Slow Cooking - It's the Future, for us anyway

I was reading an article today about how less and less people are having a roast dinner because of the cost.

But for us this is a staple of the week, a meal to look forward too. It isn't something that has to cost a fortune, you just have to be a little inventive.

We tend to use cheap cuts of meat now days and if anything the meat is better and pretty much anything slow roasted tastes good.

Yesterdays dinner was Beef Pot Roast Ribs, roasted in some red wine and water for several hours gives a beautiful tasting meat that falls off the bone and can be pulled apart with a fork, a huge rib that feeds a family of four cost £3.40.

Brisket is also a fab cut of meat, slow cooked in a BBQ sauce makes a great dinner with pittas and salad or as a spicy roast.


The same can be done with Belly Pork, another really cheap cut of meat. Just slow cook with some apples and apple juice and you will have a sweet tender meat that melts in the mouth at a fraction of the price.

Tough cuts of meat can be transformed into tasty meals by simply cooking slowly, not limited too but some of our favourite recipes include:

Beef Bourginon (using braising steak or skirt)
Lamb Tagine (Using shoulder or replace with mutton if you can find it)
Beef Stew
Beef Daube
Beef Curry with Plum Jam

And if you come across a cut you haven't heard of before don't be afraid to ask the butcher how to cook it, we have come across our best finds this way, just choose flavours that work with the meat you are cooking and you can't go wrong.

If you are willing to try new cuts, then don't be afraid to try a butchers. We go to Gonalston Farm Shop once a month and buy meat on offer and stock up. 

Beef Pot Roast Ribs from Gonalston Farm Shop

I am always trying to find new recipes so if you have a slow cooker one, meat or veggie please do leave a comment :)

Being too honest?

I popped into a local farm shop this morning on our way back home and as I got back to the car my son asked 'why were cows being put in the truck over there?'.

Me and my husband don't hold back when it comes to telling our children what we are eating, pork is pig, beef is cow etc.

So I told him, that it was cows being put into the truck to be taken for people to eat. But is that too honest?

Am I scarring him by being so blunt or is honesty the best policy? I want my children to know where food comes from, that it isn't just something you buy from a supermarket but that it was once a living creature.

I think there are many adults who don't really think about where meat comes from and the process it has to go to from field to plate.

I am under no illusion, if someone told me tomorrow I couldn't eat meat it wouldn't bother me, but I do enjoy it and I want to give my children enough information that if they decide it isn't something they want to eat then they can say so!

Buying local tastes great!

I recently bought some braising steak from a local butchers and it was the best I have ever had, without a doubt going to our local butchers is the best.

They offer local, good quality meat and although it is a little more expensive than the supermarket the quality is worth it.

I turned the braising steak I bought into stews and curry, the lamb shoulder into a roast dinner and a tagine and the chicken breasts are so big from there that you only need one to feed two of you.

Beef Stew made with Braising Steak, just melts in your mouth!

My favourite dinner of all time, slow roast lamb with a caper and mint gravy!

The range of sausages are beyond comprehension and with the butchers comes knowledge and extras that you simply don't get from a supermarket.

For instance if we buy a piece of beef for a Sunday roast you can ask for a bit of extra fat to roast on top, this leaves it tasting amazing and juicy.

You can ask for a cut of meat you don't find in supermarkets, for example beef skirt is perfect for fajitas.

I go by the philosophy of buying the most expensive meat we can afford and that the cheap cuts are usually the tasty ones, from neck to skirt to shoulder and braising.

If you can find a recipe that cooks the meat slowly then you are always onto a winner, it's all about the cooking and slow cookers are great for cheap buts of meat as well as being great for busy mums who work.

If you can, try and use local butchers. It makes me sad to see so few of them now days, that goes for bakers and green grocers too. I love the sense of community they offer which can be seen when in places like France, where the local Boulangerie is such a lovely experience, open from early in the morning till late at night and such a sense of community.