Month: December 2020

Slow Cooker Mulled Cider

Another fantastic Christmas drink we absolutely loved this recipe and it worked well with the cider I used.

There is no right or wrong Mulled Cider recipe its just about adding whatever fruit you like some spices then some sweetness.

The amount of sugar you will need to add will depend on which cider you use for the one in the video I added 1 Tablespoon and didn’t need to add anymore.

You can use a mulled wine kit if you wish instead of messing around with spices etc. Or if you have any lemon and honey tea bags drop one of those in that will work well too.

by julessmithie

Slow Cooker Turkey

This is the first time I have cooked a Turkey, I’m not overly keen on it and Graeme doesn’t like it either.

However every year my inbox is flooded with questions of how to do it so this year I decided as part of my Christmas Cooking sessions to bite the bullet and cook one.

For me turkey can be tasteless and dry and most recipes will start with laying bacon on the breast or pushing butter and herbs under the breast skin. I decided to ignore all of these a tried and tested methods and pop my turkey into the slow cooker.

Using a slow cooker to cook lean meats is a fantastic way to lock in moisture and stop the meat drying out so for me the ideal way to cook turkey.

Then there is the tasteless part I decided to add sweetness in the form of orange and marmalade these flavours worked really well and also helped the gravy taste amazing.

The below method can be used for any turkey joint whole, crown etc.

The Fat separator jug, slow cooker and digital meat thermometer I use are on my Amazon Shop under kitchen gadgets https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/julesthelazycook

by julessmithie

Hot Beef Baps (Cheats Version) With Honey Glazed Carrots & Parsnips

As you will have guessed by now I’m a huge fan of cheating when it comes to cooking and i make no apologies for doing so.

When the weekend comes there are times i have just had enough of cooking and the thought of cooking a full Sunday Dinner can fill me with dread, so adding a few ingredients that just need microwaving really helps.

In this video i have used Asda beef in gravy which was lovely i have also used the Tesco beef in Gravy and its equally as good.

There is no written recipe for this as its more of an idea than a hard and fast recipe.

by julessmithie

Tinned Potatoes to Roast Potatoes

When you run out of time and energy to cook the real things here is a fantastic hack.

Remember tinned potatoes are already cooked they just need reheating and in this case browning.

You can add any flavourings you like salt & pepper works well as a basic flavour. What you get it a crispy outer with a soft inner potato now these aren’t ever going to replace the real thing but they are a brilliant midweek alternative

by julessmithie

Christmas Sprouts

Now as a child my mum traumatise me with her cooking of these little suckers they were boiled to death mush, even the dog wouldn’t eat them 😂

So now we take a different approach and slice or shred them and basically stir fry them to ensure they still have some crunch.

I added bacon Lardons to these but you could add pancetta. Use smoked or unsmoked whichever you like, to be honest I’m not keen on smoke bacon but the smoke Lardons worked really well with the Sprouts in this recipe.

Pine Nuts can be expensive so I will leave it to you if you want to add them or not.

I’m not a lover of cranberry sauce so I added a couple of spoonfuls of beetroot and orange chutney and it was delicious any sweet chutney will work.

The slicer chopper I’m using is on my Amazon Shop press the link it will take you there then look under kitchen gadgets https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/julesthelazycook

by julessmithie