This recipe is adapted from the now famous no knead bread recipe developed by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery, Manhattan.
It was first published in the New York Times in November 2006 and has become one of the most talked about recipe on the Internet.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups of bread flour.
- 1 to 1½ tsp of salt (depending on your taste).
- ⅛ tsp of instant dried yeast.
- 1 cup of tepid water.
Instructions
- Mix all the dried ingredients together in a bowl before mixing in the water. You don’t need to beat.
- Cover the bowl with cling film. Leave it in a warm place for around 12 hours.
- Sprinkle a good layer of flour onto a piece of parchment paper and flour your hands well before scooping the dough out of the bowl and putting it onto the parchment paper.
- Spread the dough out a bit and simply fold the dough sides over each other. Then fold the bottom to the top.
- Turn the dough over and shape it gently so it fits in the tin before placing it on a trivet in the inner pot and putting the lid on.
- Put the inner pot into the outer pot. Shut the lid and leave for 2 hours to rise again.
- After two hours remove the inner pot.
- Remove the tin from the inner pot and make sure it has risen before covering it with either recycled aluminium foil (Eco care or similar) or baking parchment paper. Remember to make a handle to lift it out once cooked.
- Put it back into the inner pot and fill with hot water to come ¾ up the side of the pan before putting on a heat source and bringing it to the boil.
- Once boiling turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes.
- Put the lid on the inner pot and put the pot into the outer pot for 2 hours.
- When cooked remove and turn out onto a rack to cool.
Tags: boating, bread, camping, caravan, eco-friendly cooking, food, hay box, haybox, meat, motor caravan, motorhome, Mr Ds Cookbook, mr ds thermal cooker, sailing, shuttle chef, the thermal cook, thermal cook, thermal cookbook, thermal cooker, thermal cooking, thermos
The Lancashire Hotpot has its origins in Lancashire. Some people say that female mill workers would prepare the dinner in the morning and place it in the range so that it was ready when the family returned home in the evening. Others say that mine workers would take it to the mines for lunch wrapped in blankets to keep it hot. Whatever the truth is though, it certainly is a great meal to cook in a thermal cooker.
Ingredients
- kg of Lamb or mutton neck chops cut into 4 cm cubes.
- Seasoned flour for dusting.
- Groundnut oil.
- 50g of unsalted butter.
- 3 medium onions sliced.
- 1 ltr of lamb stock (if using stock cubes use two in 1 litre of boiling water).
- 2 sprigs of thyme.
- 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce.
- 900g of potatoes cut into 1.5cm slices.
Instructions
- Dry the lamb on kitchen towel before dusting it with the seasoned flour.
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a hot frying pan and fry the lamb in batches until it is browned all over. Remove each batch as it is browned.
- Add 2 more tablespoons of oil to the frying pan.
- Add the onions and thyme. Cook until the onions start to colour.
- Add the butter and cook for a few more minutes until the onions have softened.
- Sprinkle on one tablespoon of the seasoned flour and mix with the onions.
- Slowly add the stock stirring all the time to avoid any lumps.
- Add the Worcestershire sauce.
- Bring to the boil and check the seasoning. Adjust by adding salt and pepper if necessary.
- Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Now start to assemble the hotpot by placing a layer of potatoes overlapping in the bottom of the Thermal Cooker inner pot.
- Next put a layer of lamb followed by a layer of onions and the sauce they were cooked in.
- Now put another layer of potatoes and continue layering potatoes, lamb and onions until everything is used up. End on a layer of potatoes.
- Put the thermal cooker inner pot on the stove and bring the contents to the boil.
- Put the lid on and turn down to a simmer for 5 minutes.
- Put the inner pot into the insulated outer pot and shut the lid.
- Cook for a minimum of 3 hours before serving.
Tags: boating, camping, caravan, eco-friendly cooking, food, hay box, haybox, lamb, Lancashire, meat, motor caravan, motorhome, Mr Ds Cookbook, mr ds thermal cooker, sailing, shuttle chef, the thermal cook, thermal cook, thermal cookbook, thermal cooker, thermal cooking, thermos
A mussaman curry is one of the most delicious dishes. It is thought to have arrived in Siam with the first Persian envoy to the court of Ayuthyia in the sixteenth century. Mr D has adapted this recipe for the Shuttle Chef from one published in Fresh Magazine and they have kindly given their permission for us to use it. This unusual version of Thai mussaman curry is highly seasoned with tamarind and will delight you and your guests.
Ingredients
- 4 large duck breasts
- 2 star anise
- 2" piece of cinnamon stick
- 3 bay leaves
- 6 cardamom pods
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3tbs Mussaman paste
- 400ml coconut milk
- 200ml water & 1 chicken stock cube
- small jar 100gm tamarind paste
- 1tbs fish sauce
- 75g salted peanuts
- 350g potatoes cut into 2.5cm cubes
- small bunch of coriander leaves
Instructions
- Put a frying pan on a high heat and when hot add the two duck breasts skin side down. Cook for 5-6 minutes until the skin is golden brown.
- Turn the breasts over and cook for a further minute.
- Remove from the pan slice the duck breasts and put to one side for later.
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in the shuttle chef inner pot over a medium heat.
- Add the star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves and cardamom and cook for 30 secs.
- Add the chopped onion and cook for 4-6 minutes until golden.
- Stir in the Mussaman paste and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the sliced duck and make sure that it well coated with the mixture. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the cocunut milk, tamarind and fish sauce.
- Add the chopped potatoes and make sure that they are nicely covered with the sauce. Bring to the boil.
- Add 3/4 of the peanuts (saving the rest for garnish).
- Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
- Put the lid on the inner pot and place it into the insulated outer pot.
- Put the lid down and leave it to cook for 2 hours.
- Serve with Jasmine rice and garnish with the remaining peanuts and the coriander.
Tags: boating, caravan, Curry, duck, eco-friendly cooking, far east, food, hay box, meat, motor caravan, motorhome, Mr Ds Cookbook, mr ds thermal cooker, sailing, shuttle chef, Thai food, Thailand, the thermal cook, thermal cook, thermal cookbook, thermal cooker, thermal cooking, thermos
Probably like you, many of the meals I cook, involve serving them with rice. If you own a thermal cooker there are two way to deal with this. If your thermal cooker has only one inner pot (some thermal cooker have two) I can either put a trivet in the bottom (its legs in the food) and put something like my cake tin containing part boiled rice on the trivet or cook your rice about 30 minutes before I want to eat in a separate saucepan. If you on the other hand have a Mr D's top pot you can follow the recipe and then put the top pot in the inner pot before placing the inner pot into the outer container. In the past I have tried many methods of cooking rice. These include Jamie Oliver's rice cooking method from his book "Ministry of Food" and Madhur Jaffrey's methods from her book "Illustrated Indian Cookery". All of these work but take far more time than my method and do not seem to be any better.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup of rice per person. I always use Basmati rice except for when I am cooking Thai food. With Thai I prefer Jasmine rice.
- 1 cup of water for each 1/2 cup of rice.
- Salt to taste.
Instructions
- Add the water to a saucepan.
- Add salt tasting the water until you can taste the salt. Vary the amount to your taste but remember if you can't taste the salt in the water your rice will tend to be bland.
- Bring the water to the boil.
- Pour the rice into the boiling water and bring it back to the boil.
- Boil it gently (a rolling boil) for 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and put a lid on the pan.
- Leave for about 30 minutes and you then will have perfectly cooked rice.
- Before serving fluff up with a fork.
Tags: boating, camping, caravan, eco-friendly cooking, food, hay box, haybox, Indian, motor caravan, motorhome, Mr Ds Cookbook, mr ds thermal cooker, Rajistan food, rice, sailing, shuttle chef, Thai food, Thailand, the thermal cook, thermal cook, thermal cookbook, thermal cooker, thermos, Vietnamese food
This is a great recipe. I regularly make it for it makes a wonderful lunch with salad or in a sandwich made with fresh bread.
Sometimes referred to as 'huntsman's beef' and at one time a popular dish all over Britain. The longer the beef is cured, the longer it will keep.
Cooked Spiced Beef will keep for 3-4 weeks in a fridge but make sure it is well wrapped in foil to prevent it drying out.
Ingredients
- 1.5kg piece of boned and rolled brisket, topside, or thick flank
- 80g sea salt
- 10g saltpetre
- 15g coarsely ground black peppercorns
- 15g ground all spice
- 15g ground juniper berries
- 50g dark brown sugar, such as muscovado
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients together and rub well into the beef. Cover and leave in the fridge for 10-12 days, turning it once or twice a day.
- After 10 to 12 days, wipe off the bits of marinade from the meat, put into a boil in the bag* and seal the bag with a tie.
- Put the bag containing the meat into the inner pot of the thermal cooker.
- Fill the pot with water up to about 3cms from the top.
- Put the pot on the heat and bring to the boil.
- Once boiling, turn down the heat and simmer with the lid on for 30 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and transfer the inner pot into the vacuum-insulated outer container.
- Close the lid and leave to cook for 4 to 8 hours.
- Once cooked, remove the bag containing the meat from the pot and leave to cool. This will take about 3 hours.
- Remove the beef from the bag. Wrap the beef in cling film. Put it in a dish and cover with a weighted plate.
- Refrigerate for 24 hours.
- Re-wrap, and keep in the fridge and use for up to 3 weeks.
- Serve cold thinly sliced.
Tags: beef, boating, camping, caravan, eco-friendly cooking, food, hay box, haybox, meat, motor caravan, motorhome, Mr Ds Cookbook, mr ds thermal cooker, sailing, shuttle chef, the thermal cook, thermal cook, thermal cookbook, thermal cooker, thermal cooking, thermos
I just love Malaysian curry and this one is very versatile. Although I have made this with beef meatballs you can add whatever meat you prefer. For this meal you will need to either buy or make up your own Malaysian curry powder. I have put the ingredients to make your own and any that you don't use should be stored in a sealed container until needed again. Like all spices to get the best flavours you should not keep it too long.
Ingredients
- 2 tbls coriander seeds
- 1 tbls cumin seed
- 3/4 tbls fennel seed
- 1/2 tbls chili powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbls cooking oil
- 3 large onions, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1½" fresh ginger, sliced
- 5 tbsp Malaysian meat curry powder (see above)
- 1-2 tbs chili powder, or to taste
- 12 small beef meatballs (I used ready made but you can make your own)
- 1 can coconut milk, combined with 2 cups of water
- 2 star anise
- 8 curry leaves
- 2 potatoes, cut into chunks
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 tbsp finely chopped coriander
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in the inner pot over a low heat.
- Add the onions, garlic and ginger. Fry on a low heat until the onions are soft.
- Stir in the Malaysian curry powder and chilli powder. Cook for 2 minutes make sure it doesn't burn.
- Turn up the heat to medium and add the meatballs. Make sure they are nicely covered by the curry mixture and cook until they brown. You may need to add a little more oil but don't add too much.
- Remove the meatballs and keep on a plate.
- Add the coconut milk, star anise and curry leaves. Slowly bring to a boil
- When the curry is boiling, start carefully adding the meatballs back into the inner pot, stirring occasionally.
- Add the potatoes bring back to the boil and boil 5 minutes uncovered, then add tomato paste, season with salt and stir gently to mix
- Put on the lid, turn off the heat and place the inner pot into the insulated outer pot.
- Shut the lid and leave to cook for a minimum of 2 hours. If you leave it longer it will not be a problem.
- When ready to serve stir in the coriander.
- Check the seasoning. Adjust if necessary.
- Serve with bread or steamed rice
Tags: beef, boating, camping, caravan, Curry, eco-friendly cooking, food, hay box, haybox, Malaysia, meat, motor caravan, motorhome, Mr Ds Cookbook, mr ds thermal cooker, sailing, shuttle chef, the thermal cook, thermal cook, thermal cookbook, thermal cooker, thermal cooking
Oxtail stew is a classic dish and has such flavour. It needs long slow cooking so is ideal for the thermal cooker. Keith Floyd reckoned that the government ought to make oxtail stew compulsory at Heathrow Airport, so that tourists could have at least one decent meal when they arrive. You will need one oxtail for this recipe cut into sections with as much fat trimmed from it as possible. It is worth considering cooking this dish the day before and letting it cool overnight so you can scrape the fat from the top before reheating.
Ingredients
- 1.3kg (3 lbs) oxtail jointed
- seasoned flour
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 celery stick, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped
- 2 cups of sherry
- beef stock cube
- water
- one bay leaf
- 1 tsp of thyme
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 400g seedless white grapes
- 2 tbsp of corn flour mixed with water
- salt and ground black pepper
Instructions
- Pat dry the oxtail segments with paper towels and put it into the seasoned flour.
- Heat the vegetable oil in the inner pot on medium to medium high heat.
- When hot add the floured oxtail sections in batches and brown.
- When browned on all sides use tongs to remove the oxtail segments to a plate and set aside.
- Add the chopped onion, carrots, and celery to the inner pot. Cook for a few minutes until onions are translucent.
- Put the oxtail pieces back to the inner pot.
- Add the garlic , the sherry, bay leaf, thyme, beef stock cube, parsley,a good pinch of ground black pepper and half a teaspoon of salt.
- Top up with water to cover the ingredients.
- Bring to the boil then turn down the heat simmer for 10 minuets.
- Put on the lid and remove the inner pot from the heat and place it in the insulated outer container.
- Shut the lid and let it cook for at least 3 hours. This dish will benefit from longer cooker.
- Before serving skim off any fat from the surface.
- Add the grapes and stir in the corn flour mixed with water.
- Bring to the boil whilst stirring to thicken the stew.
- Serve with mashed potatoes and green vegetables.
Tags: boating, camping, caravan, Casserole, eco-friendly cooking, food, hay box, haybox, meat, motor caravan, motorhome, Mr Ds Cookbook, mr ds thermal cooker, oxtail, sailing, shuttle chef, the thermal cook, thermal cook, thermal cookbook, thermal cooker, thermal cooking, thermos
This recipe appeared in the Waitrose Christmas Cookbook 2009 and they have kindly allowed me to add it to my blog. I am a great fan of both Thai and Vietnamese food and this one certainly ticked all the boxes. This is a typical curry from that region of the world and you can find in the streets of Saigon many similar curries. This can be served with fragrant rice or maybe a crusty baguette to mop up the lovely sauce.
I have done some small changes to adapt it for a thermal cooker.
Ingredients
- 1tbsp groundnut oil
- 2 onions, peeled, halved and sliced
- 1 red chilli, halved, deseeded and cut into fine shreds
- 1tbsp ground coriander
- ½ tbsp ground turmeric
- 400ml can Coconut Milk
- 1 ½ tbsp light brown muscovado sugar
- 600g sweet potato, peeled and cubed
- 8 Chicken Thigh Fillets, about 700g
- Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
Instructions
- Heat the oil in the inner pot and cook the onions over a medium heat until coloured, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the chilli and ground spices then cook for another minute, stirring a little.
- Add the coconut milk, sugar and sweet potato. Bring to just under the boil.
- Cut the chicken into chunks and add to the stew. Bring to boil.
- Turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Cover and put the inner pot into the insulated outer container.
- Put on the lid and cook for 1 to 2 hours. Longer will not matter.
- When ready to serve check the seasoning and stir in the basil leaves.
- Serve with boiled rice or crusty bread.
Tags: boating, camping, caravan, chicken, eco-friendly cooking, food, hay box, haybox, meat, motorhome, Mr Ds Cookbook, mr ds thermal cooker, sailing, shuttle chef, the thermal cook, thermal cook, thermal cookbook, thermal cooker, thermal cooking, thermos, Vietnamese food
Just over a month ago I bought a small water buffalo joint at our local farm shop. The water buffalo are reared by the dagan family on their farm in Broughton near Winchester. This farm is only about 25 miles from my home so is a real local produce. The breed originate in India where we have often seen them in the villages on our many visits to Gujarat. They are valued for the delicious, rich milk and tender lean meat. The 200-head herd at Manor Farm graze 550 acres of chalk down, water meadow and clover grassland. Buffalo meat tastes like good quality beef but it has 40-60% lower cholesterol and has half the calories and a third less saturated fat than beef. One of the problems with cooking buffalo is that having hardly any fat it can be a little tough so I decided to marinade it first overnight in red wine, juniper berries, bay leaves, olive oil, salt and pepper. Make sure the meat is covered with the marinade. Buffalo roasts need long slow cooking so the thermal cooker is ideal for this.
Ingredients
- red wine
- juniper berries
- bay leaves
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Firstly I took the meat in its marinade out of the fridge an hour before starting to cook it so it can get up to room temperature.
- Put the joint into a roasting bag. It is important to use a bag designed for roasting as ordinary plastic bags can leech chemicals that are harmful to health.
- Dissolve a tablespoon of cornflour in a little warm water then add it to the marinade and mix well.
- Pour the marinade into the roasting bag.
- Seal the bag with a tie making sure that you have removed as much of the air as possible.
- Put the bag containing the meat into the inner pot and fill the pot with water up to about 2 to 3 cms below the top.
- Bring the inner pot to the boil and keep it on a slow rolling boil for 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and put the lid on the inner pot.
- Put the inner pot into the insulated outer container.
- Shut the lid and leave to cook for 5 to 6 hours.
- Just before you are ready to serve remove the roasting bag from the inner pot and open it carefully into a bowl.
- Remove the buffalo joint and put it somewhere to keep warm.
- Pour the water out of the inner pot. Remember you can use this for washing up as it will still be very hot.
- Strain the liquid (that the meat was cooked in) into the now empty inner pot.
- Bring the liquid to the boil. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. You might like to add a table spoon of red current jelly to give a hint of sweetness. If you don’t have red current jelly you can add a little sugar to taste.
- Once you have the seasoning and sweetness to your taste turn the sauce down to a simmer.
- Slice the meat and put it onto a warm plate.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and spoon a small amount over the meat. The remain sauce can be poured into a warm jug.
- You are now ready to serve.
Tags: boating, camping, caravan, eco-friendly cooking, food, hay box, haybox, meat, motor caravan, motorhome, Mr Ds Cookbook, mr ds thermal cooker, sailing, shuttle chef, the thermal cook, thermal cook, thermal cookbook, thermal cooker, thermal cooking, thermos, water buffalo
We had all the family arriving with us on Christmas Eve so I needed something that was easy to make and would be ready when we wanted to eat. I decided to make one of Rick Steins recipe from his last series “Far Eastern Odyssey”. I have made this a few times in my thermal cooker and it really does work well. The Vietnamese recipe was given to Rick Stein by a restaurant owner in London and I served it with boiled rice.
Ingredients
- 1 x 2.5kg duck, jointed into 6 pieces
- 50g garlic, crushed
- 50g peeled ginger, thinly sliced
- 1 litre freshly squeezed orange juice
- 4 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 5 star anise
- 4 red bird’s eye chillies
- 2 fat lemon grass stalks, core finely chopped
- freshly ground black pepper
- 8 spring onions, white part only, plus 1 whole spring onion for garnish
- ½ tsp cornflour
Instructions
- Put the inner pot over a medium-high heat. Add the duck pieces skin-side down, and leave to cook for 5–6 minutes until crisp and golden. Turn over and cook for a further 2 minutes until lightly browned. Lift on to a plate and set aside.
- Pour all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the inner pot into a bowl (I saved this for my roast potatoes on Christmas Day).
- Return the inner pot to a low heat, add the garlic and ginger. Cook gently for a couple of minutes until lightly golden. Be careful and don’t let the garlic burn.
- Add the orange juice, fish sauce, sugar, star anise, chillies and lemon grass and season with black pepper.
- Return the duck to the inner pot and bring back to the boil.
- Turn the heat down slightly and cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally to avoid any sticking to the base.
- After 5 minutes turn off the heat put the lid on and transfer the inner pot to the insulated outer pot.
- Close the lid of the outer container and leave to cook for a minimum of 3 hours.
- Just before serving lift the duck pieces out of the the inner pot and put the on a warmed dish and keep them warm.
- Skim the excess fat off the top of the liquid left in the inner pot.
- Cut the white parts of the spring onions in half, add to the inner pot.
- Bring the inner pot to the boil and leave it to simmer vigorously for 5 minutes to concentrate the flavour.
- Mix the cornflour with 1 teaspoon water,
- Take the inner pot of the heat while you stir in the cornflour mixture.
- Put the inner pot back on the heat and simmer for 1 minute more.
- Pour the contents of the inner pot over the duck, scatter over the shredded spring onion and serve with rice.
Tags: boating, camping, caravan, duck, eco-friendly cooking, food, hay box, haybox, meat, motor caravan, motorhome, Mr Ds Cookbook, mr ds thermal cooker, sailing, shuttle chef, the thermal cook, thermal cook, thermal cookbook, thermal cooker, thermal cooking, Vietnamese food
