Slow roasted tomatoes

These are easy....especially if you've got a couple of bushes going crazy in the garden

I picked these when I got home from the beach...and I didn't want to just throw them in a salad or a spaghetti sauce....even though both are very nice ways to use them

So I decided to slow roast them

Preheat the oven to about 100 degrees

Cut the tomatoes in half and place them on a lined baking tray.

Season with freshly ground salt and pepper, then drizzle some olive oil over them

Put them in the oven and let them roast for about 2 and a half hours

That's it

They go from this.....

To this...

EAT

You can speed up the process a little...preheat oven to 150 and check on them after an hour...it really all depends on you and how juicy you like your roasted tomatoes.

It's a great way to use up all those tomatoes that spring up in the garden

Shanks in the Slow Cooker

Some time ago I was fortunate to see a recipe over at Proud Italian Cook, that looked absolutely delicious! It was neck bones with spaghetti , which doesn't sound too good...but let me tell you. It was!

So I made it with lamb necks and it was just as good as I'd hoped. This week though, I had some shanks in the freezer, so decided to use those instead....and it was again, delicious.

Usually I just throw everything into the slow cooker and turn it on. Not this time.

This time I roasted the shanks for about 45 minutes, just to get them browned and caramelized... then I browned some onions in a pan and added a can of diced tomatoes, a few sliced mushrooms, some garlic, a good dollop of tomato paste, a teaspoon of sugar and some pepper and salt and let it bubble away for a few minutes while the shanks roasted.

Then it all went into the slow cooker for about 4 hours on high.

I served it with crusty bread and spaghetti.

There were no leftovers.

Slow Cooking

So, it's Winter and it's cold, which means the Slow Cooker's been dusted off and put to work.

I've made a few things so far this Winter, but forgot to take any photos or post about it...anyway, this one is a Country Chicken Casserole.

Now, the general rule is to brown the chicken and the onions to kick things off, then put them into the cooker and let it rip.

Not me. Even though the dish turns out a little pale, I figure that the slow cooker's there to do a job, so why should I have to brown things in oil. I just throw everything in and hope for the best. Things must turn out OK though because MONT always comes back for seconds.

OK

For this casserole:

10 chicken drumsticks,

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot chopped

1 stick of celery sliced.

... and whatever other veggies you have in the fridge... mushrooms, beans, peas etc...

Now, some recipes call for a can of celery or cream of mushroom soup, or even a can of chopped tomatoes to give you a nice sauce. Frankly I think you should just do whatever suits you. If you like tomato based dishes, then add a can of tomatoes. If you like a creamy based casserole, then add a can of cream of mushroom soup, or whatever you like.

Me?

Well into half a cup of water I added a Massel veggie stock cube, a slurp of white wine, a teaspoon of gravox, pepper and salt and a teaspoon of mixed herbs, then I poured it over the chicken and veggies, put the lid on, turned it to "high" and left it alone for four hours.

I then removed the chicken and stirred in a large dollop of cream, returned the chicken, and let it simmer for another half an hour.

Done

Eat.

Yes, it is a little pale, but it sure tasted good!