Atkinson - Convenience Foods for Singles

At the end of a busy day you are very likely to be tired, hungry and looking forward to sitting down and enjoying a meal. Rather than dashing out for a takeaway or settling for a chilled ready-made meal from a packet, wouldnt it be great to serve a delicious and nutritious home-cooked meal from your slow cooker?

Whether you live alone or simply find you will be having a solitary night in, cooking can be a chore. Slow cooking is the perfect way to create flavour-packed meals with the minimum effort and fuss. Ideal for soups, casseroles, vegetables and desserts, this method of cooking means you can prepare meals in advance and leave them unattended to cook for as many hours as they need.The drawback with so many slow cooker cookbooks is that most recipes require time-consuming preparation and include pre-frying ingredients such as onions and meat - not something you often feel like doing first thing in the morning, or before going out for the day or off to work.

While the meals in this book make the most of fresh foods, they also take advantage of time-saving ready-prepared ingredients such as garlic and ginger pures (pastes), and frozen vegetables including diced onions, sliced mushrooms and (bell) peppers. The fresh equivalent is also given, so you can use whichever you prefer. Cans and jars of prepared ingredients also feature in the recipes, including cooked beans and pulses, fried onions and ready-made white sauce.

The basic principle behind the slow cooker is that it cooks food slowly at a constant temperature.This has many advantages, one of the greatest being that it develops and enhances the flavour of food, while retaining its texture. It makes even the toughest meat meltingly tender in fact, the less expensive cuts are better suited to slow cooking. Slow cookers are also environmentally friendly; their low wattage consumes about the same amount of electricity as a light bulb.They can save up to five times the energy of stove-top and conventional oven cooking, making them ideal for those on a budget. The essentials of slow cooking are incredibly simple, but do have a look at the following pages before you start to use the recipes.

All the recipes in this book have been created to use a range of ingredients that are easy to buy on a small scale, so you dont have to worry about spending a fortune on unwanted food. They are designed for one, but many make two servings - one to serve straight away and one that can be jazzed up for the following day, or frozen for a later date - saving both time and money. There are mouth-watering meals to suit every occasion from light lunches and midweek meals to delectable desserts and indulgent cakes. Solo eating has never been simpler or more enjoyable!

Slow cookers come in a wide selection of sizes, shapes, colours and prices and these factors need to be considered before you decide which one is right for you. Appearance is the first thing you'll notice; you'll find contemporary stainless steel, rich-coloured and pristine-looking white models as well as the rustic-looking cream and brown versions. Originally only round slow cookers were available; these are excellent for soup and casserole making and for cooking puddings in basins and cakes in round tins.The more modern oval version is a better buy if you entertain often as it's perfect for pot-roasting larger joints of meat and is also good for cooking loaf-shaped cakes and pts.

When slow cookers were first manufactured, the ceramic cooking pots were permanently fixed into the outer casing.You may still have such a slow cooker, but more recent models have a removable cooking pot that fits into an outer metal casing.The heating elements are safely situated between the inner and outer casings. A removable cooking pot can be used as a serving dish and allows food to be browned in the oven or under the grill (broiler) without causing damage to the outer casing. It also simplifies washing up. The heat-resistant lid may be ceramic or toughened glass.The latter allows you to monitor the food without lifting the lid and losing precious heat.

The size of slow cookers ranges from a tiny 600 ml/1 pint/21/2 cup cooking pot to a massive 6.5 litre/111/2 pint/261/4 cup one. I have found the ideal size to be 1.5 litres/21/2 pint/6 cups - a large enough capacity for two portions, but small enough to ensure that food such as portions of fish or meat will fit snugly inside and be sufficiently covered by the cooking liquid.This size is a great asset for singles and couples and takes up very little space in the kitchen.

Because slow cooker models vary, make sure you read the manufacturer's guide book before using yours for the first time. Some slow cookers need to be preheated before you start cooking, but most advise against heating the slow cooker when empty.You should also check to see whether your ceramic cooking pot is dishwasher-proof and whether it can be used under the grill (broiler) and in the oven, in the microwave or in the freezer.

Always remove any labels and tags from a new slow cooker, then wash the ceramic cooking pot in hot soapy water, rinse well and dry. You may notice a slight odour as the slow cooker heats up; this is caused by the burning off of manufacturing residues and will lessen and eventually disappear after a few uses. After several months, the glaze on the cooking pot may become slightly crazed; this is perfectly normal and will not affect the slow cooker's efficiency.

You will notice that many of the recipes here advise using hot (not boiling) water and stock when adding it straight to the cooking pot; never pour boiling liquid into the cold cooking pot (you can do so when it is already warm or hot) or plunge it into cold water immediately after use as this could crack it. Remember that it is an electrical appliance, so the outer casing should only be wiped clean with a damp soapy cloth (never use scouring pads or abrasive cleaners) and never be immersed in or filled with water.

When following a recipe, bear in mind that every slow cooker model is slightly different and, even when using the same settings, some will cook much faster than others. For this reason a range of cooking times is usually given; you may need to use the shorter or the longer time, or somewhere between the two. After trying a few recipes, you will know whether your slow cooker is faster or slower and you will be able to adjust the recipe cooking times accordingly.

The cooking temperatures and settings vary on different models, but most have four settings: Low, High, Auto and Off. Some models have an additional Medium setting. At the lowest temperature the food should barely simmer: at the highest it will boil very gently.

Use the Low setting when you want to cook food for an extended time without overcooking or burning.

When set to Auto, the cooking temperature will build up to High (the time this takes depends on the quantity of food being cooked and its initial temperature), then remain at this temperature for an hour or so before automatically switching to Low.This setting is desirable if you are using frozen vegetables in your cooking without defrosting them first. Foods such as poultry joints (chicken quarters and whole thighs, for example, but not breasts or chopped chicken) and cakes should be always be cooked on High or Auto. Food should be monitored when using the High setting as some liquid will evaporate.