May and June Slow Cooker Challenge Round Up

The Slow Cooker Challenge ran over two months due to my trip to Nova Scotia  at the end of May.  As usual, I was delighted by the variety of dishes that the 'Challengers' have submitted, something to suit every meal and every mood.  Slow Cooking is such a pleasure, especially when you have been out all day and return to the aroma of your whole meal gently bubbling and ready to serve.


 Ox or Beef Cheeks have become very trendy in fine dining restaurants but they are a really economical as well as a delicious cut of meat. Deon at Food Jam serves us Asian Ox Cheeks


Corina at Searching for Spice combines her Slow Cooker Chicken with some Stir Fried veg to retain the crispness, find out how she did it  Slow Cooker Chinese Chicken Stew with Stir-fried Vegetables

A Girl Eats World brings us a simple dish of BBQ Meatballs  made with frozen meatballs and ready made sauce, coming together in the Slow Cooker.

A lack of red wine led to Caroline Makes making this Orange inspired version of Beef Bourgignon: Slow Cooker Beef in Orange and a new dish was born!

Over at Indo Global Food, the slow cooker is being put to good use to make Mango Jam, what a great idea!

Camilla at Fab Food for All brings us a delicious Slow Cooked Pulled Lamb with White Wine and Root Vegetables. 

Sarah  of Tales from the Kitchen Shed is the Queen of the Slow Cooker, she has her own digital cook book on the subject!  Not surprising then, that she has submitted this delicious looking Peach Melba Rice Delight

Now this is my kind of dessert!  Slow Cooker White Chocolate and Lemon Creme Fraiche Icing and Blueberries.  A great slow cooker recipe from Baking Queen 74.


Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best and Sarah has come back with a second offering in the shape of these Slow Cooker Jacket or Baked Potatoes, perfect to come home to.

Many thanks to everyone who entered, look out for the July Slow Cooker Challenge which will include a Slow Cooker Cookbook Giveaway.

Labels: Baked Potatoes, Beef Cheeks, blueberries, Chinese Chicken, Mango Jam, meatballs, Rice Pudding, Slow Cooker Challenge

posted by Janice @ 18:50 5 Comments

Garofalo Italian Pasta with Sausage Meatballs

There is pasta and then there is PASTA! I didn't realise just how different good quality pasta could be until I was asked to review Garofalo Italian Pasta. Garofalo Pasta is created from only the finest durum wheat in Gragnano, in the shadows of the ruins of Pompeii, where Garofalo has been making pasta for more than 300 years combining the art and skill of traditional Neapolitan pasta making with the latest technology to create artisan style pasta without equal.

You know how some tastes take you right back to your childhood?  I was really rather surprised that I had that flashback when I cooked this Garofalo pasta but it tasted the way pasta used to taste and it wasn't just the taste, it was more about the texture.  When you cook standard pasta al dente, it tends to still be a little bit hard in the centre and if it goes past that stage it is generally a bit soggy. 

The difference with Garofalo pasta is marked.  The penne mezzanelle held their shape well and had real bite, I can't remember the last time I enjoyed pasta so much.  I served my pasta with sausage and chickpea meatballs with feta,  a recipe I found in  the March Delicious Magazine, it's showing on the website but the link isn't working at the moment :(  Hopefully it will be fixed soon.   The meatballs are made with crushed chickpeas, pork sausages and feta cheese.  They are fried and served in a tomato sauce. The recipe makes very light delicate meatballs, they are inclined to fall apart but that doesn't really matter as they combine beautifully with the sauce.

Looking to see where you can purchase Garofalo Pasta it seems that it is available through Ocado - Costco - Sainsbury - Harrods - Independent deli's and retailers and selected wholesalers.  As I don't have easy access to any of these suppliers I looked for an online supplier and  found it at Weetons.

Labels: Delicious Magazine, Garofalo Italian Pasta, meatballs, pasta, penne mezzanelle

posted by Janice @ 19:33 4 Comments

Tapas for Sweet Heat Challenge

So, working from the front left in a clockwise direction:  Chickpeas with Chorizo, Sweetcorn Bites roasted in butter, meatballs in Pepper and Tomato Salsa, Lamb Skewers with lemon and chilli.

My entry for Sweet Heat is Pepper and Tomato Salsa which was totally delicious and really lifted the basic ready made meatballs that I bought in the supermarket.





I'd love you to take part in the Sweet Heat Challenge this month, the full details are available HERE

Labels: challenge, chickpeas, chilli, chorizo, lamb, meatballs, red pepper, Sweet Heat, sweetcorn, tomato

posted by Janice @ 18:57 7 Comments

Italian Meatballs

I bought some lovely beef mince from Kilnford Barns Farm shop last time I was there.  I also picked out Tamasin Day-Lewis's book Supper for a Song when the mobile library came round and there is a lovely recipe for Italian meat loaf and at the bottom of the page a little note about using the left over mixture to make meatballs, pushing a knob of mozzarella into the centre of each.


Make half the mixture into walnut sized meatballs and form the other half into a meatloaf.   You can brown the meatballs in a frying pan, but I like to put some olive oil in a roasting tin and put them in the oven at 180C for about 15 minutes, they brown all over and don't tend to burn.
Put the meatloaf in at the same time and after the 15 minutes, turn the heat down to 160C and cook for another 20 minutes.

The meatballs in tomato sauce (any basic italian tomato sauce recipe will do) were delicious, served with tagliatelle.  The meatloaf, I served with nice gravy vegetables and baked potatoes.  Sorry the photos aren't that great and I don't have a cooked one of the meatloaf, blame it on greed - hee hee!

Labels: Beef, gravy., meatballs, meatloaf, Mince, Tamasin Day-Lewis, tomato sauce

posted by Janice @ 21:08 6 Comments