PLAN YOUR MEALS FOR WEEK

BRING out the slow cookers and find your grandma’s old crockpot dish, it’s time to make some comfort food for you, your family and friends.

Stews are the number one time-saving meal and are hugely versatile – just load up your cooker with a variety of vegetables, herbs, spices, meat and liquid, and leave it alone until you are ready to ladle it into your bowls and your mouths.

Here are six top tips for the perfect slow-cooked stew.

1. HERBS AND SPICES

Fresh, dried or a combination of both types of herbs should be used to help flavour your stews. If using fresh, add these within the last 20 minutes of cooking or sprinkle on top once served. This makes sure the flavour of the herbs is not lost in the cooking process. Dried herbs, on the other hand, can be added early on to make sure their flavour is infused through the dish. Herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage and bay leaves are perfectly matched for a beef and red wine stew.

2. ROOT VEGETABLES

Root vegetables are essential in a one-pot-wonder stew to add flavour and boost the flufighting qualities of the dish. Vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, parsnips, turnips and beets will absorb the rich flavours from the liquid, herbs and meat, and you will be left with chunks of soft vegetables that break down and immerse themselves in the stew.

3. THICKENER

Try coating the meat in flour before browning it off in a pan. Later on in the cooking process this flour will help to thicken the stew – because no one wants a runny stew. If you don’t have any flour or are gluten intolerant, take the lid off the pot or slow cooker about 30 minutes before serving and leave it to simmer, which should allow some of the liquid to evaporate and for it to thicken slowly.

4. RED WINE AND GOOD QUALITY STOCK

It’s essential to have a good quality liquid base to immerse your vegetables and meat in. Red wine makes the stew deliciously rich but, if it isn’t good enough to drink, you probably shouldn’t cook with it. Pair a decent red wine with some good quality beef or vegetable stock to stew your ingredients in. Stick to the ratio of 1:4 when adding wine and stock respectively.

5. CHEAP CUTS

Stews are not only time-savers, they should be money-savers as well. Stewing meat usually contains a lot of muscle and stronger parts of the animal but during the cooking process, stewing tenderises these tough components and you should be left with melt-inyour-mouth cubes. If you find it’s still not tender enough, try cooking for longer or reduce the temperature. It should not be boiling; rather it should be braised or simmered.

6. KEEP THE LID ON

Unless you are trying to thicken the stew by taking the lid off and allowing liquid to evaporate, keep the lid on. This ensures the crockpot, casserole dish or slow cooker can work its magic.