All blog posts tagged with slow cooker
Slow Cooked Balinese Style Duck
I have been very spoilt recently. It seems that every function I attend on the North Coast is featuring the delicious produce from Gaian Poultry & Game in Kundabung near Port Macquarie. Not only have I been privileged to enjoy their sumptuous duck, but I have also eaten gorgeous suckling pig which just melts in your mouth from the same producer. I have never experienced such moist, flavoursome meats and have found myself craving more.
With “Tastings of the Hastings” drawing to a close I had arranged to catch up with Beth at the “THE MAIN EVENT:” The Holiday Coast Credit Union Tastings of the Hastings Market Day. Gaian Poultry & Game were featured in the Paddock to Plate Arena and I had made arrangements to collect a very fat hand raised duck (2 kilos) from Beth at her Gaian Poultry stand.
The event was held on Sunday 23rd October at Port Macquarie racecourse and it turned out to be a fantastic day, well worth the drive from Coffs Harbour. We tried so many delicious foods and were able to meet the producers and chefs behind the dishes. There will be a story on this event to follow.
In the meantime there is one last “Tastings of the Hastings” event left, if readers want to try this delicious product for themselves. The Annual Tastings of the Hastings Dinner at Pier One, Port Panthers on the 28th October 2011.
Today I am preparing a dish I learned how to make in Bali. I have simplified the process a little as it’s the famous 8 hour slow cooked “Smoked Duck” usually prepared for celebration purposes outdoors!
I always knew I would need to re –invent this dish slightly, and now with the perfect duck available it seemed like a good time to ponder the logistics of the meal. The duck is usually cooked after being wrapped in banana leaves and then coconut bark husks and placed in the equivalent of a wheelbarrow load full of rice husks. It smoulders in an open field or open kitchen for 8 hours until the duck is cooked. Hmmm... I am sure you can see where my problems lie.
I was preparing to slow cook it in a cover baking tray with a layer of smouldering paper bark, but I found a much easier solution. My Slow Cooker! I have used the cooker for roast meats in the past and the effect is amazing, soft, luscious, melt in your mouth meat, exactly what I was after.
As it turns out it is the perfect evening for the slow cookers as we have a “meeting” at the school tonight! Hopefully mummy & daddy won’t be placed on the naughty seat by the principal??
Without further ado, I give you my cheats recipe for “Slow Cooked Balinese Style Duck”
Ingredients:
1 Gaian Poultry Duck (see bottom of story for stockist)
Spice mix
3 t/s shrimp paste
1 Tbs sea salt
3 t/s kecap manis
5 Kaffir lime leaves
1 cup water
8 small escallops
1 ½ bulbs garlic
4 large chilli (not hot)
5 birds eye chilli (hot)
6 macadamia nuts
3 Tbs fresh ginger knob
2 Tbs fresh turmeric knob
3 t/s tamarind
2 Tbs Palm Sugar
Juice from 1 lime
Method:
You could use a mortar and pestle to pound the spices to a paste and then add the liquids.
But we all know I am a lazy cook so I threw the lot in the food processor and processed with the cup of water until smooth.
Place the bird into the slow cooker and cover in the sauce mix thoroughly. Ensure that the cavity is also filled with the liquid.
Cook the duck on setting two for 5 hours. Start the duck cooking on the breast for 2 1/2 hours and then turn twice through out the cooking time. The meat on the leg should be almost falling from the bone.
To serve place the duck on a platter and pour the cooking liquid into a saucepan. (Take care to tip off the oil from the liquid first.) Boil the remaining liquid until it has reduced by half and thickened. Pour Jus over the duck to serve.
*Funny note: I asked Beth how the duck supplies are going as she seems to be supplying everyone with so much product. She laughed and said, "let’s just say we are counting every leg at the moment."
I wonder if these little legs have been counted yet!
Gaian Poultry & Game- Baby Animal Petting Zoo
Stockist of Gaian Poultry & Game
Essential Ingredient
1/1 Harbour Dr
Coffs Harbour NSW 2450
(02) 6651 1770
Gourmand Ingredients
3/ 41 Short St
Port Macquarie NSW 2444
(02) 6584 6268
www.gourmandingredients.com.au
Bellingen Butcher
72 Hyde Street
Bellingen NSW 2454
(02) 6655 1132
Port Forshore Market on the 2nd Saturday of month
Wauchope Farmer's Market on the 4th Saturday of month.
Swansea Butcher
6/206 Pacific Highway
Swansea
(02) 4971 4799
Gresford Meats
44 Park Street
East Gresford
(02) 4938 9710
Hudson Meats
410 Crown Street
Surry Hills
(02) 9332 4454
Grass Roots Urban Butcher
101 New South Head Road
Vaucluse NSW 2030
(02) 9337 3063
Prunetastic Slow Cooked Beef Spare Ribs + Giveaway Winners
It is time to announce the winners of our Prunetastic giveaway!
Before I do, I want to share one last recipe with you using the delicious healthy Sunraysia Prune Juice.
This recipe gives the chain “Stetsons Steakhouse Saloon” a run for their money. The sauce is rich and delicious and the meat just falls off the bone. I chose to use beef so as to minimize the fat content, but you could go your hardest and choose mouthwatering pork spare rib for the recipe.
Slow Cooked Beef Short Ribs
Ingredients
1.8kg Beef Ribs
250ml Sunraysia Prune Juice
250ml Teriyaki Sauce
250ml Campbell’s Real Beef Stock
4 cloves garlic
Method
Marinade the ribs in a mixture of prune juice and Teriyaki sauce, cover and allow to stand overnight in the refrigerator.
Place the ribs, garlic and sauce into either a casserole dish or slow cooker.
Cover and cook in a slow cooker on high for six to eight hours, or until the meat comes away from the bone. If cooking in a covered casserole dish cook at 160 degrees for about 3 hours.
Once the meat is cooked remove it from the dish and set aside in a warm place. Pour the marinade into a saucepan and boil it on the stove until it reduces to a delicious syrup. The sauce is served over the meat.
Now, I hope everyone has started their new fitness regime of a shot of Sunraysia Juice each morning. So who are the two lucky readers who will be receiving a Sunraysia Makeover Pack consisting of a loofah glove, 750ml bottle of Sunraysia Prune Juice and a shot glass?
The two winners are Clare and Jac! Congratulations to you both! Please contact me via email with your address, and I will have the packs sent out to you.
Gumbo - International Incident Party
May Theme
Gumbo
Really… Gumbo, it is not often that I am uninspired by a cooking theme but this one was really not doing it for me. Images of Happy Gilmour in the Water Boy and “mama” throwing a muskrat into a bubbling cauldron kept coming to mind.
Now naturally I know you can use shrimp or chicken but I still wasn’t getting the appeal of this southern stew. The more I researched recipes the less convinced I was of the value of this dish.
But I have joined these cooking challenges to stretch my repertoire and force myself to cook dishes that I would not have otherwise attempted. There is nothing like procrastinating until literally hours before the post is due up to inspire an uninspired cook. I decided that I would modify the recipe slightly as I was never going to be able to find Southern Louisianan Turkey sausages or file powder, I even struggled to find Orka as I had left things too late on a Saturday afternoon.
My final google search included the words “quick easy gumbo.” What I have produced is a combination of three recipes which I then further adapted for the slow cooker. Yes, I am being truly lazy.
Ingredients:
Stage 1
600gm chicken thigh fillets
2 chorizo sausages sliced
1 litre chicken stock
1 can tomatoes
1 t/s oregano ground
1 t/s ground celery salt
2 t/s Cajun spice mix
3 cloves garlic
1 onion finely diced
2 celery sticks chopped
1 green capsicum diced
2 hot chillies sliced
2 carrots diced
Stage 2
2 pkts ready cooked rice (or 2 cups of home cooked rice)
2 T/s Butter
2 1/2 Tbs flour
Method:
Throw all the stage 1 ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on high for approximately 4 hours or until the chicken has softened and has cooked through.
Next make a roux. In a saucepan fry the butter and add the flour, cook this over a low heat until the flour turns white and has been cooked. Take 1 cup of sauce out of the slow cooker and add to the roux, stir continuously to ensure there are no lumps. Turn off the heat and continue to work the sauce until smooth, add more sauce if necessary to the roux. Once smooth add the roux to the gumbo and stir through, this should thicken the dish.
The rice can either be added to the gumbo now or heated through and served with the dish.
So what was the verdict on this dish??? It was pretty damn
delicious and so easy! The chorizo sausage gives the dish depth of flavour and a gorgeous smoky taste and the chilli I used were from my garden and incredibly hot so this dish had depth and fire. YUMMY! I also love having another slow cooker recipe in my
repertoire for these cold winter evenings. Winner!
For some more delicious Gumbo recipes please check out what the other International Incident Party contributors have made, or you could join us on the forum. Thanks for hosting Jeroxie
Slow Cooked Balsamic Lamb Roast
There is now such a chill in the air I want to be eating warming winter foods each night. High on my list of winter warmers to cook are roasts, slow cooker dishes, lamb shanks and curries. Today I am sharing I gorgeous Donna Hay Balsamic Roast Lamb recipe. This could just as easily be Balsamic Lamb Shanks if you would prefer. I needed to feed six people so the lamb leg was my best choice.
Initially I passed over this dish in her recipe book because the picture wasn’t that appealing. The roast looked burned and not moist. I have since discovered that the dark colour is the balsamic vinegar and the meat is cooked to that succulent, falling off the bone stage.
It seems I am not the only one thinking of a warming lamb roast, at the butchers today there was another lady getting cooking tips for her lamb roast from the butcher. I promised to post my adopted Donna Hay recipe immediately. This has become one of my favourite ways to do a roast and it can be made in the slow cooker or a conventional oven. I really hope you give it a go too.
Ingredients:
1- 2 kg leg lamb on the bone
250ml balsamic vinegar
6 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 bulb garlic
500 ml beef stock
2 Tbs brown sugar
Slow Cooker Method:
Place all the ingredients in a slow cooker on high for 3 hours. Turn the meat and cook for a further 2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone.
Remove the meat from the slow cooker and place on a serving platter covered in foil to rest.
Pour the remaining sauce over a bowl of ice to filter some of the fat off the sauce. Place the sauce back in a saucepan on the heat and allow it to boil until it has reduced to half the volume. Serve with potatoes and greens.
Oven Method:
Preheat the oven to 140 degrees. Choose a dish which has a tight fitting lid that is oven proof. Place all the ingredients into the pot cover and cook for three hours. Turn the meat and cook for a further 2 hours.
Remove the lid and increase the heat to 180 degrees. Cook the meat for a further 30 minutes to brown. Take the meat from dish and place on a serving platter covered in foil to rest.
Pour the sauce over a bowl of ice to filter some of the fat off the sauce. Place the sauce back in a saucepan on the heat and allow it to boil until it has reduced to half the volume. Serve with potatoes and greens.
I hope you enjoy this recipe. Tell me are you a picture person like me, will a great image inspire you to cook a dish, will a bad image put you off a dish?
Thank you to Donna Hay, this is a truly gorgeous dish, how could I have doubted you?
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3 TOURS DEPARTING 2012
Have Your Say
I wish I had you for my mum when I was 5!
That cake would have been the talk of the town for the rest of the year - fantastic job.
A lot of your blogs will be interactively design and style that visitor share data to read your blog.
Thank you so much, it is going to be a wonderful surprise for my Mum, I wish everyone a great day with your own special people, those who helped you become who you are today.
Mum definitely deserves the hamper, because she is an amazing woman that has brought up 3 kids through tough times. She is the best mum a son could ask for.
She's had it tough, working hard
deserving much more than just a card
So let's raise a glass and toast her true
The best person in the world - Mum, that's you!
Thanks for the info on Rasa Malaysia's book. I used to visit her website for recipes but some time ago, igot a new PC and forgot to bookmark it!
You're too modest Julie! You did a great job with the cake! :D
Yellow strawberries and cream is just perfect for mum as a reward for putting up with two kids who were a pain in the bum.
I would have loved to have seen those martini glasses! Hope Miss A had a lovely time celebrating turning 5 :D
It shouldn't. It should go to me as whilst trying to make sure my mum, step-mum, MIL, Step-MIL, 3 x Grandmas are spoilt on Mother's Day, I always seem to get forgotten!
My poor old mum is battling to care for my step dad who has advanced Parkinsons. My real dad who has had a stroke still expects her to be there for him, my bro is going bankrupt and she lives two states away from her only gransdon. Her life has little joy- JUst wish for one thing nice to happen to her. We all love our mums, good luck to you all!
Perfect place to relax and forget about all the troubles we have in the city and just unwind ~ can't wait to go to somewhere like this hehe
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