where am I?
Simmering under.
Answer
One of the best aspects of Aga cooking is that you can get brilliant results while actually saving yourself work. Simply remember wherever possible to make full use of the ovens - and especially the simmering oven. With a conventional cooker only about 20% of cooking is done in the ovens, but with an Aga you should move to cooking 80% of your food there. By doing so, you`ll ensure the very best use of the stored heat within the cooker.
The hotplates should always be left for things that require a short cooking time. So, any time you`re going to cook something slowly on the hotplate - for more than, say, seven minutes - you`ll almost certainly get better results from the gentle heat of the simmering oven. It`s cooking for a longer time at such a steady and consistent heat which produces the excellent results.
Always heat up food thoroughly elsewhere on the Aga before transferring it to the simmering oven. There, it will be kept at just the right temperature to keep the food cooking - but only if it has already been started off somewhere else. It`s really a continuation oven: generally speaking, unless something were left in the simmering oven for a very long time, cold food in equals cold food out.
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So what exactly is all this food that can be cooked so brilliantly in the simmering oven? Well the most obvious are rich and delicious stews and casseroles. These can enjoy long and slow simmering to perfection over several hours and every last ounce of goodness will be coaxed out.
Here`s a neat tip for cooking root vegetables in the Aga when entertaining. Pre-heat your empty vegetable tureens covered with a plate as a lid in the simmering oven for 30 minutes beforehand. Then simply boil the vegetables hard in salted water for 3-5 minutes on the boiling plate, drain off all the water and quickly transfer to the hot tureens and cover, replacing them for 30-40 minutes in the simmering oven. The pans can be washed and put away before your guests arrive and the bulk of your meal will be sitting happily in the simmering oven until you`re ready to serve. I regularly entertain for up to 10 and the only foods I cook at the last minute are hot canapis and a few green vegetables.
Sauces need no longer mean a last-minute rush either as you can make these ahead of time, too. Use small saucepans with tight-fitting lids and keep them hot until required in the simmering oven. Another tip: when making parsley sauce, add the parsley just before serving.
A favourite of mine is traditional rice pudding, deliciously rich and creamy. Try adding some evaporated milk next time for an especially good finish. Many people have been put off old-fashioned steamed puddings because of steamed-up kitchens and the bother of watching the pan to make sure it doesn`t boil dry. With an Aga, all you do is steam for 30 minutes on the top and then move the pudding and pan to the simmering oven for 1S2 hours. No streaming walls - and no tiresome topping up. A great idea for Sunday lunch and no more fiddle-faddle making custard at the last minute either.
The more you get into the habit of using the simmering oven the more you will want to try and cook there. The oven is so large that there is plenty of room for all you need to do and it really can be filled right up. In fact, with careful packing you can fit in up to eight Aga pans. Make sure, though, that when cooking a lot of food at the same time, allow a longer composite cooking time. A lot of foods can also be kept for longer than expected without spoiling.
To finish, here are some of the future cooking pleasures you`ll soon be able to enjoy: slow roasts, celebration fruit cakes, creme caramels, cheesecakes, porridge, stock, boiled and steamed hams, pot-roasts, stewed fruit and, of course, meringues that are the envy of experts.
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Aga Cookery Doctor Richard Maggs offers some invaluable tips on how to get the very best results from the Aga simmering oven