Oxtail dish prepared using a Russel Hobbs Slow Cooker
In comparison to Northern Hemisphere winters, our South African afternoon winter weather is a bit like a small dog – it just lacks that scary edge. That is, of course, until the sun creeps below the horizon and the cold unexpectedly sneaks up and nips you harder than a cornered Chihuahua.
That’s right! Such is the difference in temperature between day and night that you often find yourself shivering under a mountain of blankets and wondering how you brought yourself to order a crushed ice cocktail with lunch. But this is precisely why the slow cooker is the saviour of the South African winter!
On a cold night, you don’t want to fiddle about with salads, cold salmon cuts, and sushi. You want a piping hot stew that will give your stomach that feel-good warmth that is comparable to hugging a baby panda.
Slow cookers offer some great benefits in the kitchen, these include:
- Saving time: slow cookers require very little preparation, you really just need to throw in your ingredients and let the slow cooker to its work. By cooking on low heat, you also have a couple hours to head out and perform chores.
- Saving money: meaty flavours permeate the entire dish, meaning you can bulk up on the more affordable veggies.
- Healthy boosting: slow cookers don’t require oil because a high moisture content prevents the contents from catching. Of course, any meats used would need to be trimmed of excess fats prior to cooking.
- Flavour enhancing – the slow, gentle heat is extremely effective in bringing out the full flavours of all ingredients added.
So, if you’re ready to battle the cold of winter, grab your Russell Hobbs slow cooker and start working on some slow cooker recipes. And, since we’re excited by the thought of you creating culinary tummy-warmers with little effort. Here’s an incredibly appetising oxtail slow cooker recipe to get you started:
Super-Delicious Slow Cooker Recipe for Oxtail Stew!
Slow cooker recipes are tantalisingly easy. If you don’t believe us, just take a look at this delicious oxtail stew recipe:
Ingredients
- 2,5 kilos of oxtail, cubed
- 750 ml beef stock
- 1 can of chopped tomatoes
- 50 ml tomato paste
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 2 stalks of celery, sliced
- 60 ml flour, mixed with salt and pepper to taste
- 10 ml brown sugar
- A single bay leaf
- 2 fresh sprigs of thyme
- 2 fresh sprigs of oregano
- 3 ml grated nutmeg
- 250 ml dry red wine
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
- Roll the oxtail cubes in the flour until they’re nicely covered. In a separate pan, flash fry the oxtail in a small amount of oil. Add the oxtail into your slow cooker along with all the other ingredients save for the wine and the beef stock.
- On your stove, add the stock to the wine and bring to the boil, then add this to the ingredients in your slow cooker.
- Place the lid on your cooker and cook for 8 hours, or until the oxtail is nice and tender.
- If the liquid is still a little watery for your taste, mix 15 or 30 ml cornflour with a little wine or stock and stir it into your stew roughly 30 minutes before it is ready. Voila!
