Apart from my taste buds getting excited about a slowly cooked, meltingly delicious result, casseroles and stews are always far more tasty eaten the next day. Generally, they are also inexpensive. These three recipes all benefit from a low cooking temperature over a long time, so can be cooked either in the oven, on the stove top or in a crock pot.
Pickled pork, parsley dumplings and pineapple pickle
This tongue-twisting dish uses pork that has been brined to add flavour and moisture, similar to corned beef. It needs to be cooked slowly so ideally suits “slow and low”. It has no bones so it is easy to carve.
Quite often when cooking pickled pork the poaching liquor turns cloudy and a lot of foam and impurities bubble to the surface. This is mainly due to the brine. To avoid this and lessen the saltiness of the meat, rinse the pork in a pot with cold running water, then cover with water, bring it to the boil and discard the water (this technique is known as blanching). Get the recipe
Beef, red wine and mushroom stew
This the ultimate beef stew. In France it is known as boeuf bourguignon and is without a doubt the most famous and popular beef casserole. You can use any type of stewing beef that has lot of natural fat and connective tissue or collagen (chuck, short rib, brisket).
This is perfect for stewing as it will melt into the surrounding sauce giving a wonderful thickness and rich flavour. Traditionally the dish uses lardons made from salted pork, but for ease and simplicity I have used bacon this time round and pearl or baby onions are replaced with regular onion. Get the recipe
Chicken, sausage and white bean casserole
This rustic winter casserole is perfect for a midweek meal as it has the shortest cooking time. Chicken cooked on the bone always gives another delicious level of flavour. This dish is very flexible as you can swap the chicken drumsticks for bone-in chicken thighs and experiment with different flavours of sausage. Try also using butter beans, chickpeas or even pasta. Get the recipe