When last we jawed on this topic of cooking up a stewy storm in the kitchen I shared my delightfulness with Microstoven cookware made from clay with added Spodumene.
Oh how I love dis stuff.
I'm set this week to get another item from the range to add to my collection of three pieces of Spodumened hardware.
I get myself the big Tagine.
While I'm after a big Tagine (pictured above left) I already have the miniature version which is only 13.5 cm across. This little device cooks a mean egg in the microwave in 20 seconds. In my use of these vessels I soon recognized that with a broad base version I could do away with most of my fry pan activities and the prospect of preparing food in the quintessential Tagine way begins to make a lot of everyday sense. It's not exotic at all. And my resident dishwasher loves the stuff because it is so easy to clean up after me. The secret irony is that this Microstoven cookware is much cheaper than quality casserole dishes but will survive cooktop, oven and microwave heating.
As we speak I am cooking a curry for tea. In my favorite Microstaven pot inside my insulated hotbag. So while I may be eating the cheap end of a cow I nonetheless am doing it sans ongoing energy inputs.
I braise at both ends of the cooking process: before entering the bag and after leaving the bag. HotBag cooking requires that you have to plan ahead and start cooking sooner rather than later. I should plan a day ahead I reckon but as yet I've been only notching up hours rather than days of insulated food preparation.
But when you eat cheap and buy cheap you need to deploy slow cooking methods that won't blow out the power bill.
So bagging makes do.
