Slow Cooked November Round Up - St Andrew's Day

Saltire at Wallace Monument, Stirling

At the end of November, what you really want is something warming to eat.  St Andrews Day falls on the 30th of November and the November Slow Cooked Challenge was all about warming dishes or dishes with a Scottish theme.


First up it's breakfast at Kevin's Crafty Larder with Slow Cooker Oatmeal, the perfect breakfast to come home to after early morning dog walking.


A Simple Beef Stew is the offering at Jo's Kitchen, it's an old fashioned stew with lovely suet dumplings, the gravy looks particularly rich and tasty.



Now we head across the channel to France and the kitchen of De Tout Coeur Limousin for a bit of chilli heat in this Thai Curry Pork Noodle Soup

Time for a little snack? I'm delighted to introduce Nasifriet and her entertaining blog By the Way. Slow Cooked Zesty Pumpkin Jam sounds amazing and is definitely going to feature on my post Halloween pumpkin cooking next year.

Beef is popular this month, let's hope it is Scotch Beef for St Andrews Day.  Anyway Beef and Vegetable Casserole looks like a lovely warming dish entered by Deon at Food Jam.

Venison is definitely associated with Scotland and Lucy at Baking Queen 74 has made a lovely warming Slow Cooker Venison Sausage Casserole with Borlotti Beans.

We interrupt this comfort food fest for a bit of a domestic!  You'll have to pop over to Lavender and Lovage to find out what was the cause of the temporary marital disharmony, while you are there you should bookmark the recipe for Sticky Christmas Marmalade Chicken.

A bowl and spoon is the recommended way to eat Bonfire Bangers, Pumpkin and Lentil Stew the bowl of comfort food from Dominic at Belleau Kitchen.

It's always nice to finish with a chocolately dessert, so thanks to Sarah of Tales from the Kitchen Shed for sharing these delicious looking Slow Cooker Individual Pear and Chocolate Puddings

Many thanks to all the entrants to the Slow Cooked Challenge, if you are looking for some more St Andrew's Day recipes you can find them St Andrew's Day Menu

The December challenge will be published on 1st December, so remember to come back and find out what the theme will be.

Labels: Beef Stew, oatmeal, Pumpkin Jam, Slow Cooked Challenge, St Andrew's Day, Sticky Marmalade Chicken, Thai Curry, venison sausages

posted by Janice @ 07:30 7 Comments

Slow Cooked Challenge Round Up for October

Many thanks to everyone who took part in the first 'Slow Cooked' Challenge.  Despite having opened up the challenge to any kind of slowly cooked food, it is the Electric Slow Cooker or Crock-pot which still dominates the entries for the challenge which is fine by me, but I'm glad to welcome anyone who wants to enter a slow cooked recipe to the challenge.

The first of two Apple Butter recipes.  Stuart at Mr Cakeyboi brings us Easy Apple Butter.  I've never made Apple Butter but I can see the attraction and I will add it to my recipe bucket list now I've seen how easy it is to make in the slow cooker.

Caroline of Caroline Makes enjoyed a simple baked potato in her Slow Cooker, deliciously topped with a blue cheese dressing and parsley combo.  A perfect lunch or light supper.

Deon at Food Jam made this Paprika Beef Stew before she went off on holiday, freezing some for when she returned.  What a lovely comforting dish to come home to.

Dominic at Belleau Kitchen was the trigger for the Slow Cooker Challenge becoming the Slow Cooked Challenge.  He kept telling me he wanted to enter but didn't have a slow cooker, so what happened when I changed the rules?  Dom got himself a Crock-pot just in time to enter this month's challenge!!  I am going to forgive him though because Dom has created this glorious Slow Cooked Lentil and Vegetable Stew with Polenta Dumplings.


Laura at "I'd much rather bake than..."  gives us a very unusual combination it's Slow Cooker Apple Pie Chilli I rather intrigued by this recipe and Laura certainly sells it well, describing the joys of this tomato free chilli dish. Check it out!

Now time to head from Mexico to North Africa for this 'fall apart' Slow Cooked Harissa Spiced Beef Stew  I just love the look of this warming dish created for us at De Tout Coeur Limousin

Now this is the perfect dish for Bonfire night: Bonfire Bangers and Barbeque Bean Casserole This warming dish comes to us from Karen at Lavender and Lovage, it looks so good.


Nessie was Shaheen of A2K's neighbour when she lived in Glasgow and this is Nessie's Apple Butter, it's so nice when good recipes are handed on and now Shaheen is passing it on to us.


Lucy of Baking Queen 74 is always surprising me with the recipes she manages to produce from her Slow Cooker, I'm learning a lot about Slow Cooker baking from Lucy.  This entry of Slow Cooker Plum and Almond Cake looks like another winner.

Just in case you missed it, this is my own Slow Cooked Challenge entry of Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons. 


The November Slow Cooked Challenge will be published on  Monday 3rd November,  I hope you will join us as we move into the true season of slowly cooked food.

Labels: Apple Butter, Beef, Beef Stew, cake, chilli, Harissa, Lentil stew, Plum, Polenta, potatoes, sausages, Slow Cooked Challenge, tagine

posted by Janice @ 08:24 13 Comments

Ration Book Cooking with Great British Bakeware by George Wilkinson- Saturday 10th November

Only a couple more days to go on my rations and I must say I won't be sorry when it is over,  it's a bit of fun to try to cook with rations for a week but British Families had 14 years of these strictures, I can only imagine how much people must have craved something different.

I was lucky that last night I attended a Gala Dinner and was able to feast on three courses of delicious food which I didn't have to cook and which featured strawberries, blueberries, ratatouille and a lovely boef bourguignon.  Back to 'old clothes and porridge' as we say here!

Menu for Saturday 10th November

Breakfast - Porridge

Lunch - Lentil Soup, slice of Wartime Loaf

Supper  - Beef Stew with Dumplings, Blackberry and Apple Pie with Custard

No dumplings yet!

 I didn't use a war time recipe as it's just a basic beef stew/casserole with lots of root veg added to bulk it out, I had some celery in the fridge so threw that in too in the interests if thrift.

Beef Stew with Dumplings (serves 4)

0.6 kg Stewing steak
5 Parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
1 small swede, peeled and cut into chunks
2 oxo cubes
salt and pepper to taste

Dumplings
50g suet
100g self-raising flour
5 tbsp cold water

 1. Heat a little oil (lard) in an ovenproof casserole, cut the stewing steak into chunks and brown in the fat.
2. Add the sliced onion and cook for a minute, then add all the other vegetables and cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Cover the meat and vegetable mixture with hot water from the kettle and add the two stock cubes and the seasoning.
4. Bring to the boil, put the lid on and then cook at 150C for 11/2 to 2 hours, checking every now and then to make sure it doesn't dry out.  You need to be sure you have enough liquid in the stew to steam cook the dumplings.

5. About 15 minutes before serving, mix the flour, suet and water together and form into 8 balls.
6.  Bring the stew to a simmer on the hob and add the dumplings, put the lid on and cook for 10-15 minutes until they have fluffed up.
7.  Serve with mashed potato and a green vegetable.

Blackberry and Apple Pie with custard

Blackberry and Apple pie

Made with Bramley cooking apples, delicious blackberries and cinnamon, this pie is truly irresistible. Cooking times will vary depending on how fresh your apples are. For best results, cook them until they soften first.

Great British Bakeware by George Wilkinson

To help make my pie a success, I was lucky enough to receive this Deep Pie Plate from the latest collection from British bakeware manufacturer George Wilkinson, Great British Bakeware features a superior new coating, GlideX, guaranteed not to flake or scratch.

The ultimate performing non-stick, pies will simply glide out of the plate and best of all will need a simple rinse to clean, eliminating the need for heavy duty scrubbing, especially molten fruits and jams leftover from your wonderful winter pies.

The GlideX coating is virtually indestructible and has been bonded directly onto the bakeware to ensure it performs like new with each use – perfect when nothing else will do but a piping hot bowl of comforting pie.  Prices from £7.00

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry my usual recipe but 25g butter/25g margarine/25g lard
50g butter, plus extra for greasing
100g golden caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 large Bramley apples, cored, peeled and each cut into 16 wedges
4 Cox apples, cored, peeled and each cut into 8 wedges
150g blackberries
1 large egg, beaten
 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon 

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Roll out pastry, wrap in cling film and rest it in the fridge for at least half an hour.

• Put the butter and sugar into a saucepan and when the butter has melted, add the apples. Slowly cook for 15 minutes with a lid on, then add the blackberries, stir and cook for 5 more minutes with the lid off. 

• Remove the pastry from the fridge. Dust the work surface with flour, cut the pastry in half and, using a floured rolling pin, roll one of the pieces out until it’s just under 1cm thick. Butter your pie dish and line with the pastry, trimming off any excess round the edges carefully with a knife.

• Tip the cooled apples and blackberries into a sieve, reserving all the juices, then add to the pie dish. Spoon over half the reserved juices and brush the edge of the pastry with beaten egg.

• Roll out the second piece of pastry and lay it over the top of the pie. Trim the edges and crimp them together with your fingers. Brush the top of the pie with the rest of the beaten egg, sprinkle generously with sugar and the cinnamon, and make a couple of slashes in the top of the pastry.

• Place the pie on a baking tray and then put it directly on the bottom of the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.

  To serve, slice the pie into portions and serve with a generous dollop of custard.

I love how making the filling in this way creates a really well filled pie.  The bakeware performed really well, as you can see there is nothing left stuck to the tin. On the other hand my 'wartime' pastry was not particularly well behaved, it was very short, so broke and crumbled.  The decorations were to cover up the gaping holes that the cracked pastry created!

What's left?


I received the Deep Pie Plate from Great British Bakeware by George Wilkinson to review, I was not obliged to give a good review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Labels: Apple and Blackberry Tart, Beef Stew, custard, dumplings, Lentil Soup, Porridge, Ration Book Cooking, The Wartime Kitchen

posted by Janice @ 17:08 4 Comments