Slow Cooked recipes
Slow cooking is not a technique for being busy elsewhere, though it is often sold as one. It is a technique for converting things that are tough into things that are tender, and it works because collagen becomes gelatine given enough time above about 70°C. That is why it suits the cheap cuts and wastes the expensive ones. Temperature control matters more than the clock: a bare tremble is right and a boil is not, because vigorous heat tightens muscle fibre and drives out the moisture the whole method exists to keep.
4 recipes
Lamb Rogan Josh
Lamb shoulder browned hard then cooked for two hours in yogurt and Kashmiri chilli, until the sauce is red, glossy and clinging rather than soupy.
Curry Goat
Goat shoulder burned into curry powder and then cooked for two hours, until the meat gives and the sauce is thick enough to coat rice.
Tagliatelle al Ragù
Bolognese ragù cooked for three hours with milk and a little wine, served on fresh tagliatelle rather than spaghetti, which is what Bologna actually does.
Cochinita Pibil
Pork buried in achiote and sour orange, slow-roasted in banana leaf until it falls apart. A Yucatecan dish that asks for one shopping trip and then leaves you alone.