Slow Cooker Sunday: Sausage and Puy Lentil Stew

 

Slow Cooker Sunday: Sausage and Puy Lentil Stew
Recipe Type: Pork
Cuisine: Slow Cooker
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
This recipe originally came from Sara Lewis, but she called for Venison Sausages and Cranberries.  I only had pork sausages and don’t really like fruit of any description  (e.g apricots, raisins, apple) in my dinner so I just omitted them.  The picture doesn’t do it justice but I can’t stress enough how amazingly good it was.
Ingredients
  • 1 TBSP olive oil
  • 6-8 good quality pork sausages (we get ours from the local butcher)
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, mince (I buy frozen portions of garlic)
  • 2 TBSP plain flour
  • 900ml chicken stock
  • 3 TBSP light or dark brown sugar
  • 2 TBSP tomato puree
  • 2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
  • 200g puy lentils
  • 2 bay leaves
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Place the lentils and bay leaf in the bottom of the slow cooker
  2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the sausages on all sides.  No need to cook through as they will be in the slow cooker for 6 hours.  Set aside.
  3. Add the onion and garlic to the frying pan and saute for approx 3 minutes until they soften.  Sprinkle over the flour and mix well for about a minute.  Gradually add the stock, then stir in the sugar, tomato puree, vinegar and season with a bit of salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
  4. Pour the mixture over the lentils and place the sausages on top.  Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.  Don’t forget to remove the bay leaves and serve with crusty bread.

Don’t forget Slow Cooker Sunday is all about sharing recipes and getting inspiration from others.  Feel free to add your own recipes below.  They can be old or new and don’t even have to be your own.  Just one you’ve tried and liked.

And if you need extra inspiration, don’t forget to check out our Pinterest Board, with over a hundred recipes.

Google+ fans, we also have a Community ‘All Things Slow Cooking’ feel free to join in.  Thanks to Aly Hodge it’s now starting to grow legs.

And if you subscribe to my blog, using the form in the sidebar you can get a free copy of my first ever eBook ‘There’s More to Slow Cooking than Stews – 10 Recipes to get you going’.



Slow Cooker Sunday: Black-eyed Bean Soup with Peppers and Coconut Milk

 

Slow Cooker Sunday: Black-eyed Bean Soup with Peppers and Coconut Milk

Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Slow Cooker
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Weirdly, when I first came across this recipe I was attracted to the coconut milk, but when I thought about the combination of tastes I wasn’t sure, but it really did work well.
Ingredients
  • 1 TBSP of Sunflower Oil
  • 1 large leek, trimmed and sliced
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 1 yellow pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp of dried chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp of cumin seeds crushed
  • 500ml of vegetable stock
  • 1 tsp of light brown sugar
  • salt and pepper to season
  • 2x 400g tins of black-eyed beans, drained and rinsed
  • 400 ml tin of light coconut milk
  • Dried Coriander
  • lime wedges to serve
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the leek and peppers and sauté for 3-5 minutes until the onions soften. Add the chilli flakes and cumin seeds and mix well for about a minute.
  2. Add the stock, stir in the brown sugar until it dissolves and season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
  3. Put the beans into the slow cooker and pour over the stock mixture. Add the coconut milk, stir, cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
  4. Serve with wedges of lime, garnish with dried coriander and some crusty bread.

 

If you have any recipes you’d like to share, please do add them to the Linky below.

And if you need extra inspiration, don’t forget to check out our Pinterest Board, with over a hundred recipes.

Google+ fans, we also have a Community ‘All Things Slow Cooking’ feel free to join in.

And if you subscribe to my blog, using the form in the sidebar you can get a free copy of my first ever eBook ‘There’s More to Slow Cooking than Stews – 10 Recipes to get you going’.



Slow Cooker Sunday: Oxtail Soup

You should have seen my face!  I ‘was’ a vegetarian for nearly 20 years.  I now enjoy a good steak and don’t mind handling meat.  However, a South African friend shared a Slow Cooker Oxtail recipe and she even pointed me in the direction of a local South African butcher.

My husband loves Oxtail soup but we normally buy it in a tin.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the look on my face when the Butcher walked out of the fridge carrying a 3 foot long tail must have said it all.

If I’m honest, I was a bit squeamish handling it but got over it in the end and it was worth it as the soup was absolutely gorgeous.  So gorgeous that we had it two nights in a row.

Slow Cooker Sunday: Oxtail Soup

Recipe Type: Slow Cooker
Cuisine: South African
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 tin [url href=”http://www.napolina.com/text_only/our_range.html” target=”_blank” title=”Butter Beans”]butterbeans[/url]
  • 1.5kg (3 pounds) oxtail, segmented with fat trimmed (ask local butcher to do this for you)
  • flour, seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 30ml (2 tablespoons) olive oil
  • 3 onions peeled and chopped
  • 4 – 6 carrots – peeled
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 250ml (1 cup) red wine
  • 500ml (2 cups) beef stock
  • 60ml (4 tablespoons) tomato purée
  • 45ml (3 tbsp) brown sugar (optional)
  • 1 bay leaf (optional)
  • 2.5ml (1/2 tsp) dried thyme (optional)
  • 2.5ml (1/2 tsp) teaspoon dried sweet basil (optional)
  • 2.5ml (1/2 tsp) teaspoon dried parsley (optional)
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Dust the oxtail in seasoned flour, brown on all sides and transfer to the slow cooker.
  2. Add the onions, garlic, wine, tomato puree and stock.
  3. Add the sugar to the tomato mixture to neutralise the acidity.
  4. Rinse the beans thoroughly under running water and add to the meat.
  5. Add the herbs if desired.
  6. Cover and cook on low for a minimum of 6 hours until meat falls off bone. (Note: I found that the meat didn’t fall off the bone so I fished it out of the slow cooker, scraped it and returned the meat to the dish.)
  7. Remove excess fat
  8. Serve with rice, mash potatoes, polenta, fresh bead.
  9. It also tastes delicious if left overnight and reheated the following day

 

As always I’m on the hunt for some new recipes to try out.  Do you have any you would like to share?

And if you need extra inspiration, don’t forget to check out our Pinterest Board, with over a hundred recipes.

Google+ fans, we also have a Community ‘All Things Slow Cooking’ feel free to join in.

And if you subscribe to my blog, using the form in the sidebar you can get a free copy of my first ever eBook ‘There’s More to Slow Cooking than Stews – 10 Recipes to get you going’.



Slow Cooker Sunday: Mince and Macaroni Soup

Bit of a laugh yesterday, the team from Netmums sent around a film crew.  They’re starting a parenting channel on youtube and would like to highlight food for all the family.  They asked if I could knock up a few Slow Cooker recipes that kids would eat.  In the end, I did Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs, Mince and Macaroni Soup, Sausages with Chutney Gravy and a Banana Bread.  It was really food fun.

I do public speaking everyday and am a fairly confident character and genuinely thought I’d be comfortable in front of the camera but I wasn’t.  Once I see the final version, if it’s not to cringe worthy I’ll pass on the link.

I wasn’t going to post a recipe yet, but, the cooking marathon has resulted in a huge amount of food in the house.  We went sledging today and it was so nice to come home to some hearty soup that helped us unthaw!  So, I thought I’d share it.

 

Slow Cooker Sunday: Mince and Macaroni Soup

Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Slow Cooking
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
A hearty soup that is perfect for a cold winters night!
Ingredients
  • 1TBSP of oil
  • 400g of minced beef
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 450ml of beef stock or water
  • 1 500g carton of passata
  • 1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 TBSP of soy sauce
  • 2 tsp of dried Italian herbs
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 200g of uncooked macaroni
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Brown the mince for approx 5 minutes, add the onion and garlic, sauté for a further 3 minutes.
  2. Transfer to the slow cooker. Add the stock, passata, tomatoes, soy sauce, dried herbs, bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
  3. Fifteen minutes prior to serving cook the macaroni according to the packet instructions. Stir into the soup. Ladle into large bowls and serve with crusty bread.
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This is the perfect weather for slow cooking.  So what have you been cooking?  Do add your recipes to the link below.

I will also be adding your recipes to our Pinterest board which is growing rapidly.

Enjoy the snow!