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.
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.
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
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.
I have decided to open my cookbooks up to a bigger percentage of people by selling an Electronic copy of all my cookbooks. This means once you have downloaded your favourite book you will always have it with you.
Once I receive your payment I will email the PDF book to you payment is via PayPal, my PayPal link is https://www.paypal.me/julessmithie
MY NO FUSS MEALS BOOK NO 1(RELEASED NOVEMBER 2020)
So Happy To Have Achieved This
I have self published via Amazon in Kindle Format and Paperback Format. Whilst the Kindle version was nearly painless to publish it was a different story with the paperback.
The paperback needs colour printing because of the photographs within the book and that’s where i hit a problem. Amazon individually print every book ordered and the print cost are horrendous. Below is a screenshot of the sale from each book i will achieve £2.50 for each sale.
At the moment i really just want whomever buys the book to enjoy it so that £2.50 isn’t hurting me as much as it should and lets remember this is my first ever book.
The paperback version has more content, more pages more about me and different serving suggestions for the recipes included.
Below are the links to buy the book in whichever format you would like it in.
Here we are with my new book Lighter Bites which is all about taking your cooking into the warmer months… the Lazy way. The book has 41 recipes and 90% are new recipes that won’t be on my website.
Once again I have self published via Amazon in Kindle and paperback format, you can also get a PDF copy from me if you wish just send me an email.
MY SLOW COOKER MEALS BOOK NO 3(RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2022)
I think this was my favourite book to write it is full of tips and tricks of how to get great food from your slow cooker. There is also a internal cooked temperature table at the beginning of the book to help you know when meat has reached its cooked temperature.
Press here for this cookbook its available on Amazon in Paperback & Kindle https://amzn.eu/d/bxDzxmn
MY FAKEAWAY & EVENING MEALS BOOK No 4(RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2023)
Designed to keep you on track over the weekend with some tasty fakeaways that are super easy to make. I have also added some soup recipes and lighter bites but the main focus is low calorie / low syn recipes for those following Slimming World or Calorie Counting.
Love a beef curry but making one can but a bit of a ballache at times. In this recipe I have cheated to the max 🙈 but don’t let that put you off because this recipe is still super tasty but super easy.
I used Pataks curry paste to create the base of the curry let’s face it grinding up spices during the week isn’t going to happen, this cheat works really well.
In the video I have done all the added bits that create the layers of flavour, softening down the onions and browning off the beef. However I’ve also made this curry without doing any of these things and ok there is a taste difference but it’s not a deal breaker.
If you are on a tight time schedule and don’t have time to faff around just leave these extra steps out, remember this is your meal for you and your family so do whatever is best for you to get food on the table. I’m pretty sure no one died because these steps were missed out.
How many chicken carcasses have you thrown in the bin?? if you’re anything like me probably a fair few. We are lucky as we have a family of foxes who visit so I give mine to them so nothing goes to waste.
However I thought it was about time I started using the carcass to make stock it’s such an easy process especially if using a slow cooker. Pop it in walk way let the slow cooker do all the hard work for you.
In the video you will see i used a fat separator, now I have used every method known to man to do this and to be honest they are all a ballache. Why have I not had one of these gadgets before now?? I have no idea, it takes all the hard work out of the equation and does a perfect job of removing the fat.
From my batch I made 1ltr of ready to use stock, my top tip is to taste the stock once all fat is removed and check for any adjustments you may need to make. If the stock is strong in taste you may need to add more water to dilute it further also check season you may need a touch of salt & pepper.
A fantastic easy midweek meal that is pure comfort food. In this recipe I have used cooked chicken, because at the beginning of the week I cooked a whole chicken in the slow cooker and this is one of the meals I used it in.
This recipe is another one where you can add in any vegetables you like and any vegetables that need using up its a really versitile meal.
For the cream cheese use any make or brand you like i used Primula as its really easy to work with and handles heat well.
TOP TIP ‼️ When making the sauce ensure there is enough to coat all the contents of the pan and extra sauce, as this dish needs to be put under the grill – this will “cook off” some of the liquid (sauce)
I love doing these “money saving” meal ideas as they can really help when you need to pull in those purse strings.
Cooking a whole chicken in the slow cooker and then stripping it from the carcass is probably the ultimate money spinner the chicken I’m using was 1.4kg costing £2.95.
This a a perfect size chicken for 2 with lots leftover or a family of 4 for 1 meal.
TOP TIP‼️ As soon as the chicken is cool enough to touch remove as much meat as possible, unfortunately I had to pop mine in the fridge overnight which makes it slightly more difficult to get all the meat from the carcass.
SLOW COOKER CHICKEN HOW TO COOK
You can find all information herehttps://julesthelazycook.co.uk/2017/09/13/slow-cooker-chicken/ but I’ve also done a really short quick video to help
MEAL 1 – CREAMY CHICKEN & CHORIZO PASTA BAKE
A fantastic easy midweek meal that is pure comfort food. In this recipe I have used cooked chicken, because at the beginning of the week I cooked a whole chicken in the slow cooker and this is one of the meals I used it in.
This recipe is another one where you can add in any vegetables you like and any vegetables that need using up its a really versitile meal.
For the cream cheese use any make or brand you like i used Primula as its really easy to work with and handles heat well.
TOP TIP ‼️ When making the sauce ensure there is enough to coat all the contents of the pan and extra sauce, as this dish needs to be put under the grill – this will “cook off” some of the liquid (sauce)
A perfect soup for this time of the year and is a fantastic way of using up leftover chicken from Sunday dinner. This soup is from my “Fuller For Longer” recipes as it has extra ingredients to help fill you up on colder days.
There are so many different methods for doing this and I’m pretty sure we all have our favourite. Today I’m giving you one method which out of most of them is probably the quickest.
For me making gravy from the meat juices is the tastiest but not always the most healthy.
When I’m cooking a really fatty joint such as pork I use a completely different method (ice cubes) but I will come back to that on a different day – the sieve method works on fatty joints but you may need to sieve it twice just to be sure the fat is removed.
During the cooler months i use a lot of kale either with “fakeaways” or with Sunday Dinner and i always get asked how i cook mine, so as we are heading back into the cooler months here is my “how to” video.
I buy my kale from whichever supermarket i shop at usually Tesco – always wash in cold water and pat dry make sure you get all the water out as you don’t want to steam the kale in the pan it needs to fry.
My top top is always remove all stalks especially the thick “woody” ones this will really help with cooking and taste. You will see in the video i add a sprinkle of chilli flakes this is optional but if you haven’t tried this please give it a whirl it really does add a fantastic flavour.
When you are trying to add more vegetables into your diet Courgetti is a fantastic way of doing it.
Personally I can just eat it as Courgetti and feel satisfied but if I’m on a “hungry day” then I always add a small amount of spaghetti. The half Courgetti half spaghetti works really well and if you are watching calories it is a fantastic way of reducing calories.
In the video you will see i added a small sprinkle of chilli flakes, this works well but if you’re not a fan then leave them out.
Top tip don’t add salt to Courgetti as it will draw the water out and courgette is practically all water so you can run the risk of water logging it.
Another brilliant Meat Free Monday recipe we both loved this, plus it’s another recipe that is very adaptable so anything that needs using up can be added.
As with all vegetarian recipes you can if course make this a meat version by using any mince or sausages you have.
I used meat free sausages basically because it was all I had but you could use quorm mince. The sausages I used were Tesco Plant Chef which taste exactly the same as the Linda McCartney Red Onion sausages so if you have those they will work perfectly.
Let’s talk gnocchi, the key with gnocchi is not to over cook it as soon as it floats to the top its cooked drain it immediately. If you leave it to cook it will take on a very soft “mushy” texture. Or if you aren’t a fan of gnocchi you can use pasta as an alternative.
The recipe states serves 3 but you could stretch this to 4 if you add lots of vegetables as side dishes.
I sometimes add cheese to the top and grill it and boy that works so well.
The Gourmet Burger Rub is from Spicentice use discount code JULES10 FOR 10% off any order press here https://bit.ly/2VYUZLG
As you know kebabs are my favourite food i love them not only because they are tasty but they are so easy and quick to make. The flavour combinations are endless, however when i make them i usually reach for the Spicentice rubs they take all the hassle of our trying to get the right flavour and when you are busy who wants to be trying to blend a spice mix? definitely no me!
Spices i use are found here https://bit.ly/2VYUZLG use discount code JULES20 For 20% of any order (AFFILIATE)
I always mix my spices with yogurt before coating the chicken this protects the chicken to stop it drying out during the cooking process, so what you get is a baked outer coating but the chicken is still moist.
Born out of pure laziness 🙈 but these sometimes are the best creations and i can promise this was so good and im definitely making it again real soon.
I used a Spicentice spice kit which is designed to make Char Sui Spare Ribs, but i didn’t have any so decided to use a pork joint i used leg with all fat removed, this recipe really shows how versatile these kits are. Buy your kits from Spicentice press here https://bit.ly/2VYUZLG use discount code JULES20 for 20% off any order (AFFILIATE)
The recipe below is for 2 portions as this was basically a test batch for 4 portions i wouldn’t double up the quantities just add 1 more portion of the liquids – so where it says 2 tablespoons add 3 etc.
Who doesn’t love lasagne?? i know we do, but when you are busy with work, kids or it’s just the hottest day ever who wants to be stood over and hob or oven making lasagne – i know i dont!
So i devised this quick easy method of cutting down cooking time and prep time to get an individual lasagne on the table in 10 mins – yes it really can be done, you can also use this method for bigger portions too.
You will see for the white sauce i used a cream cheese yes its a cheat but its one worth trying it really does save all the messing around creating a sauce, but as always use whichever sauce you like.
For the base part (Ragu) of my lasagne i use my slow cooker spaghetti bolognese recipe it works well and again another easy prep meal – the recipe makes 4 portions and freezes well. Press here for the recipe https://julesthelazycook.co.uk/2016/09/19/spaghetti-bolognese/
Another recipe ticked off my to do list 😂 and i have to say it did not disappoint! I decided in this recipe not to use an apple grated which you can do if you wish i opted for using apple sauce from a jar as i think its much sweeter and works better with the pork, but use whichever you have and like.
Very few ingredients in the one as i didn’t want to overpower the apple taste, i used a spring onion instead of traditional onions as they are not as powerful in taste and just added a lovely background flavour. My top tip is to add a pinch of salt and pepper as it really does bring all the flavours out within the burger – this is my worst trait not seasoning food drives Graeme mad 🤣🤣🙈
This mix makes 4 burgers but i decided to make 3 what i would say were quarter pounder size burgers, but you can make them as big or as small as you wish.
I love potatoes and think they are a really inexpensive way of bulking out a meal especially if you have children.
These were really good that subtle hit of Chipolte worked a treat – the spice i used is from https://www.spicentice.com/ use discount code JULES20 for 20% off any order (AFFILIATE)
I always par boil my potatoes using the microwave method i just find it easier especially if the hob is full of pans trying to get other parts of the meal cooked, plus it cuts down on cooking time in the oven. As you will see i dont use my oven to cook these i use a halogen but the temperatures and times given are for a conventional oven.
Why do i use a halogen??? cost basically – the cost of heating an oven to temperature and then cooking can be horrendous when you are just cooking a few potatoes – a halogen heats immediately and the cost is hugely reduced due to the heating methods they use. You will find the one i use on my Amazon Shop press here https://julesthelazycook.co.uk/2019/04/16/amazon-shop/
NOTE:- the “how to” for the potatoes is in the 2nd part of the below video
Jules The Lazy Cook 