During the latter half of January, the Ottawa Citizen (a very local newspaper) re-published a piece by Victoria Times columnist Eric Akis, entitled "Slow route to tenderness: Lamb and veal shanks and beef short ribs make economical comfort food." Accordingly, during troubled economic times, scratch-cooked comfort foods provide a satisfying escape. With this year's talk of economic stimulus packages and the growing lists of layoffs, it is predicted that long simmered foods will again become popular.

As someone who subscribes to Chef Fergus Henderson's "nose to tail" eating paradigm, I never really let go of slow cooking, forging a special relationship with my slow cooker. Oft overlooked meat cuts lend well to simmered cooking, such as braising or stewing. This includes the lamb shank recipe that follows Akis' short editorial. The shanks are braised in an oven at 325 F for 2 and a half hours.

While I have a slow cooked lamb shank recipe that I want to share, I fear that Akis overlooked the fact that people are still overburdened with tasks. Simmering foods in a low oven is somewhat "inconvenient" while picking up groceries, visiting the local post office, fighting Bell Sympatico for yet another expensive cock-up, cleaning the condo, or spending time with your significant other. It is especially difficult when your city's entire public transit system is shut down due to strike.

The strike ended recently (thanks to an upcoming visit from America President Barack Obama), but I doubt most peoples' lives permit anymore flexibility. Tasks multiply now that buses and partial light rail are becoming available again. When once tasks were slow to accomplish because it was difficult to get around, they become location-independent again, meaning we can accomplish more. Thus, time is again a limited resource, so, before I post a slow cooked recipe for lamb shanks, let's look at one way to satisfy our slow cooked appetites without having to look after an oven for a couple hours.

My solution, pickup low sodium prepared sauces with no preservatives and look to the slow cooker to set us free. Introducing, beef rogan josh, slow cooker style.

What you'll need:

2 medium sized onions

onions, chopped fine

4 medium-sized potatoes and one can of Patak's Rogan Josh curry sauce

potatoes, chunked and soaked in water

2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine

one pound of hand cubed top sirloin beef with significant marbling

beef, mixed with 1 tbsp corn starch and 2 tbsp canola oil

Before we go any further, the rogan josh that we are familiar with in North America may be an English interpretation of an Indian curry. This is because, while Rogan Josh online recipes are spiced with Indian spices (tumeric, garam masala, coriander, cumin, and chile powder) and employ yoghurt, they also contain tomatoes, something common to a dish that Brits call "chicken tikka masala." In fact, the ingredient list for noted British Chef Heston Blumenthal's "perfect" chicken tikka masala is very similar to that of rogan josh. One has chicken. The other, beef or lamb. As Chef Blumenthal discovered, the closest authentic Indian dish he could find that resembled chicken tikka masala was butter chicken.

What to do:

read the instructions from the can

brown the stew meat in pan and place in the ceramic bowl of a slow cooker

de-glaze the pan with the onions, cook the onions until coloured, and add the garlic

add the contents of the can to the pan and bring to a simmer

add the chunked potatoes to the ceramic bowl and cover with sauce

Heat on high until simmering, switch to low and cook for 45 minutes.

finished rogan josh with potatoes

With a gentle brightness from the tomato-y sauce, savoriness from braised beef, and lots of Indian spices, this rogan josh made a great entree. The aroma during cooking was indescribably good.

Plate on cooked basmati rice, add a salad, and you've enough in one batch to serve dinner to 4, generously.

The best part: it's a slow cooker. There's no oven to look after.



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