organic vegetable gardening courses, growing tips and homegrown recipes.
If you've got pumpkins, you'll want to make some pumpkin soup. This one has an intriguing flavour and a smooth, creamy texture. I stole some peanut butter from the jar I use to bait the mouse traps. I prefer to base it on a good rooster stock but if you want a vegetarian or vegan version, a good vegetable stock would suffice. Makes 4-6 portions. … [Read more...]
This slow cooked pheasant casserole would work just as well with chicken or rabbit. Sweet chestnuts are a traditional accompaniment to pheasant as they both appear at the same time of year. Pheasant is very lean so works better casseroled rather than roasted in my opinion. One good sized pheasant would serve four like this, accompanied with some … [Read more...]
I view meatloaf as an easy way of making burgers. You could use the same mixture to make patties or divide it into muffin tins to make a more portable version. I used a silicone loaf mould which makes it easy to release but I think you get a better browned look if you use a metal tin. Or you could slow cook it - form it into a round or oval loaf to … [Read more...]
A pheasant is a wild bird, is lean and has worked hard. Roasting it is likely to result in a dry, tough and sinewy offering. Slow cooking brings out the best of pheasant, is easy and tolerant of delays. I don't pre-cook the ingredients but do blend the garlic, onion, oil and vinegar together first to make the start of the sauce. You don't need as … [Read more...]
This will serve about four people, depending on the size of the hare. I add eight or so golf-ball sized potatoes to the top of this to serve with it together with buttered, shredded, steamed cabbage or a salad. The hare backstraps (equivalent of a beef eye-fillet) are better kept for something else. My favourites are topped with pate and wrapped … [Read more...]
Wild rabbit is lean, delicious and about as far from factory farmed meat as you can get. I've cooked these meatballs in the slow cooker very successfully without any pre-cooking. Surprisingly they didn't end up as rabbit bolognese sauce. Chicken thigh meat would also work well in this recipe. I've used other wild meat for these meatballs but … [Read more...]
Despite the success of this pumpkin cake, I'm not convinced that cooking cakes in the slow cooker has that much to recommend it. You essentially steam rather than bake it so it could easily be served as dessert. It's probably more energy efficient if you're baking just a cake in the oven. I'd lined the bowl with baking paper I didn't have to wash … [Read more...]
The secret of good soup is good stock. I make stock in a slow cooker by simmering bones and vegetables left over from roast dinners just covered with boiling water for a few hours. I strain it and freeze it until I need it. There are lots of pumpkins around at the moment so you might want to try mini pumpkin soup too. If you want to get more from … [Read more...]
