Morphy Richards Slow Cooker Curry Beef Stew

To celebrate the newest addition to my kitchen accessories, the Morphy Richards Slow Cooker i will embark on a series of crockpot recipes from the easy cooking for men slow cooker cookbook. AS with all slow cookers the best meals are those that have plenty of flavours so my first in this series will be a curry beef stew.

Curry Beef Crockpot - Slow Cooker Cookbook.

Ingredients:
500 grams diced beef
2 tablespoons of minced garlic
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup beef stock
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
1 finely diced jalapeno chili pepper
1 roughly chopped onion
1 cup rice

Directions:
Turn on the crock pot to its lowest temperature setting, you will need it in about 5 minutes.

The first part of this Curry Beef is cooked in a large pan over medium heat. Pour a table spoon of olive oil in the pan, add beef and stir until browned on all sides.

Remove beef from pan, it is important to keep all juices as this will help to cook the meat in the slow cooker.

Morphy Richards Slow Cooker

Add the garlic, ginger, and jalapeno in the pan and cook for a few minutes. Continually stir  until tender, do not allow the ingredients to stay still in the pan and burn. Add curry powder. Mix in the diced tomatoes and juice from the beef. Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the onion and browned beef in to your Morphy Richards Slow Cooker, if your lucky enough to have one.  Pour the pan mixture on top of the onions and beef into the slowcooker. Add the beef stock.
Cover the slowcooker with the lid and leave it to cook for between 6 to 8 hours stirring occasionally.
Serve in bowls on a bed of rice.

Variation:
Serve with a side of naan bread and or papadums.

If you don't have a slow cooker, thats OK. You can use a large pot with a lid cooked on a very low heat for a few hours. Remember to stir every few minutes as the heat from the stove will burn the meat. Thats why i bought my Morphy Richards Slow Cooker, so i don't burn my meals when i want to infuse the flavours by cooking for many hours.

Easy Cooking Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

This easy-cooking-for-men Chicken Noodle Soup recipe is one of those comfort meals that warms your body in the winter. It's everyones favourite, and a great way to get the kids to eat vegetables. This recipe is one that i can easily prepare in the morning before work in my morphy richards slow cooker, i find that the longer the chicken is cooked the more tender and more full of flavour. In fact this recipe is part of my slow cooker cookbook series.

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts, finely diced
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• 1 table spoon crushed garlic
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 2 medium sized carrots, finely diced
• 2 stalks of celery finely diced
• 1 parsnip finely diced
• 1 turnip finely diced
• 3 medium sized potatoes, diced
• 1 packet white egg noodles
• Your choice of dried mixed herbs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Dried chilli flakes (optional)

Method:

• Make up equal portions of chicken and vegetable stock.
• Bring the mixed stock to a boil in a large cooking pot.
• Finely dice the chicken breasts and place in the pot.
• Diced the vegetables and add into the pot.
• Bring the stock to a boil, add the garlic and herbs into stock and reduce heat to a simmer. Place a lid on the pot.
• Let simmer for a minimum of 1 hour and no longer than 3 hours, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remember to check the stock levels as it will evaporate off, replace as necessary.
• 5 minutes prior to completing the cooking process chop the egg noodles and place into the pot.
• Turn the heat up to induce a boil.
• Serve immeaditely, grind salt and pepper over each bowl to taste.

Serve with:

Fresh crusty bread and butter.

Variation:

To add some kick to this Chicken Noodle Soup recipe sprinkle dried chilli flakes over each bowl just prior to serving.

Note:

# 1 - The amount of stock used will depend on the cooking time, the longer the cooking time the more tender the chicken. When the chicken starts to break apart it's perfect.

# 2 - You can substitute just about any vegetables and herbs you like with this recipe, within reason. If you think a different vegetable or herb will taste good, it probably will.

# 3 - If using a store bought stock it will likely have a high salt content so careful with salt

# 4 - For best result allow the chicken to cook for an hour before adding the vegetable for another hour, this will help to make the chicken more tender and make this the best Chicken Noodle Soup recipe anyone has ever tasted.