INTRODUCTION - Slow Cooking for Two - Lori Jimenes

Slow Cooking for Two: The Ultimate Guide to Slow Cooking With 45 Easy to Prepare Recipes for Two - Lori Jimenes (2016)

INTRODUCTION

When people think about slow cooking, they often seem to be put off by the one disadvantage, that it takes longer than cooking with other methods, maybe because in a world where life is lived at high speed, time seems to be all important. However, it only takes more time to cook food by slow cooking, not to prepare it; in fact, it is easier and often faster to prepare food for slow cooking than for faster ways of cooking, so why should you be concerned about the time your food spends on the hob? It is very unlikely that your hob has a ‘busy life’, so why should you care? True, sometimes people organise their meals around their busy schedules and they only think about cooking when they get back from a busy day at work; however, if you have basic organisational skills, you can easily slow cook your meals in advance and heat them up when you need them; this will not only save you time, but it will also allow you to eat better and healthier food.

In fact, slow cooking has many advantages; to start with, by slow cooking your food it will preserve more nutrients than if you cook them with fast methods. This is because when you cook food on high temperatures, most of the nutrients, especially vitamins and minerals, are destroyed in the process. Slow cooking, on the other hand, allows you to cook your meals at a lower temperature, which means that you will preserve all the nutrients in your ingredients. A special consideration should be given to saturated fats, whose molecular structure is easily damaged by high heat; when people cook food rich in saturated fats (like meat, butter and cheese) at high temperatures, they put their health at risk, as they increase cholesterol levels which in turn is one of the main causes of coronary heart disease. Slow cooking your food will allow you to reduce the quantify of saturated fats you consume, so, if on the one hand it will take you longer to cook it, on the other, you will be likely to live longer.

Slow cooking can also save you money as many cuts of meat that are not suitable for fast cooking are cheaper than cuts of meat that are suitable for it. This is because in a market with a high demand for cuts of meat that can be cooked fast their price is higher than cuts that are not as popular with people who cook in a hurry, who are the majority of people in western society. However, cuts of meat suitable for slow cooking often taste better than those suitable for fast cooking, for example, shin, chuck, blade, middle ribs, brisket, short ribs, flank, skirt, silverside and oxtail are all cuts of meat that need to be slow cooked, and you must know that these cuts of meat are famous for being rich in flavour. Thus, slow cooking does not mean reducing the flavour of the food you eat; on the contrary, you will have a much wider range of flavours!

Talking about flavour, slow cooking preserves the flavour of your food much better than all methods of fast cooking; not only, but it will also keep your food more juicy and succulent.

Did we mention that slow cooking will use less gas or electricity than fast cooking? This may seem to be a contradiction, but it is true. Think about it; when you fast cook food, for example when you fry it, you do it without a lid; this means that most of the heat your hob produces is dispersed into the environment; on the other hand, if you slow cook your food, most of the cooking time will be with a lid on, which means that you will need much less energy.

Slow cooking can be done in different ways; you can use a slow cooker, which was invented in the 1970s when dietary studies started becoming an important branch of science and medicine, and one of the first things that scholars realised was that the cooking process used by most people was depriving them of most of the nutrients they needed; alternatively you can use a crock pot, which has become a popular way of cooking food in recent years because of its great advantages; moreover, if you do not have a slow cooker or a crock pot and you do not intend to buy one, you can use a traditional saucepan and cover it with a lid; if you use a saucepan with a lid, however, you will have to check on the food more frequently to make sure that the levels of fluids are not too low and top it up with water or stock, and you will also have to stir it occasionally to make sure that your meal does not stick; the best saucepans to use for slow cooking are enamel saucepans, as they do not stick and are much easier to clean. You can also slow cook in the oven, by keeping the temperature very low; as oven cooking is already slower than cooking on the hob, slow cooking in the oven can take up to 24 hours. However, slow cooked roasts are some of the most delicious experiences your palate can ever experience, as the meat will be so tender and succulent that it will literally melt in your mouth. Maybe slow cooking in the oven is nit something you can do every day, but if you really want to have a wonderful Sunday roast, you can start cooking it on a Saturday and keep the whole Sunday for yourself, as once your roast is in the oven, all you need to do is wait for it to be ready.

As we said, you will need to be a bit organised to slow cook your meals; unlike fast cooking, it is not a matter of getting home in the evening and preparing your dinner; you will have to prepare your food in advance, so, make sure that you read the Preparation: time of the recipes in this book carefully and plan your meals accordingly.

So, here are 45 delicious slow cooking recipes that you can use for breakfast, lunch, dinner, as mains, sides, desserts and a few outstanding Sunday roasts as well.