WINTER is not over yet – and a spike in sales of slow cookers proves it.
Lakeland reports trade doubling during the last week in January, suggesting warming casseroles are still very much on the menu.
Here are some other ways to use the plug-in appliance, which is far cheaper to run than a normal oven. . .
RESIST THE TAKEAWAY: If you don’t want to spend ages preparing a meal, turn to your slow cooker instead of the takeaway menu.
Make delicious curries using cheaper cuts of meat, like lamb shoulder or chicken thighs.
Put the cooker on earlier in the day and you’ll have a tasty curry waiting for your tea.
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Serve with pouches of rice for an easy weekend meal.
FAMILY FEAST: Switch up dinner ideas quickly and easily by preparing meat in your slow cooker.
You could do pulled shoulder of pork, cooked with two teaspoons each of smoked paprika, ground cumin and brown sugar, plus two mugfuls of cider and a slug of barbecue sauce.
Serve in a soft roll or pitta bread with coleslaw on the side.
ROAST BOAST: Did you know you can roast joints in a slow cooker?
Many recipes suggest cooking the meat on top of some chopped carrots and onion and a couple of cups of stock.
This is where those cheaper cuts come into their own.
Using a brisket of beef, you’ll save around £2 a kilo compared to the cheapest beef roasting joint.
A pork shoulder, at around £5 a kilo, is £3 less than a pork loin joint.
WARMING MORNING: For a smug start to the day, cook some steaming porridge for the whole family overnight.
Use four cups of liquid – maybe half milk and half water — to one cup of jumbo porridge oats.
Pop it on just before you go to bed and cook on a low setting for six or seven hours overnight.
It’s a good idea to do an initial test-run during the day, to check the timings are right for your slow cooker.
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