Pyrex Slows Things Down with their New Slow Cooker

Slow cookers are the 'in' way of cooking these days. You just put things into the pot and forget about it for a few hours.  Pyrex, known for their great glass cooking dishes have brought out an enamelled cast iron slow cooker.  It is great for simmering due to its superior heat retention properties. It comes in different sizes and is suitable for a range of cookers. Mine is the 20cm - 2.2L which is the smallest and holds loads.You can use it on the hob or pop it into the oven. They are easy to clean and come in a vibrant red.

I wanted to cook some sauerkraut after trying some of Ren Behan's Polish bigos.  I have long loved sauerkraut from my days living in Austria and Germany.

I started with a little bit of olive oil,

then into the pot I added some chopped smoked bacon, a piece of choritzo and a red onion finely chopped and sauteed until the onion was getting soft and the bacon and choritzo was cooked.  I tipped in a jar of sauerkraut, a red pepper and three carrots grated into the pot. 

 

 

 

To this mixture I added ground pepper, sea salt, caraway seeds, a tablespoon of tomato puree, paprika and a glass of water. You want some moisture but not too much so that you keep the texture since you do not want to boil the kraut.  Instead of water you could add a glass of white wine or a lager.

A couple of sprigs of thyme from my allotment and the whole pot went into the oven on a lowish to medium heat for about two and a half hours.  The smell in the house was absolutely heavenly!

I served the sauerkraut with a homemade potato salad and bratwurst.  We sat outside on a summer evening, dinner on the plate and a glass of wine in the hand. Perfect!!