Lamb and Lentil Curry

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

When I was in Sainsburys looking for some stewing lamb I found a boneless lamb shoulder, which worked out cheaper than those packets of diced lamb. As it was boneless it was easy to cut up into pieces and I managed to make 2 meals from the joint. One was a Thai Massaman Curry and the other was this curry.

 

I adapted a recipe from an old Fresh magazine and I cooked it in my Tefal 4-in-1. The meat was meltingly tender and had incredible flavour as the lamb shoulder had a good bit of fat on it.

 

I served it with brown rice and home-made naan bread.

 

• Serves: 2 (the amount of sauce could serve 4 people if you double the meat)

 

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 500g lamb shoulder (or leg) cut into 4cm chunks
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 green pepper, cut into chunks
• 2 Tablespoons of Rogan Josh Curry Paste (I used Pataks)
• 1 (400g) tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin of water
• 1 Tablespoon of concentrated liquid stock (I used Knorr Touch of Taste Beef)
• 2 handfuls of split red lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1 whole green chilli, poked a few times with a knife

 

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the lamb in batches until lightly browned all over. Remove the lamb from the pan (set aside in the Tefal cooking bowl) leaving the oil in the pan.
2. Add the onions and pepper to the pan and cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until soft and golden.
3. Return the lamb to the pan, stir in the curry paste and fry for a couple of minutes to release the spices.
4. Add the tomatoes, tin of water, the Tablespoon of concentrated liquid stock, the red lentils and the green chilli.
5. Bring to the boil, then transfer to the Tefal cooking bowl. Cook for 4-5 hours. You can transfer the curry back into the pan and simmer uncovered to thicken the sauce whilst you cook the rice in the Tefal.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• You can cook this on the hob by covering the pan and simmering gently for 1 hour 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Or you can cook it in the oven at Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C for 2-2½ hours.

Tefal 4-in-1 Rice Cooking

I normally just cook Thai Jasmine rice in my Tefal 4-in-1, but Steve and I decided to start eating more brown rice for its health benefits and also a bit of a change. We’ve found cooking it in the Tefal gives an excellent result and we’re both enjoying the change as brown rice has a lot more texture and is a bit like pearl barley.

 

The cooking instructions for brown rice in the Tefal manual are very limited and it only gives directions to cook 4 cups of rice, which will serve 5-6 people. I only wanted to cook enough for 2 people and so it was a bit of an experiment to find out how much water to use.

 

The first time I tried, I put in 2 cups of washed rice and filled the bowl to the 2 cup water level. After about 20 minutes the Tefal beeped and I checked the rice. It was still very hard in the middle. So I added another cup of water and set it to cook again. I had to repeat this process another two times before the rice was fully cooked and fluffy (I lost track of how long it took to cook in total!).

 

So the second time I tried cooking the brown rice, I put in 2 cups of rice, filled up the bowl to the 2 cup water level and then added 3 extra cups of water. This brought the water level to 4 cup water level. So I set the Tefal to cook and it took 45 minutes to produce perfectly cooked fluffy rice.

 

I must mention that the brown rice I used was of the Tesco Easy Cook variety, which is apparently partially cooked already and lightly milled to give non-stick grains. Normal brown rice needs slightly different cooking in the Tefal. Asda Long Grain Brown Rice needs water up to the 3 cup level and it only took approx. 45 minutes to cook.

 

So to summarise for 2 cups of rice:

 

TYPE OF RICE	AMOUNT OF WATER	APPROX. TIME TO COOK
White Thai Jasmine rice	2 cup water level	20 minutes
Tesco Brown Easy Cook rice	4 cup water level	45 minutes
Asda Long Grain Brown rice	3 cup water level	45 minutes

Simon Rimmer’s Jam Roly Poly

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

This might sound strange, but I don’t think I’ve ever had jam roly poly. I’ve definitely never used suet before, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I cooked it in my Tefal 4-in-1 and it was the first time I’ve used the steamer function. It worked brilliantly and I didn’t have to worry about it boiling dry as you can fill the bowl with loads of water.

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
I had to halve Simon’s recipe as it served 6-8 people and I was only cooking for me and Steve, so even with half the amount we still had a lot leftover! So my jam roly poly was slightly smaller and I didn’t reduce the cooking time, so I think that’s why it came out a bit dry. Next time I will check it after 40 minutes. Another reason why it might have been dry was I didn’t use a double piece of parchment and the roly poly burst out a little bit. So it’s definitely worth using a double layer.

TASTE TEST:
I would also use more jam and a better quality one than the Tesco own brand we had in the fridge, as it was a bit bland.

It was easy to make but it's nowhere near as good as this other Jam Roly Poly recipe that I've tried.

The recipe below is half the quantity of Simon’s original recipe, which can be found here.

• Serves: 3-4
• You will need: a steamer

  
Ingredients:

• 113g (4oz) self-raising flour
• 57g (2oz) shredded suet (I used vegetable suet)
• 35g (1.25oz) caster sugar
• ½ egg, beaten
• 25ml (1 fl.oz) water
• 100g (3.5 oz) strawberry jam
• Hot ready-made custard, to serve

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mix together the flour, suet and sugar until well combined.
2. Add the beaten egg and stir until well combined.
3. Gradually add the water, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together as a dough. (NB: You may not need all of the water. If the dough becomes too sticky, add a little more flour.)
4. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to form a 20cm x 30cm rectangle. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
5. Spread the jam in an even layer all over the dough rectangle.
6. Starting from the narrower end of the rectangle, carefully roll the dough into a roulade, using your hands (use the baking parchment as a guide).
7. Cut the roll in half, then wrap each half tightly in a double piece of baking parchment. Twist the ends of each parcel to secure.
8. Place the roly-poly parcels into your steamer and steam for 40-50 minutes, or until completely cooked through (the jam roly-poly halves are cooked through
   when a skewer inserted into the centre of each comes out clean).
9. To serve, cut each jam roly-poly half into three or four slices. Place one slice onto each of six to eight serving plates. Drizzle over the hot custard.

Rick Stein’s Rabbit Stifado

MUNCH RATING: 1/5

I knew I wanted to make a stew with the rabbit I bought from the Farmer’s Market in Epsom last Sunday, but as I’d never eaten or cooked it before I looked for some guidance. Even though I don’t like Rick Stein, I decided to have a flick through his Mediterranean Escapes book, which has been sitting unused on the bookcase since Steve’s Mum bought it last year. I spotted a recipe for Rabbit Stifado and thought it would be perfect because I had a packet of stifado herb and spice mixture that Steve’s sister brought me back from Halkidiki.

The herb mixture contained:

• thyme
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• bay leaves
• black peppercorns
• allspice

So I just replaced all of the spices in Rick’s recipe with about a third of my packet and the flavour of the sauce tasted authentically Greek. But the rabbit itself was a huge disappointment. It was really tough and dry and lacked flavour. What a waste of a fiver! I was a bit dubious about the short cooking time of the recipe and I REALLY regretted not cooking this in my Tefal slow cooker! The sauce was also very watery, so I added some cornflour at the end to thicken.

I served the stew with rice and potatoes as that’s what was served to us in the restaurants we visited in Greece. I sautéed the potatoes with garlic and rosemary and they were the best part of the meal!

So now I have even more reasons to not like Rick Stein! Here’s Rick’s recipe if you want to make the mistake of making it!

• Serves: 4
• Cooking time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 large rabbit, weighing about 1.5kg, jointed
• 6 allspice berries
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
• 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon flour
• 5 garlic cloves
• 50ml red wine vinegar
• 600ml red wine (I used Merlot Pinot Grigio)
• 400g chopped tomatoes
• 5cm piece cinnamon stick
• 6 cloves
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 50g currants (I left these out as I’ve never had stifado with them in!)
• 15g butter
• 450g small pickling onions or shallots*
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Season all the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper.
2. Grind the allspice berries and black peppercorns into a powder.
3. Heat the olive oil in a flameproof casserole. Dust the rabbit in the flour and knock off but reserve the excess. Add half the rabbit pieces to the casserole and fry over a medium-high heat until nicely browned on both sides. Remove to a plate and repeat with the rest of the rabbit.
4. Return all the rabbit to the pan with the garlic and the remaining flour and cook for 1 minute.
5. Pour over the vinegar and leave it to bubble for a minute or two, then add the red wine, tomatoes, ground spices, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, currants, 1 teaspoon salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Bring to the boil, part-cover and simmer for 55 minutes or until the rabbit is very tender and the sauce has reduced.
6. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium-sized pan, add the pickling onions or shallots and the sugar and fry, shaking the pan now and then, until they are richly golden all over. Then add 2 Tablespoons water, cover and cook gently for 10 minutes until tender. Uncover, raise the heat and cook more rapidly for a minute or two, shaking the pan until the onions are covered in a shiny glaze. Season with a little salt and pepper and set aside.
7. When the rabbit has had the required cooking time, stir in the caramelised onions and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

* I bought a packet of baby onions and to make it easier to peel them, I blanched them in boiling water for about 1 minute, so the skins came away more easily.

Thai Massaman Curry

MUNCH RATING: 5/5
This is more of a stew than a curry, but it’s delicious and there is just enough spice to make your tongue tingle. The sauce is thick and even though it contains the obligatory coconut milk, the tamarind gives it a nice zing, so I don’t find it as sickly as normal Thai Red Curry. Steve doesn’t normally like potatoes, but they’re a common ingredient in this dish, and he really liked them in this as they soaked up a lot of flavour from the sauce and were nice and sweet.

I’ve found that Massaman/Mussaman paste isn’t that widely available in your average supermarket, so I bought mine from www.bartspices.com (it is also available from Waitrose). I’ve also bought a different brand from a Chinese supermarket, which was better value but wasn't nearly as good as the Barts one. The paste usually contains chilli, shallot, tamarind, coriander and lemongrass and it is Muslim in origin.

I adapted this recipe I’d saved from one of Steve’s Neo Magazines. I slow-cooked this is my Tefal 4-in-1, but you could cook it on your stove top or in the oven for a couple of hours.

• Serves: 2 very generously with rice (or 4 if serving with starters or other dishes)
• Tefal 4-in-1 Slow Cook: 6-9 hours
• Tefal 4-in-1 Rice Cook: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2-3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil for frying
• 500g stewing beef or lamb*
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 350g new potatoes, washed and cut in half (new potatoes hold their shape better, I used Charlotte’s)
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons massaman curry paste (I used Bart’s)
• 400ml can coconut milk (I used reduced fat)
• 200ml vegetable stock
• 2 teaspoons tamarind paste (I used Bart’s)
• 2 Tablespoons dark soy sauce (or fish sauce)
• 1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions:

1. Heat a Tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan and fry your meat until brown and sealed. Put into your slow cooker.
2. Fry the onions, potatoes and garlic until golden brown**. Add these to the slow cooker.
3. Add a little more oil to the pan, then fry the curry paste on a high heat for a couple of minutes, until it smells really fragrant.
4. Take the pan off the heat, then add the coconut milk and stir it in really well. Return the pan to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly.
5. Add the stock, tamarind paste, soy/fish sauce and sugar, then boil the sauce for 5-10 minutes to thicken until it has reduced by a third.
6. Add the sauce to the slow cooker and stir well to coat all the ingredients in the pot.
7. Close the lid and check you have the slow cooker set for 6 hours cooking time.
8. Transfer the curry to a large pan and simmer for 10 minutes to thicken the sauce a bit more.
9. Meanwhile cook the rice in the cooker, which should take about 20 minutes.

*It is most commonly made with beef, but I used lamb as that’s what I had in the freezer. I used 1 inch cubes of frozen lamb, which I cut into smaller 1 cm pieces after I’d browned them in the pan (this makes the meat more tender and it goes further!).

**For the best results it’s important to brown the meat, onions and potatoes. I have tried adding potatoes without browning them first and it just wasn’t as good!

Butter Chicken Curry

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

When I first got my Tefal 4-in-1 I was desperate to find some decent slow cooker recipes and this is one I found on a forum. I’ve never had Butter Chicken in an Indian restaurant or as a takeaway, but the ingredients sounded nice and it was a simple recipe to follow.

This was the first time I’ve cooked chicken in the slow cooker and it was amazingly tender! We did enjoy the curry, but we couldn’t taste the butter so I would leave it out next time to save on calories! I would also increase the amount of spices as it needed a bit more flavour and chilli!

• Serves: 2 generously
• Cooking time: 4-5 hours

Ingredients:

• 500g chicken thigh fillets, quartered
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger (or ½ tsp ground)
• ¼ teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1 tsp ground)
• 6 cardamom pods, bruised (or 1-2 tsp seeds or ground – I left these out)
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 400g tin tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoons sugar (I used honey)
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup cream, plus extra if desired

Directions:

1. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and brown chicken. Transfer to preheating slow cooker.
2. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, frying gently until the onion is softened.
3. Add butter and spices, and continue frying gently until spices are fragrant.
4. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper and increase heat to med - med/high. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring until mixture has thickened.
5. Add cream and stir well to combine.
6. Remove from heat and pour into slow cooker, stirring to distribute the sauce evenly. Replace lid and slow cook for ½ hour on high (if using traditional slow cooker), then about 3-5 hours on low, stirring occasionally.
7. Remove cardamom and cinnamon stick. Add extra cream or yoghurt to taste.

Chinese Steamed Salmon & Rice

MUNCH RATING: 4/5
This is something I’ve been meaning to cook in my Tefal 4-in-1 for quite some time and tonight I finally got around to doing it. In the recipe book there are separate recipes for rice using the Rice Cooker function and recipes for cooking fish using the Steaming function, but no instructions on how to cook them both at once.

The rice usually takes about 20 minutes to cook, so I made an educated guess that the salmon would steam in this amount of time. So this was my little experiment and it worked out perfectly! The salmon was perfectly moist and the rice was fluffy and the grains separated.

I served this with some Pak Choi, which I cooked separately in a wok once the salmon and rice were cooked. I didn’t cook it in the steaming basket for a couple of reasons: 1) there wasn’t much room left in the steaming basket, 2) I wanted a slightly different flavour for the vegetables from the salmon.

• Serves 2
• Marinade time: up to 30 minutes (optional)
• Tefal 4-in-1 Rice Cook: 20 minutes 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of uncooked long grain/jasmine rice
• 2 pieces of salmon (I used fairly thin fillets, about 1 inch thick x 1 inch wide)
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 Tablespoon of ketchup manis (or just use soy sauce)
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• About 1 cm of root ginger, grated (I store this in the freezer so it’s easy to grate)
• 2 spring onions, chopped at an angle 

Directions:

1. Rinse the rice, then place it in Rice Cooker bowl. Fill the bowl so that it is just over line number 2 (because you’re also steaming fish, I am a little bit more generous with the water).
2. Line the steaming basket with foil so that all the holes are covered and none of the sauce can drip into the rice bowl.
3. In the steaming basket mix together the sesame oil, ketchup manis (or soy sauce), honey, garlic, ginger and spring onions. Place the salmon in the sauce and make sure both pieces are well covered in the sauce (if you like you can leave the fish to marinate for up to 30 minutes in the fridge).
4. Place the steaming basket in the rice bowl over the rice. Shut the lid and then press the Rice Cooking button. It will take about 20 minutes to cook. 

For the Pak Choi:
Wash 2 Pak Choi bulbs, then slice each one in half so it is easier to separate the leaves. Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil in a wok or large frying pan, then add a pinch of chilli flakes and fry for about 30 seconds. Add the thicker stem parts of the Pak Choi and fry for about 1 minute before adding a 2 Tablespoons of water and clamping on a lid. After 2 minutes, add the leafier parts of the Pak Choi and add 1 Tablespoon of Oyster Sauce, a teaspoon of sugar and some of the sauce from the cooked salmon, then cook for another minute. Serve immediately with the rice and salmon.

Tefal 4-in-1 Rice Cooking

I wrote to Tefal because I was sure that there was a mistake in the instruction booklet that came with the cooker.
Under the Rice Cooking section there are two tables to show cooking times for different types of rice. I was really confused by the two different columns (highlighted in red) as the cooking times for 10 cups is less than the cooking times for 5 cups.

So I sent these tables to Tefal and they kept saying:
 
“There are two different tables for cooking times for different types of rice: the first table is for easy cook or white rices that have the outer husk polished off and are more processed; the second table is for rices that have more of the natural outer husk, are less processed and will require longer cooking times”.

Unfortunately they didn’t understand the point I was trying to make about the highlighted columns, but they sent me a photocopy of the instructions for the cooker and they were different to what came with my cooker. These new instructions don’t have the two different columns for 10 and 5 cups, so obviously this was a printing error in my copy! So you should just use the cooking times in the column on the left (and totally ignore the ‘for 10 cups’ part of the column heading).

The good thing about the Rice Cooking function of the Tefal 4-in-1 is it works out the cooking time depending on the amount of rice and water you put in it. However, it’s nice to know how long it takes and when it will be ready, as it doesn’t tell you on the machine, so these tables for cooking times are useful.
If you received the wrong instructions too then hopefully this clarifies them for you!

Chinese Spare Ribs

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I slow cooked these spare ribs in my Tefal 4-in-1 for about 6 hours and then finished them in the oven to make them slightly charred for an improved flavour and appearance. They were wonderfully tender and the meat just fell off the bone!

For the marinade I used the same recipe that I use for Hoi-Sin Pork.

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Marinade time: a few hours or ideally overnight
• Cooking time: slow cook 4-6 hours then 20 mins in oven 

Ingredients:

• 2 packs pork spare ribs (about 12 ribs)
• 3 tbsp hoi-sin sauce
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp (dark) soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 to 2 tablespoons honey 

Directions:

1. Put the pork ribs in a plastic zip-lock freezer bag and then add all the marinade ingredients. Seal the bag and massage the meat so that it is fully and evenly coated. Alternatively, put the pork ribs and marinade ingredients into a large flat dish and cover with cling film. Leave them in the fridge for a few hours or ideally overnight.
2. Put the pork ribs and the marinade into the slow cooker and cook (on low) for 4-6 hours until the meat is tender.
3. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C. Put the ribs into a baking tray and pour over about a third of the marinade from the slow cooker. Drizzle over 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile put the rest of the marinade into a small saucepan and boil until it is thick and syrupy. Strain the marinade into a small serving bowl and then serve with the ribs as a dipping sauce.

Slow cooked Lamb Korma Curry

MUNCH RATING:3/5

 

I’ve been using my Tefal 4-in-1 to slow cook quite a few dishes and so far they’ve all been successful! For this lamb korma I used 1 packet of frozen casserole lamb which comes cut in 1 inch cubes and it’s really handy as you can cook from frozen.

 

I’d read that some people worry about using milk or coconut milk in their slow cookers, as they worry it will boil over. I didn’t have any problems using coconut milk in this recipe, but it’s probably because the Tefal 4-in-1 has such a large, deep bowl.

 

I used the Tefal 4-in-1 to cook my rice as well, so I had to transfer the curry to a pan, but this allowed me to thicken the sauce and finish cooking the potatoes.

 

Steve and I managed to eat all of this between us (because we’re extremely greedy, but we did feel ill afterwards!), but the amount of sauce would serve 4 people and you can double up the amount of lamb and potatoes for healthy appetites.

• Tefal 4-in-1 Slow Cook: 6 hours
• Tefal 4-in-1 Rice Cook: 20 minutes

 

Ingredients:

• 500g/1lb casserole lamb, cubed
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 4 tablespoons (about ½ jar) korma paste (I used Pataks)
• 1 400ml can coconut milk
• 8 small potatoes (about the size of plums), peeled

 

Directions:

1. In a large pan brown the lamb in a little bit of oil – you will probably need to do this in batches. Once brown put the lamb into the slow cooker (at this stage I switch my slow cooker on to warm it up and set it for 5 hours).
2. Add the onion to the pan and sauté until golden brown, then put the onion into the slow cooker.
3. Put the korma paste into the pan and gently fry for about 1 minute until the paste smells fragrant. Add the coconut milk and stir it into the paste until you get a nice smooth sauce. Bring it to the boil and then pour it into the slow cooker. Stir the sauce into the lamb and onions so that they are evenly coated.
4. Close the lid and check you have the slow cooker set for 5 hours cooking time.
5. Once 5 hours have passed, add the potatoes and cook for another 1 hour.
6. After 6 hours cooking, the lamb should be soft and tender. Transfer the curry to a large pan, cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Then remove the lid and simmer for another 10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.
7. Meanwhile cook the rice, which should take about 20 minutes.

Chinese style braised beef

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

This recipe is from BBC Good Food and I cooked it in my Tefal 4-in-1 rice cooker for 6 hours, but I have written the original recipe here.
The beef was incredibly tender, although we weren’t that keen on the Chinese Five Spice flavour, so would leave it out next time.

• Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 3-4 tbsp olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• goodthumb-size piece fresh root ginger, peeled and shredded
• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 1½ kg braising beef, cut into large pieces
• 2 tbsp plain flour, well seasoned
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 2 star anise (optional)
• 2 tsp light muscovado sugar (or use whatever you've got)
• 3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce , plus more to serve
• 500ml beef stock (I used Knorr Touch of Taste vegetable stock)
• steamed bok choi and steamed basmati rice, to serve 

Directions:

1. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large, shallow casserole. Fry the garlic, ginger, onions and chilli for 3 mins until soft and fragrant. Tip onto a plate. Toss the beef in the flour, add 1 tbsp more oil to the pan, then brown the meat in batches, adding the final tbsp oil if you need to. It should take about 5 mins to brown each batch properly.
2. Add the five-spice and star anise (if using) to the pan, tip in the gingery mix, then fry for 1 min until the spices are fragrant. Add the sugar, then the beef and stir until combined. Keep the heat high, then splash in the wine or sherry, scraping up any meaty bits. Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2.
3. Pour in the soy and stock (it won't cover the meat completely), bring to a simmer, then tightly cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 1½-2 hrs, stirring the meat halfway through. The meat should be very soft, and any sinewy bits should have melted away. Season with more soy. This can now be chilled and frozen for up to 1 month.
4. Nestle the cooked bok choi into the pan, then bring to the table with the basmati rice straight away and tuck in.

Italian Oxtail Stew

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I haven’t eaten oxtail in years, but I remember my parents cooking it and the meat being really delicious. I cooked this Italian style stew in my Tefal 4-in-1 and it was really nice.

• Serves: 4-6 
• Cooking time: 9 hours 

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons plain flour
• Salt and pepper
• 1.5kg/3lb 5oz oxtail pieces
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar mixed with 150 ml water (or the equivalent amount of red or white wine would be good)
• 2 x 400g/14oz tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 beef OXO cube 

Directions:

1. Put the flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper.
2. Roll the oxtail pieces in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess.
3. Heat the oil in a large pan, then fry the oxtail pieces until brown all over. You will probably need to do this in batches. Set the browned oxtail aside.
4. In the same pan, fry the onions and garlic until the are just starting to soften and colour.
5. Add the white wine vinegar and the water and rapidly boil until it has reduced by half.
6. Add the tinned tomatoes and bring to the boil.
7. Crumble in the OXO cube.
8. Pour everything into the slow cooker and cook for at least 9 hours for tender meat (this is the maximum time you can set the Tefal to slow cook), but anything up to 12-15 hours would be even better.

COOK'S NOTES:

• Ideally I would cook this in advance and allow to cool so I could skim off the excess fat as oxtail is quite fatty and then reheat to serve. 
• Oven Cook: You can also cook this in the oven in a covered casserole dish for 5-6 hours on Gas mark 2/300°F/150°C/very low.

Tefal 4-in-1

This is the brilliant multi-cooker I got for my birthday! It was bought from Lakeland where it costs £53.82.

It can cook rice, steam, slow cook and cook porridge, so I have been using it quite a bit to test out the different functions. So far I have used it to cook rice (absolutely perfect results!) and I have tried a few slow cooking recipes.

The recipe book that comes with the cooker hasn’t got many recipes, so I’m developing my own. The slow cooker function only has a low setting, unlike the traditional slow cookers which have low and high settings. I have successfully used the slow cooking function quite a lot to make stews and curries.

The porridge function works quite well too, but I haven’t used the steamer function yet. I hope to try things like Jam Roly Poly and Treacle Sponge soon though!

I absolutely love it!