Tender Venison Necks

Posted on May 10, 2016 by soulfoodie92

Everyone who knows me knows I absolutely love a good bargain! One of my favorite things to do is get the reduced to clear meat goes very cheap and usually still has 2 days good before it must be frozen. However these were not reduced to clear they were full price $3.86 for 5 venison necks, $5.99kg now that is awesome isn’t it?

Venison is one of my favorite meats its super high in iron and very lean! Today I was in a relaxed mood as it was my day off so i decided to put the slow cooker on. I love the thing I must say switch it on in the morning by dinner time all you have to do is thicken and make some mash. Love a simple dinner and here is a beauty one im sharing with you all!

Venison necks are a nice cheap cut of meat and they have a surprising amount of meat on them to so its a great value for money meat. You can find them at most supermarkets i picked these up from pak n save however i used to get them at countdown and sometimes new world as well. The ones here are from Canterbury from a farm called the Merchant of Venison. If your lucky enough to have wild venison or know a hunter who could get you some give it a go with that it has a more gamer flavour and is also delicious.

Slow Braised Venison Necks with Cranberry and Pumpkin
on
Swede and Agria Mash

Ingredients

5-6 venison necks
1 tsp paprika
1 onion, fine dice
1 stalk celery, medium dice
2 cloves garlic, fine dice
2 carrots
1/2 small crown pumpkin, peeled and 3-4cm dice
1 tin diced tomatoes
400ml water
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp fresh rosemary
1/4 cup cranberries
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
2 tbsp cornflour + water for slurry
Swede and Agria Mash
1/4 swede, peeled and small 2cm dice
3 medium agria potatoes, peeled and 4cm dice
1 spring onion, finely sliced
50gm butter
1/8 cup milk
salt and pepper

Method:

Turn slow cooker onto low.
Season venison generously with salt, pepper and the paprika on both sides.
Heat medium fry pan over a medium to high heat, add 1 tbsp oil followed by onion, celery and garlic. Saute until opaque add to slow cooker.
Brown venison necks both sides add to the slow cooker with the remaining ingredients, apart from the cornflour.
Cook on low for 6 hours, combine cornflour and small amount of water to make a slurry stir into venison and cook for further 10 minutes.
Bring swede and potato to the boil and cook until tender. ( it is important to cut the swede smaller as it takes longer to cook than potato.)
Drain, mash and stir in butter, milk, spring onion, salt and pepper. Stir well.
Serve venison necks on bed of swede and agria mash with sprinkle of crumbled feta and chopped celery leaves.

Serves: 2-4

Sharing the SlowCooker Love

Posted on September 11, 2014 by soulfoodie92

I love it when I here back from followers about how their cooking ventures have turned out! I just received a recipe and pictures from one of my follower Dani in Tokoroa. She has sent me through a super tasty afternoon snack/ lunch box filler. Perfect for when the kids get home from school or a tasty weekend treat for the family and they are so affordable to make!!!

This recipe is super versatile the base dough can be made 1 of 3 ways with milk, cream or yoghurt and the topping could be anything you like! Dani used the milk version of this recipe and topped it like a pizza with cheese, ham, bbq sauce and tomato sauce! Yum wish I was there to try those tasty scrolls. Next she says she’s going to try an apple and cinnamon. Yum that sounds divine!!

Slow Cooker Scrolls

Ingredients

Dough

Cream version:

2 cups s.r flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/4 cup cream

Milk version:

2 cups s.r flour
1/2 tsp. salt
75 g butter
1/2-1 cup milk

Yoghurt version:

2 cups s.r flour
1 cup greek yoghurt

Toppings
Savoury
Pizza
grated cheese
ham
onion
bbq sauce
tomato sauce
Sweet
stewed apple
cinnamon
sultanas

Method:

Turn slow cooker onto high to pre-heat. Lay a piece of baking paper to cover the bottom of the cooker.
Add dry ingredients to a bowl fooled by wet mix together until dough forms kneed until smooth and elastic.
Roll dough into a 20 x 30cm rectangle.
Fill with your desired toppings and roll up dough.
Cut into 2.5cm circles and flatten slightly with hand.
Place cut circles close together in your pre-lined slow cooker.
Place a tea towel underneath the slow cooker lid as seen below.
Cook on high for 2 hours until tasty and cooked.

The flavour combinations is endless so get thinking!!

Here is Dani’s Before and After Photos!!

Before

Place tea towel underneath lid. Cook on high for 2 hours.

After

8 Hour Slow Baked Potatoes

Posted on May 14, 2014 by soulfoodie92

8 hour slow baked potato topped with the works.

Cooked to Perfection

The potato which everyone secretly loves. A perfectly cooked potato, one that’s fluffy and melts in your mouth is really perfection. This is a recipe that I got from my mum. Something that you can put on before you head to work or even before you head to bed at night. They keep perfectly in the fridge for up to 5 days if they last that long. Wrapped in tin foil and slow baked in a handy slow cooker this is a perfect energy packed meal, perfect as a vegetarian dinner or topped with stews, slaws or anything you can imagine. Even better just simply split open and served with plain or flavored butter.

This is one recipe you don’t want to miss out on!!

8 hour slow baked potatoes with herb butter, crunchy slaw, chive sour cream and bacon crumb

Ingredients:

8-10 medium size potatoes, agria are best
4 tbsp. plain or flavored butter
Crunchy Cabbage Slaw
1/2 cabbage, finely shredded
2 carrots, grated
2 spring onions, finely sliced
3 tbsp. Italian parsley, rough chop
4 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 lemon, juice and zest
salt and pepper
Bacon Crumb
4 streaky bacon rashes, baked until crunchy then rough chop
Chive Sour Cream
2 tbsp. fresh chives, chopped
125 grams sour cream
salt and pepper

Method:

Turn slow cooker onto low.
Individually wrap each potato in tinfoil and place in the slow cooker. Cooker for 8 hours on low.
Turn slow cooker to keep warm while you prepare slaw, bacon crumb and chive sour cream.
Combine all slaw ingredients in a large bowl season with salt and pepper, set aside.
Combine chives, sour cream and a good seasoning of salt and pepper.
Remove potatoes from slow cooker, cut a cross in the top and split open, place a spoonful of butter in the center, followed by a good helping of slaw and a large dollop of chive sour cream and finish with crunchy bacon crumb.
Because there are a lot of baked potatoes you can have more than one or place remaining in the fridge and whip one out when your feeling hungry. These are great for an easy lunch during the week or an afternoon snack for the kids when they come home from school.

You can top them with whatever you like here’s a recipe for Beef, Bacon and Chickpea Stew with White Wine and Tomatoes that I topped a baked potato with, and it went down a treat!!

potatoes individually wrapped in tin foil.

Poataoes individually wrapped in tin foil.

Bacon ready to be baked.

End result a bloody good spud!!

Slow Cooker Friday

Posted on May 9, 2014 by soulfoodie92

Beef, Bacon and Chickpea Stew with White Wine and Tomatoes.

AHHH FRIDAY

By the time Friday rolls in lets all be fair we’ve all really had enough of the weekend and the last thing we want to do once coming home from a long week at work is cook dinner. So I thought how perfect a tasty slow cooker meal you can chuck on in the morning before heading off to work and come home to a virtually completed dinner. You just have to bake your potatoes and thicken the stew when you get home.

Beef, Bacon and Chickpea Stew with White Wine and Tomatoes

Ingredients:
900 gm blade steak, fat removed and 3cm dice
4 rashers streaky bacon, sliced into large batons
3 carrots, peeled and 2 cm dice
1 red onion, medium dice
3 garlic cloves, dice
3 tbsp. Worcester sauce
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup beef stock
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
2 tbsp. cranberries
2 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. fresh rosemary
1 tsp. fresh marjoram
salt and pepper
2 tbsp. cornflour, mixed with equal parts water

Method:

Turn your slow cooker onto low.
Brown onions, bacon and garlic in fry pan over a medium heat with half the oil, add to slow cooker.
Pour in half the wine and deglaze the pan add this to the slow cooker.
Season beef and heat renaming oil in pan, brown beef both sides add to slow cooker, deglaze with remaining wine add to slow cooker.
Add all remaining ingredients to slow cooker and stir.
Place on lid and cook for 7-8 hours on low or 4 on high.
Stir in cornflour mix and cook for 15minutes turn to keep warm until you choose to serve.
Serve with a baked or mashed potato and a dollop of sour cream.

Serves: 4-5

Ready too be slow cooked.

End result a glossy tender stew.

Serve stew on baked or mashed potatoes topped with sour cream and chives.

Kumara and Beef Slow Cooker

Posted on May 4, 2014 by soulfoodie92

Kumara and Beef Slow Cooker

As winter looms closer and the weather out side isn’t the nicest, its great too come home to a dish already cooked and the house smelling amazing. On a cold and busy day last week I pulled out the slow cooker and created this tender slow cooked meal. Rich beef alongside naturally sweet kumara and carrots with a flavorful gravy. This is an affordable recipe and I hope you try it out, its one that’s worth having in your recipe collection.

Kumara and Beef Slow Cooker

Ingredients:

1 cup carrot, rinse leave skin on and 2cm dice
2 cup kumara, rinse leave skin on and 3cm dice
2 small red onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
1 orange zest and juice
1 tbsp. fresh thyme
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary
850gm beef blade steak, remove fat and cut 3cm dice
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper
4 tbsp. Worchester sauce
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 1/2 tbsp. cornflour

Method:

Turn on slow cooker to either low or high, check the bottom of the recipe for cooking times and temp.
Heat a heavy based fry pan over a medium heat at 1 tbsp. of oil followed by onions, garlic, thyme and rosemary. plus a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Once the onion mix has started to brown add zest and juice of the orange and tip into the base of your slow cooker.
Add stock to the hot fry pan, this will deglaze it and remove all the tasty flavour stuck to it. Add this to the slow cooker.
Remove fat from beef and cut into 3cm chunks.
In a snap lock bag combine the flour, salt and pepper mix well. Add diced beef and coat with the flour mix. (give it a good shake)
Dust of excess flour this will burn when browning.
Heat fry pan to a medium heat add 1/2 tbsp. oil and 1/2 tbsp. butter, add beef and brown both sides add to the slow cooker. ( I did this in 2 batches so the beef didn’t stew.)
Add Worchester sauce and balsamic vinegar to the slow cooker give it a light stir, place the lid on and cook.
Combine corn flour with 2 tbsp. cold water stir and make a slurry, add this to your slow cooker in the last 30 minutes to thicken up the sauce into a glistening gravy.
Turn slow cooker onto warm while you cook either some rice, mashed potatoes or serve with dumplings and your fave green veges.