Slow Cooker Red Cabbage, Apple and Onions

One of the only vegetables I get kind of stuck in a rut with, is cabbage. I really enjoy it - but sort of always cook it one or two ways and that's it. Usually I grate it into a coleslaw type of salad or roast it in the oven with veggies.

But we also like it as part of a stir fry too and often throw it in there. However, we don't eat near enough of this lovely vegetable and I have been mulling over how to use up the two I had in the vegetable box for the last week.

So, today I decided to pull out my handy slow cooker (what a godsend that thing is!) and see what it does with my red cabbage. Right now I am enjoying the smell of it - mostly because I am not eating right now, but also because it does smell very nice.

To make this most simple dish I chopped up the cabbage (not too finely) and started layering it with chopped apples and sliced onions and garlic. This time I used both red and white onions because I wanted to use them up.

Once the vegetables were in the crock pot I added about 1/2 cup cider vinegar, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Then with the pot on high - I started adding some spices. The ones I usually use with cabbage are coriander, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Next I sprinkled on some sea salt and ground black pepper then added in 1/2 cup of water because it seemed like it needed something to keep the cooking process going. Lastly, 2 tablespoons of honey and 2 tablespoons of butter to sweeten the dish and that is it.

It's a very simple but lovely tasting side dish to have with nearly any meal and goes really well with meats, especially goose and any wild game such as pheasant or venison. 

April

Red Cabbage dish

Guinea Fowl - Crock Pot Recipe

Today I have been cooking a guinea fowl in the crock pot - mainly to see how it turns out but also in the hope of creating a new dish for us to all try. Although it is years since I have cooked one - it all comes back fairly quickly!

A guinea fowl is not like a chicken in that it is closer to it's wild cousins, has a completely different attitude and outlook on life and it's actually a useful animal. I remember them on the farm years ago, where they would behave like watch dogs alerting us to any foxes or strange goings-on.

Because they are very lean they also make a great addition to your Pagan Diet as well as give some other flavours and tastes in meals where you might have used chicken. Although the meat is mostly darker than domestic birds, it is far tastier.

I decided to cook this guinea fowl in the slow cooker in order to get the best flavour but also to ensure it wasn't tough in any way. I started out my adventure with 1 tablespoon of butter melting on the wood stove, then stirred in 1 tablespoon of spelt flour.

Next I added 1/4 cup of water to the butter mixture and kept stirring until it was all uniform looking. I placed this aside and prepared the bird for the crock pot. To do this I just washed and salted it inside and out and placed it on the bottom of the pot in 1 cup of boiling water.

Then I added the butter mixture and 1/4 cup of olive oil over top of the bird. Next I sprinkled 1 teaspoon each of dried sage and thyme and a few grains of ground black pepper. The slow cooker was on a high heat setting - this was left for the next 2 hours or so and then turned down to low.

Every hour I carefully basted the entire bird inside and out with the liquid in the bottom of the cooker and left it to simmer for another 3 hours. Once the meat was falling off the bones (each bird might be different depending on age and size) I turned it off to let it cool.

Now, there is lovely cooked guinea fowl meat for sandwiches, casserole, soup or stew or for just picking! My taste testers loved it added in to their chilli....

April

Guinea Fowl roasting in the crock pot