroccan spiced vegetable tagine will sit happily cooking slowly developing it’s flavour throughout the day providing you with a culinary journey when you sit down to eat.
Rabbit and game birds lend themselves perfectly to lightly flavoured white wine and leek stews with autumn’s beans, peas and leaves. The meat benefits from a slow cook ensuring that it becomes moist and tender and not dry as it can sometimes become.
Whatever you choose to cook slowly this autumn, enjoy the results you get from not slaving over a hot stove all day!
Katy