The trouble with writing recipes is to cover the variables satisfactory.
All us family cooks have our favourite pans and know their limitations from years of use. We know the settings for our ovens, slow cookers and gas or electric adjustments. Owners of them know their drawbacks.
But we don't know what preservatives have been added to food to increase shelf life, the amount of water injected into meat, or the chemicals used for curing meat - such as for sausages, hams and bacon. And what is used to dye and smoke the meat and fish? Might these be bad for your health?
The times needed to soak dried beans, chick peas and lentils will depend on their age. It is difficult to tell by looking at them. So we have to interpret a lot to get matters right.
Thus, when I write that a dish takes such and such a time to cook, I may know when using my own kit, but with yours it may be different.
One's own judgment of quantities and timings is what counts, and mine rely on "throwing in" this or that and timing rather roughly. Others have to, and are happy, to measure everything.
As I belong to the "throw in" brigade - I expect surprises and inconsistencies - and delight in them.
The following two slow-cooking recipes come very much under this approach to cooking.
I think that lamb or mutton shoulder is tougher and certainly fattier than leg. But a shoulder, or half of one, laid on a bed of thickly sliced potatoes and all covered with plenty of garlic and chopped rosemary (I use a hand-operated Mouli for that), pepper and salt and all moistened with a good glass of wine or beer containing some lemon zest, lemon juice chopped preserved lemon, will produce a splendid dish if given half an hour in a hot oven, followed by an hour or two at 130 degrees
The top part of the cooked joint may be what is now known as "pulled" (stringy), the lower part being more for slicing. The potatoes will melt in the mouth.
Oven settings will vary on the oven make, the height at which food is placed in it, and if others in the district are using the same power source at the same time. And then, of course, timing will depend on the meat, game, stews, fish or vegetables being cooked. That's when a certain amount of guesswork comes in as well as the occasional glance at the proceedings. Extra liquid may be in order, in which case it is best to heat up the liquid before adding it.
Before serving, pop the plates in the oven for a short time to warm. But keep an eye on them as they can get too hot quite quickly.
My slow cooker is rather tinny and ancient, but throw into it any sort of meat and surround this with almost any desired vegetable, then pouring over some stock, wine or beer, some pepper and salt and perhaps a herb or spice, and out will come a delicious meal in an hour's time, having set the heat (in my case) at the 1 and a half setting.
I might add that when I last cooked shin of beef in this way (one and a half hours) I used whole potatoes and Brussels sprouts as the vegetables. Should you try this (the sprouts are delicious), add more spuds and sprouts than wanted at the time. Then mash the leftover vegetables to form excellent bubble and squeak.
Cooking can then be so easy and fun.
