Meat for slow cooking

Cheaper cuts of meat take longer to cook to become tender and flavoursome.

For example, beef cheeks (or pigs' cheeks) are now popular, braised for 8 hours I promise you'll never look back. Cuts of meat like shin and skirt make great casseroles or pie fillings. You're using cuts that come from the hard working muscles of the animal.

Two other cuts I'd recommend :

Lamb shanks

Shanks are fashionable these days so easy to source. I slow cook 4-6 (depending on the size of the shank) at a time. You can either leave in tact or strip and then freeze. Place a defrosted whole shank in a pre-heated oven so that the outside can brown.

Pre-heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6. Wrap the shank in foil and bake for 20 minutes, remove the foil and let the shank brown for a further 15 minutes.

The meat from the shank falls away and is tender and sweet. Bear in mind that when you slow cook meat containing a bone it will take longer.

Ham hock

Is another cut that is perfect for slow cooking and its uses are many and varied. If you want to be cheffy you can turn it into a terrine. Strip it and leave in sizeable chunks – perfect with your slow cooked chicken as a pie base. Pea and ham soup anyone?

Keep it simple – let the meat speak for itself!