Slow Cooker Bacon & Cabbage

This sounds less appetising than it actually is! I have recently started college, so my time for cooking has been greatly reduced. This is a great recipe that can be bunged in the slow cooker, ready for when you get home. The juices that run out of the bacon joint are used to make a tasty sauce to pour over. I love recipes where you can put everything in together, less washing up too!

Serves 4

1kg bacon joint
1 pointed cabbage, cut into wedges
12 baby carrots
1 onion, quartered
1 bay leaf
500ml water
8 potatoes, halved or quartered (depending on size)
150ml double cream
Chopped parsley


Place the potatoes, onion & carrots in the bottom of the slow cooker. Lay the bacon joint on top, then squash in the cabbage all round it. Pop in the bay leaf, pour in the water then put the lid on & cook on low for 6/7 hours. When ready, remove the bacon & slice up. Remove 150ml of the stock from the slow cooker, mix with cream, pepper & parsley & warm back up. Use this sauce to pour over the bacon & vegetables.

Oxtail Stew

A friend recommended I try this, even though I was a bit wary of trying or cooking with oxtail. For some reason, it just didn't occur to me that it would be like beef, seeing as it is from the same animal! This did taste like a very rich, unctuous beef stew. I thought it tasted amazing! The secret is the long, slow cooking. I did it in my oven, set at about 130c for 6 hours, but it would work just as well in a slow cooker. Put your slow cooker on low, for as long as you can. I will certainly be making it again. Perfect served with creamy thick mash on a cold, snowy day.

Serves 4

4 large pieces of oxtail
Oil for frying
4 carrots, chopped
6 shallots, peeled but left whole (or use 2 onions, diced)
Half of a large swede, peeled & diced
2 large leeks, sliced
1 whole star anise
3 garlic cloves, peeled, left whole but crushed slightly
1 bay leaf
1 litre of beef stock
Salt & pepper to season

Preheat your oven to 130c (or use a slow cooker). In an oven & hob proof casserole dish, fry the oxtail on all side until coloured. Remove from the heat, and add all the other ingredients. Pop into the oven, covered, for 6 hours. Before serving, remove the bones - the meat should just fall off.

Slow Cooker Boston Baked beans

I love to cook a gammon joint in my slow cooker with nothing but 2 tablespoons of brown sugar in with it. The meat that comes out is amazing! As soon as I remove the gammon though, I am left with a crock pot full of gammon & brown sugar stock, which seems a shame to waste. This time I added some beans & other ingredients, plus some left over shredded gammon, and created these tasty boston baked beans. They were fab on jacket potatoes topped with cheese.

Leftover gammon & brown sugar liquid from slow cooker
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tsp tomato purée
1 tbsp maple syrup
 2 tsp English mustard powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 x 400g cans cannellini or haricot beans, drained and rinsed - I used a tin of both
Leftover shredded gammon

Just add all the ingredients to the slow cooker, and cook on low for as long as you can. Mine were on for about 8 hours.

Irish Stew

It's not St Patricks Day, but when I found this recipe I just had to try it. I have only ever had Irish stew from a tin before (gag) so was eager to try the real thing. We are not big lamb eaters, but I will buy it occasionally. I find it quite expensive when you are feeding a family, but this recipe uses cheap cuts (scrag end or neck fillets are perfect). Its slow cooker so the meat becomes really tender. With pearl barely added, its a hearty meal! I was stuffed after one bowlful. This recipe made plenty, there were some leftovers for my lunch with a hunk of crusty bread & butter. This recipe tastes even better the next day, so if you can, cook it a day early & reheat when you need it - its worth it!

1 tbsp olive oil
125g smoked streaky bacon cut into chunks
500g stewing lamb , cut into large chunks
3 medium onions , sliced
3 carrots , sliced into chunks
2 bay leaves
small bunch thyme
75g pearl barley
500ml lamb stock
6 medium potatoes , cut into chunks

 Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole. Sizzle the bacon for 4 mins until crisp. Turn up the heat, then cook the lamb for 6 mins until brown. Remove the meats with a slotted spoon. Add the onions, carrots and herbs to the pan, then cook for about 5 mins until softened. Return the meat to the pan, stir in the pearl barley, pour over the stock, then bring to a simmer.
 Sit the chunks of potato on top of the stew, cover, then braise in the oven, undisturbed, for about 1½ hrs until the potatoes are soft and the meat is tender. You could also tip into a slow cooker & cook on low for 4 hours.

Slow Cooker Ribs

I nipped into Morrisons last night when I dropped off Little Bee off for her dance class, and found they had ribs on special offer. I managed to buy enough ribs (half a rack each) for £2.50! The glaze I created from store cupboard items, and knocked up a quick batch of homemade coleslaw. You can find that recipe here. I left the slow cooker on low all day (about 6 hours) and these came out meltingly soft! The meat just fell away from the bones - just how I like my ribs. I can't wait to make these again, and experiment with glazes. I love the Dr Pepper ribs, but they were chewy compared to these - I might use the sauce but pop them in the slow cooker.

What do you use your slow cooker for?

2 racks of ribs
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice
4 crushed garlic cloves

Mix all the sauce ingredients together. Pop the ribs into the slow cooker, and pour over the glaze/sauce. Set to low and allow to cook for around 6 hours. Turn the ribs every 2 hours, to coat them in the glaze.

Serve with corn cobs, coleslaw & onion rings (or your own favourite side dishes).