100 Great Ways to Use Slow Cookers and Hot Pots

By Simon and Alison Holst

Beef and Beer Casserole with Parsley Dumplings

It may come as no (some) surprise but I do often use a multifunction cooker.  The purchase was not planned and at the time I wondered whether I would use it. 

It is used at least once or twice a week.  Often the recipe is one I have used before on the stove/oven/microwave but adapted for use.

Yet, I did buy some specific cookbooks (thank you Lifeline) for this device.

As my cookbook collection continues to grow it seemed a good opportunity to test this one.

I like dumplings, as long as they are not too dry, too wet or too heavy.  I like beef casserole as long as the sauce is tasty and the preparation is not too involved.

As usual I did not follow the method as specified.  The onions, garlic and bacon were cooked in the multi-function cooker first and then the rest of the ingredients were added.  The meat used was topside or skirt steak.  The bacon was purchased from the local Farmers Market. 

Harper was kind enough to donate a can of German beer for the casserole.  (Would this be a matter for regret?)

After waiting the requisite time, I tasted the casserole.  It was not bad but the brown sugar was required.

Mixing the dumplings was the usual fun of sticky hands, some of the dough taking up residence on my apron, the bench top, but fortunately not in anyone’s hair.  Why the dumpling dough is more contrary than scone dough, I do not know nor comprehend. 

As can be seen from the pictures, the dumpling dough completely concealed the casserole below it.  After waiting the half hour required it was time to eat.

The dumplings were bland and felt heavy and a little dry, despite the sauce of the casserole.  which was not very tasty, too thick and not fun to eat. Harper regretted the beer sacrifice.  The meal was edible but it saddened me to use good ingredients to eat a meal I did not really enjoy.

In the spirit of fairness, I have attempted another meal from this cookbook which will be featured soon.  Everyone deserves a second chance, unless they are a corrupt politician, mass murderer, etc.  Hrmmmm.

Note: My other disappointment was the cook book did not suggest using either the slow cooker/crock pot as an attractive hat, or a vase for a large bunch of flowers etc.  (Yes, I am being silly, but it is my blog (as attempting to gain others input usually involves thumbscrews or hypnotism) and being silly is more fun than eating this casserole was.

I would also like to thank those who have subscribed to this blog (or bolg as I mistyped.) Apologies for the lag between updates.

Youvarlakia (Meatballs with Rice in Garlic and Tomato Sauce) from “Recipes from a Greek Island” by Susie Jacobs

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After the lovely meal we had in Darwin, I was inspired to attempt a Greek recipe.  The book is one of the more recent purchases from the Lifeline Book-fair and the attempts to remove the clutter from the cookbook shelf have resulted in only a few removals. 

Harper has made Greek Meatballs previously but due to the recipe or the amount of rice, they were very bland and I wanted something which reminded me of the pleasure of eating Greek meatballs.  The recipe requires honey, which seemed odd, as well as cinnamon but I was determined to stick to the recipe, and not do my own interpretation. 

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Admittedly I did not grate the onion due to a desire not to cry.  In case anyone does not know, apparently putting an onion in the refrigerator prior to cutting or grating does prevent the onion from producing the vapour, but I’d conveniently forgotten, (which meant straying from the recipe, sadly.)  However, all the other ingredients were available.  One suggestion, if you buy fresh basil or mint, it is best to use it the same day. 

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(There are a number of very interesting and informative blogs which provide various suggestions on how best to store basil or even better grow it, but snails eat any basil I attempt to grow outside.) 

I rinsed the rice a few times before pouring the hot water over it, to ensure that it did not contain too much starch.  The attempts at forming sausage shapes was quite fun, though some did not really resemble sausages so much as misshapen fingers or bad modern interpretive art. 

Frying them in the hot oil resulted in a few acquiring an even more peculiar appearance, but this is not the fault of the book, but rather the cook.

Cooking the sauce in the pan and oil used for the meatballs appealed to me as it meant less washing up and less waste.  The onion was cooked until it was transparent and it was astonishing to see how quickly it caramelised with the addition of the cinnamon, garlic and honey.  The smell produced made me swallow a number of times and resist the temptation to eat it as it was.  With determination I added the tomato and some pepper and watched it reduce. 

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Adding the water and the meatballs, I followed the directions and waited “patiently” (with an ‘Im’ in front of it) for it to cook.

The meatballs looked a little stranger than I’d hoped.  I served and annoyed Harper by taking pictures and then we ate. 

The meatballs were good.  Better than the recipe Harper had used previously, but not as good as the ones I’ve had in Greece or Darwin.  There are many other recipes in this book, which is safe from being given back to Lifeline, which I look forward to cooking (and eating).

So, rejoice Recipes from a Greek Island! Thanatos will not be dragging you to Hades soon.

(Apologies for the quality of some of the photos.)

Random Recipes: Japanese Favourites by Angela Nahas (Number 2): Beef and Asparagus Skewers and Grilled Leeks with Miso and Sesame

Apologies, this cook book has been reviewed previously but due to brain fog or very bad planning (or both) it accidentally was reviewed again.  To make up for this there is a bonus recipe for Butter Rice included.

This book was purchased the first time Lindsay and I went to Japan which is a number of years ago.  Eating in Japan was a challenge due to allergies to fish and seafood (and seaweed), pork and other ingredients commonly used in Japanese food but I did fall in love with the egg sandwiches found in most 7 11, Lawson and Family Marts.

One thing which attracted me to the book was it provides an explanation about commonly used ingredients for example burdock with which I was not familiar.  However it does label umeboshi as pickled apricots when in fact they are usually pickled plums and an acquired taste.

For this Random Recipe, it was decided to choose two recipes so the book could immediately know its fate, rather than be on tenterhooks of whether it retained a place on the book shelf or not.  (No discussion on whether books have feelings will be entertained.  You can have your own beliefs and I can have mine.)

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To accompany the two recipes chosen, Butter Rice was chosen as the ingredients were available and it takes little time to prepare.  A quick recipe of the butter rice is included.  (Thank you Midnight Diner.)

Beef and Asparagus Skewers and Grilled Leeks with Miso and Sesame were chosen as the recipes are simple and looked appealing.  Vegetable stock was substituted for the dashi stock.

In the usual tradition of Clean the Plate the recipes were not completely followed: first the dashi stock substitution and the beef and asparagus where not placed on skewers.  The asparagus was very thin, due to the season and Oyster Blade steak was purchased from a local Korean Supermarket.

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After brushing the rolls with the sesame oil and soy sauce, the steak was wrapped around the asparagus and placed under the grill.  Due to their size they took little time to cook.

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The leeks were grilled at the same time but took a little longer because of their size.  The preparation of the Miso and sesame sauce to accompany the leeks was also simple.

Butter Rice Recipe

30-50 grams butter

1 cup cooked rice

¼ cup frozen peas

¼ cup frozen corn

1-2 cloves garlic

Splash of mirin

Shallot/spring onion if desired

Soy sauce to taste (and if desired)

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Method

Melt butter in frypan.

Add peas and corn.  Cook until no longer frozen.  (If shallots/spring onion is used add them at the same time.)

Add garlic and rice and mix thoroughly. 

When heated through add a splash of mirin and mix thoroughly before serving.

The Eating

Usually with butter rice I place the soy sauce on the table rather than add it while cooking so each person can make their own adjustment.

The leeks were pleasantly charred on the outside and the sauce was tasty and judged to be a good mixture of flavours and textures.

It was felt that the asparagus should be larger if prepared in future but the mixed flavour of the beef, asparagus, sesame and soy sauce was very good and the simple tastes were very pleasing when combined.  I decided that in future sandwich steak should be used as the local butcher makes one without fat or gristle which needs to be removed as was the case here.

Harper happily ate as much as possible but leftovers remained, which tasted pleasant when later consumed.

Verdict

“Whose Cuisine reigns supreme?”  (Iron Chef Japan)

The book will remain, not only because it provides pleasant memories but it also contains other recipes including Stuffed Cabbage Rolls and Chicken Braised in Sweet Soy which sound interesting.

Japanese Favourites while you may not reign supreme, because the other cookbooks will become jealous and no infighting is permitted on the bookshelves in my kitchen, you have earned you place. 

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Further apologies. Currently I am not well acquainted with the latest iteration of WordPress and find the constant changes to picture files, blocks etc confusing. With furt

The Roses Cafe, Mittagong

There are three Roses Cafes: one in Goulburn, Yass and Mittagong.

Introducing Jay, a further person who is prepared to support and sacrifice their taste buds in search of yummy food while participating in some food adventures (not that they are terribly hair raising most of the time).

Jay and I had arranged to attend a workshop in Mittagong (Southern Highlands of New South Wales), many months ago. Due to circumstances the workshop was cancelled but the accommodation had already been fully paid. What to do?

Despite the pandemic we decided to meet and spend some time exploring this area. Neither of us had visited Mittagong or surrounding towns for some time and it was nice to get away and pretend life was a little normal (even though it is not).

The next morning after we arrived we visited the Mittagong Saturday Markets, which are well worth a visit and then felt hungry despite sharing a yummy pistachio, rhubarb and almond croissant at the markets. We recalled a pleasant looking cafe on the main street of Mittagong called The Roses Cafe. Hungry and in need of some warmth (while face masks can keep your face warm, it was cold that morning) we wandered to the cafe where we were warmly welcomed and waited to order.

Random Recipes: Stuffed Zucchini (Hobakseon) From “Korean Home Cooking” by Soon Young Chung.

Korean food can be very good, if you like octopus, kimchi, seafood or potato chips with sweet cheese. Unfortunately I am not fond of any of the previously mentioned food but do enjoy some recipes from Korea e.g. Bibimbap.

This cookbook has been on the shelf for some time and in the immediate queue of 5 cookbooks which are due for the Random Recipe test.

The people tasting this meal, Lindsay and Harper were not averse to the idea of this recipe (which is good as Lindsay did not show any interest in one of the previous choices. In that instance Lindsay was correct.)

Random Recipe: Turkish Cookery by Inci Kut

I believe this cookbook was purchased overseas by a family member who knew of my love of Turkish food. It took up room on the bookshelf, basically untouched for a number of years.

Turkish food can be wonderful, with a lovely play of flavours and interesting ingredients. I looked forward to using the book and finding new recipes which could become favourites.

Les Bistronomes, Braddon, Civic. May, 2019

It has been some time since this blog was updated and we apologise for any person who was eagerly awaiting a new review.

Les Bistronomes is a French restaurant in Braddon, which is very close to Civic in Canberra. Braddon is an area where there are many restaurants providing a variety of cuisines and some may be featured by this blog in the future.

In order to try some of the signature mains at Les Bristronomes, for example Black Angus Beef Chateaubriand, it is advisable to pre-order as these dishes can take 30 minutes to cook. We pre-ordered the Beef Wellington, mushroom Duxelle, foie gras ($88.00). These dishes are meant to be shared.

In addition to this a Chestnut soup ($18.00), Pork Belly, pickled grapes and almond puree (21.00) and Chicken supreme, root vegetables blanquette, crispy wild rice ($38.00) were also ordered for our party of 3 people.

Random Recipe: Hummus, Karniyarik (Eggplants Stuffed with Mince Meat) and Sigir Papaz Yahnisi (Beef Ragout) from Turkish Cookery by Inci Kut

This is a different Random Recipe as this time Lindsay and Alexi cooked one of the dishes (Karniyarki) but unfortunately the photos have vanished.  However, the dish was cooked for the blog so it will be included, sans photos as it did help make the decision of the fate of this cook book.   From reading this blog you will probably know we love Turkish food; hence the kebab challenge so this seemed like a good choice.

Irritation note: Some of the measurements in this cook book are given in glasses or tea cups e.g.1/2 glass oil.  There is an explanation of the measurements but it means different things depending on the item being measured.  For this recipe beef mince was used as we did not look for mutton mince.

Random Recipe: Pyogoieon (Stuffed Mushroom with Beef) from Korean Home Cooking by Soon Young Chung

For the interim we have moved some of the cookbooks off the sagging shelf as the ‘random recipe’ challenge is taking more time than expected.  Some of the overflow is now piled on top of the freezer and in order to try to decide which books should be kept, random recipes may appear more frequently.

London Burgers Bar and Grill, Belconnen. July 2017.

We planned to review London Burger Bar and Grill for some time but only one outlet still exists.  This is in Belconnen.  We knew of the Challenge (to eat and drink certain items within a time limit) but none of us felt that we could meet the challenge and it might obscure our review.

We do seem to review many places which sell burgers.