Slow Cooked: 200 exciting, new recipes for your slow cooker by Miss South Read Free Book Online Page A

8–9 hours.
    The onion and apple and parsnip will make a sweetly delicious almost-gravy and the pork will be the most tender chops you have ever tasted. I serve the meal just as it is and it’s best on a cold winter night.

CHOUCROUTE GARNIE
    The older I get, the more I realise I am a Northern European through and through. My heart lies with the solid animal fats, like duck or goose and butter, rather than the olive oil of the Mediterranean. I love sturdy food like sausages and I’ve never met a cabbage I didn’t like. I particularly love sauerkraut (or the French choucroute ) and this dish is all about its savoury, salty charms. Studded with sausages and soft pork belly, it’s the perfect porky one-pot meal.
    Take advantage of the growing Polish grocery sections in the supermarket or take this as your cue to venture to your local Polski Sklep, or Polish shop, for the first time. You’ll be goggle eyed at the selection of cured and smoked sausages.
    Despite what it seems from the long recipe list, this is a very simple dish to make. Do try to use the sausages specified. The kabanos are small, thin, dried sausages and the kielbasa is a large, soft smoked sausage, almost like a large frankfurter. If you can’t get either, use some bacon or ham and some frankfurters instead. As long as the dish involves lots of pork with your cabbage, it’s still authentic.
    SERVES 6 GENEROUSLY OR 4 WITH LEFTOVERS
    600g sauerkraut
    400g potatoes
    1 large onion, diced
    2 bay leaves
    4 allspice berries
    2 whole cloves
    1 teaspoon caraway seeds
    1 teaspoon juniper berries (optional)
    200g pork belly
    2 kabanos sausages
    4 frankfurters or 100g smoked kielbasa sausage
    250ml water
    100ml vermouth
    salt and pepper
    Remove your sauerkraut from the jar, rinse lightly and leave to drain while you peel the potatoes and chop them into 3cm cubes. Put half the potatoes and the onion into the crock and add about half the sauerkraut. Tuck 1 bay leaf in along with 2 allspice berries and 1 clove. Scatter over half the caraway seeds and juniper berries.
    Your pork belly will probably come as two slices. Cut each slice into four pieces and put half of them into the crock with 1 chopped kabanos. Chop the frankfurters or kielbasa into 1cm-thick slices and add half. Season well, bearing in mind that the meat and sauerkraut can be quite salty.
    Cover it all with the remaining sauerkraut, onion and potato. Add the other half of the herbs and spices. Put the rest of the meat on top and pour the water and vermouth over it. Choucroute garnie usually uses sweet white wine, so add some if you have any instead of the vermouth. Season with more black pepper.
    Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook it all on low for 8–9 hours. The sauerkraut will soften and the pork belly will become super tender, while the water creates a lovely porky broth.
    Serve on plates with a dollop of mustard on the side and maybe a beer to add true Northern European charm.

APPLE AND GINGER POACHED HAM
    Most people only seem to eat this kind of poached ham joint at Christmas, getting their piggy fix at lunch throughout the year with sliced versions from packets or the deli counter. I find that kind of sliced ham incredibly expensive for what you get (which is often extra water) and so I do ham or gammon joints all year round.
    Poaching the ham in the slow cooker keeps it succulent and tender and easy to slice. Excellent in a sandwich or salad or as part of a meal, you get a lot more oink for your money. It’s delicious simply poached with vegetables, like with the Pease Pudding here , but I like to add a little sweet and spice with this apple and ginger version.
    SERVES 4–6
    6cm piece of fresh ginger
    3 allspice berries
    1 teaspoon black peppercorns
    1 teaspoon ground ginger
    1 bacon, ham or gammon joint, approximately 750g
    500ml apple juice
    500ml water
    This is the simplest dish to make. Peel and grate the ginger, reserving any juice from it when you do. Put it in the slow-cooker crock