Tag: new recipe

Swan Slow Cooker

Autumn, camping, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, kitchen appliances, Tech

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Take note, winter, we are ready for you!  As the evenings draw on it’s time for a different kind of dinner and those in the know use a slow cooker.  It’s not just that you can cook food for longer and get a better texture to meat and vegetables, but if you time the slow cooking properly, you can either come in from work or when you are out of the evening and the whole house smells amazing, plus dinner is ready! Swan have sent us a slow cooker from their Nordic Range to try out, and we couldn’t wait.

If you’ve never used a slow cooker before then it’s great for beginners.  There’s a ceramic bowl in the middle, a lid on top (to keep the heat and the steam in) and it’s all surrounded by the slow cooker itself which heats the whole ceramic pot to one of 3 temperatures; low, high or on auto. With the ceramic pot in place, add the food (more on that later) and anything else like vegetables, herbs, spices etc and the lid as well. If you don’t add the lid then the pot and therefore the food doesn’t heat up enough to cook.  You’ll notice that the lid isn’t the best fit. This is to allow tiny gaps for the steam to escape. Once the food is cooked, you can lift the ceramic bowl from the cooker or as I do, I just take the food out and let the rest of the cooker cool down before I wash it up. 

What are the temperature settings?

Low Setting – this is typically around 75C-80C and is great for vegetables or reheating. Food rarely burns at this temperature so if you’re not sure how long you’re going to be out for, this is your safest bet. If you do cook meat at this setting though, you’ll need to brown it off first.

High Setting – everything else is cooked at this temperature, which is around 85C-90C and therefore there can be times when there is a touch of boiling, and the steam will need to escape.  This temperature is great for baking and for meats.

Auto Setting – this is a great alternative to both previous setting as it starts cooking on the higher temperature, then switches to low for the remained of the cooking time. 

What about the timing though? Slow cookers don’t have timers on them, they’re designed to cook food slowly over 6-9 hours. The secret to cooking the food well is learning about the timings needed. Like with all new ovens, you have to learn how it works to be able to judge what time you need, but as a general rule, if something takes 15-30 minutes to cook then try it on 4-6 hours on low.  If the traditional cooking time is 60 minutes, then 6-8 hours on low or auto setting.  

When it comes to adding food, you can prepare it in the ceramic pot the night before, store in the fridge then transfer to the slow cooker the next day and start cooking. Alternatively, preparing dinner around lunchtime and throwing in all your favourite vegetables with whichever meat you choose, you can create a masterpiece with whatever you have in the fridge. You don’t need to stir the food and lifting the slow cooker lid means the whole cooker loses temperature and puts back the cooking time.  What you do need though, is some kind of liquid. It’s usually half of what you would use in a traditional recipe though, but it really helps the cooking if you have some kind of sauce, gravy or stock with the meat.  It’s at this point that you can add the spices and herbs that add all the flavour to the meat you’re cooking. 

Using the Swan Slow Cooker couldn’t be easier and it’s great for anyone who is new to cooking, students or if you’re busy with family life. It’s an alternative to the oven, air fryer or BBQ too, giving a different texture and a different flavour to anything you cook. There’s only 1 control on the front with the temperature settings and as long as you can plug it into electricity, there isn’t much else needed. When we were young, my Mum used to take a slow cooker on holiday with us in our caravan and it was fabulous coming in from a day out and being able to eat straight away.  Like with a BBQ, the same food cooks differently than in an oven so you get a completely different experience.

I’ve loved experimenting with the Swan Slow Cooker and trying out beef, stew, sausages and even baking.  There’s so much you can use it for, that’s half the fun!

Swan Nordic Slow Cooker currently on sale at £28.99 online: https://shop.swan-brand.co.uk/collections/slow-cookers/products/swan-35l-nordic-slow-cooker

Clearspring Japanese Condiments

Family Life, Food & Drink, Gluten Free, Home, Spring, Summer

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Clearspring produce authentic Japanese fine foods and have recently added five new condiments to its offering: Organic Shichimi, Organic Irigoma Whole Sesame and Black Sesame, and Organic Gomashio Whole Sesame and Black Sesame flavour. Of course, we were eager to try them ourselves so the team sent over a batch of them, including some gluten free Soba noodles and Brown Rice noodles to make a proper meal of it!

The box of treats also included some recipe cards, so I had a go at making Zaru Soba with cold dipping broth.  Using the Buckwheat Soba Noodles, Clearspring Organic Irigoma Sesame Seeds, Shichimi Togarashi Seven Spices and Clearspring Sushi Nori and Clearspring Organic Instant Noodle Broth Tsuyu (both not shown) I got to making the quick lunchtime recipe. All it took was boiling the noodles as instructed on the pack, diluting the noodle broth and adding the sesame seeds and the sushi nori with some radish and spring onion. Literally just 10 minutes and you have a lunch, or snack, which you can add to chicken, beef or any other main dish. The noodles themselves were a lovely meal though and I’d happily have them as a snack too.

The different types of sesame seeds can be used for sushi, rice, noodles, salads or tofu. All of the condiments featured here are staples in Japanese kitchens, so why haven’t we seen them before? Clearspring are bringing us these new flavours, and textures, to your cooking to make a difference to every day meals or helping you try something new – have you ever made your own sushi before?  

One example is Shichimi, or Seven Spices.  Containing chilli, citrus notes and complex umami rich flavours of nori and sesame, it’s quintessentially Japanese but also flavoursome enough that you can use it anywhere. This was a great addition to the Soba noodles I made, but actually, it goes well with meats too and I found it to be a lovely addition to salads. It’s ready made with all the mix of flavours so you can add it straight from the bottle with no thinking. Like all the Clearspring ingredients, it’s organic too.

You’ll also find similar uses for the different types of sesame seeds which were included in the pack sent to us; Gomashio and Irigoma in both toasted black and whole sesame seeds.  These are traditionally used in noodles and some are used in sushi and tofu too but mixed with sea salt, they give a different flavour to any dish. Try mixing it in rice to give a different blend, or adding to sushi too.  The noodles are a great cupboard stash for you to go to whenever you need a quick meal, and the Clearspring condiments are your secret power to be able to add an extra flavour element to not only Japanese meals, but to any meals you make.

Which Clearspring flavour are you going to experiment with this spring?

Available online from £3.99 at: https://www.clearspring.co.uk/collections/condiments