Slow-cooked chicken stew and dumplings

This completely scrummy, hug-on-a-plate loveliness was born of a necessity to find something non-confrontational but nutritious that poor old hubby could eat while he had a horrid sore throat.

He hadn't eaten very much at all for the previous two days - just drinkable things like soup and tea, really - and his blood sugar levels were all over the place.  Needless to say, this wasn't helping him to feel any better.

He quite obviously couldn't eat the Woodman's Casserole that I'd got in mind, as it contained tomato, paprika and some hefty sausages.  So that got shelved while I thought hard about what to provide that would do the job.

Of course, the age old remedy of chicken soup was at the forefront of my mind, but even home made wasn't quite good enough, as he was obviously needing to fill his tummy with some good nutritious food that would keep the blood sugar up with slow release carbohydrates for several hours.

A short step from chicken soup, was chicken stew.  However, it needed to be very well cooked, so that the vegetables would be soft, yielding and just slip down with the tiniest of effort - and no aggressive spices!  The slow cooker was the obvious choice.  However, don't feel you need to have a slow cooker before you can make this stew - on the stove top or in the oven, or both, would do just as well.

The stew needed to be filling, with plenty of vegetables and devoid of things like lentils - which although full of protein and fibre, aren't for hubby.  Not at all.  He doesn't like them in the slightest (although I can get away with using red lentils in a curry, as they tend to dissolve and if they don't, they're roughly the same colour so hide very well!).

Pondering on how I was going to cook the stew, I remembered the success I'd had with the finely chopped mirepoix of vegetables for the Cottage Pie and Shepherd's Pie recently.  Those tiny morsels of veg. just disappeared in the cooking process and added heaps of flavour to the gravy, so that seemed to be a great way to ensure lots of tasty flavour in the stew.

It was about then that I hit upon the idea of using some of the same vegetables in both the finely chopped form and bigger, chunkier form.  The echoes of flavour carried through the gravy and into the larger pieces of vegetable sounded like a very good idea.

I felt the stew was missing something though.  What would we eat it with?  Crusty bread was out - too aggressive for a sore throat.  Potatoes were in there already.  Pasta was do-able, but not preferred - and the same went for rice or couscous.  Well, the obvious thing was dumplings.

Because of the parsley and tarragon in the stew already, I decided against going down the herby dumpling route and opted for plain "salt & pepper" dumplings, as we call them.  They were lovely.  Light as a fluffy cloud and as comforting as a big warm duvet, they did the job perfectly.

Hubby had no difficulty in eating his stew and if the appreciative murmers were anything to go by, the fluffy dumplings were very welcome.  I like to think that he felt an awful lot better following on from dinner, that night!

The vegetable components of this stew are open to your own interpretation.  Anything would be just fine if you don't have a sore throat - red pepper, sweetcorn, peas, broad beans, dare I say - lentils - the world is your veritable oyster.

You will notice, from the ingredients list, that - unusually - I have not detailed ther how each item should be prepared.  This is because I have dealt with some ingredients in two different ways, so I have gone through the mise en place (preparation process) in detail in the recipe.  All the peel and skins from the vegetables can be used on your compost heap, in some instances kept for stock or soup, or alternatively thrown away.

If you are preparing this stew without the slow cooker , simply cook it in a large stovetop to oven casserole dish, or large heavy based saucepan that will go into the oven, or alternatively in a large saucepan, decanting into a casserole dish before putting in the oven at 160deg for approx 2-3 hours.  In this instance, you will need to brown the chicken then remove and keep it warm until all the vegetables and the gravy are ready, then replace the chicken before putting it in the oven to cook.


SLOW COOKED CHICKEN STEW AND DUMPLINGS   (serves 4)

Ingredients :

2 tbsp rapeseed, olive or vegetable oil
3 large skinless & boneless chicken breasts
1 large onion
1 garlic clove
2 large celery sticks
2 large donkey carrots
6 chestnut mushrooms
3 small Maris Piper potatoes
1 medium turnip
1 medium parsnip
a small handful of chestnuts
5 stems of curly parsley
3 stems of tarragon
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
a Knorr chicken stock pot (or chicken stock cube of your choice)
a glass and a half (300ml approx) of white wine
1 tsp chicken stock powder
hot water
2 tbsp plain flour
a large knob of butter
3 tbsp self raising flour
1.5 tbsp vegetable suet
a small amount of milk.

Method :

1.  Mise en place - or preparation.

a.  Take each chicken breast and trim the fat and gristle away.  Chuck these bits either in the bin, the stock supply pot or the nearest dog.  Cut each breast into 5 or 6 chunky pieces and set aside.

b.  With a clean knife and on a clean chopping board, take the onion and remove the top and tail, then halve it and remove the brown outer layer and - if necessary - an underneath layer, until you reach clean good onion.  Chop the onion into fine dice and place on a small plate, leaving a spare space for the garlic.

c.  Take the garlic clove and remove the tail end and skin.  Chop the clove finely and place onto the small plate, taking care to keep the garlic separate from the onion as they will be cooked at different intervals.

d.  Wash the celery sticks well and remove the tops and tails.  Taking the first celery stick, cut into one inch pieces and place into a large bowl.  The second celery stick should be diced finely and put into a smaller bowl.

e.  Remove the tops and tails from the carrots and peel them.  The first should be cut into chunky pieces on the diagonal and placed into the large bowl with the celery.  The second should be diced finely and go into the smaller bowl.

f.  Clean the chestnut mushrooms and trim their stalks.  Do not peel them.  Take three and quarter them, then add them to the large bowl.  Finely dice the remaining three and add them to the smaller bowl.

g.  Peel the potatoes and take care to remove any eyes or blemishes.  Rinse in running water to make sure the potatoes are clean, then chop into chunky pieces and add them to the large  bowl.

h.  Take the turnip and trim off the top and tail.  Placing it flat side down onto the chopping board, take a sharp knife and cut from top to bottom along the edge to remove the peel, which can be discarded.  Cut the peeled turnip into chunky pieces and add them to the large bowl.

i.  Take the parsnip, trim off the top and tail and peel it.  Again, cut into chunky pieces and add to the large bowl.

j.  Take the chestnuts and cut each into two pieces and add them to the large bowl.

k.  Chop the parsley (stems and all) and the tarragon (removing the woody part of the stem) roughly and add to the large bowl.

Cooking :

a)   Heat the oil in a frying pan until quite hot, then add the chicken pieces and season.  Fry until golden brown on at least two sides, then using a slotted spoon to retain the oil, decant into your slow cooker.  Replace the lid and turn the slow cooker on to medium.

b)   Add the onion to the frying pan and cook until softened and just beginning to take on colour.  Add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute.

c)  Add the contents of the smaller bowl (all the finely chopped vegetables) and stir to combine.  You may need to add a little more oil at this stage, but no more than a teaspoonful.  Continue to cook until the vegetables have softened.

d)  Add all the chunky vegetables and herbs from the larger bowl into the slow cooker.  Replace the lid.

e)   Add the chicken stock pot to the frying pan - clear a space in the vegetables so that it meets the surface of the pan - then add the wine.  Increase the heat under the pan until the wine sizzles and boils.  Allow it to boil for 2-3 minutes until slightly reduced and the majority of the alcohol has burned off.

f)  Add the chicken stock powder and sufficient water to bring the liquid level in the slow cooker up to approximately one third of the way up the contents.  You'll have to guess the amount at this stage, but you can easily add a little more water once you've decanted the gravy into the slow cooker.  Don't overdo adding the water at this stage, as it is much more difficult to reduce it, than add it!

g)  Stir and simmer until the stock and wine have amalgamated nicely, then taste for seasoning and add a little more if necessary.

h)  Decant into the slow cooker.  Add a little more water, if necessary.

i)  Replace the lid and cook for a minimum of 4 hours.

j)  Turn the slow cooker to high and, in a small bowl, mix the butter with the plain flour until well combined into a smooth paste.

k)  Add small amounts of the paste to the slow cooker, stirring gently, until the gravy has thickened to your preference.  Give a final taste to check the seasoning and add a little more if necessary.

l)  In a small bowl, add the self raising flour, suet and some seasoning.  Add a small amount of milk and stir to combine.  Keep adding the milk in small increments until you have a sticky dough.

m)  Take the dough to the slow cooker and add a teaspoonful at a time, dropping the dough into the gravy.  Take care to leave each dumpling where it falls and try to prevent their connecting with one another.

n)  Replace the lid, turn the slow cooker down to slow and cook for another 45 mins to an hour.   The dumplings should be softly fluffy all the way through, with no evidence of any stickiness or suet.


Serve.

Printable version

Slow cooker beef stew & dumplings with Tenderstem broccoli

As the days have suddenly become decidedly autumnal, so my thoughts have turned to beautiful dark stews, studded with fluffy dumplings.

Inevitably, much in the same way as word association, (stew : slow cooker), these thoughts are swiftly followed by the hope that maybe this year, I'll be able to use the Slow Cooker successfully.

I've owned a slow cooker, in one incarnation or another, for what seems like donkeys' years now.  My first one was a tiny slow cooker which would feed one person.  I believe it used to be my Nanna's and was put away to await a new owner when she passed away.  I was only too pleased to inherit it when my Mum suggested it, as at that time, I was working a 9-6pm job five days a week, plus walking two lurchers and taking care of two horses outside of work time.  I would generally find myself looking hopefully in the fridge at around 9pm each day and resorting to horrid ready-made microwave dinners.  My slow cooker changed all that.  I would feel sorry for the dogs, having to sit in the flat while I was at work and smell the dinner slowly chuckling away in it.  They always got the leftover gravy at the end, so even the dogs knew that the slow cooker was A Very Good Thing.


However, when my medium-sized slow cooker finally died, I replaced it with an enormous version that would easily take an entire chicken, plus all the veg.  Quite apart from anything else, it took up a prodigious amount of space on the worktop, which was a bit of a pain.  Being able to cook lovely stews and roast entire chickens in it offset these difficulties.  Then, for some strange reason, I lost my slow cooker muse and instead of turning out great meals, I went through a phase of everything either turning to water or everything tasted of "slow cooker", i.e. boiled and pallid.


Looking back, I suspect what happened was that I got over-confident with it.  I began cutting corners and instead of (for instance) browning the meat before the slow cooking began, I would just throw everything in, switch it on and expect it to be lovely.  Not surprisingly, it wasn't.  Another aspect was that with a sudden reduction in the amount of money we were bringing in each month (another story entirely), I couldn't afford to buy the cuts of meat that were suited to slow cooking.  Those horrid frozen chicken breasts that are more water than meat immediately come to mind.  Nothing could make those things taste good.

Makes your mouth water!

As a result, my lovely slow cooker has resided at the back of the pan cupboard for nearly two years now.  However, in the meantime, I've begun taking cooking a whole lot more seriously and have achieved a certain level of self-education with it.  As a result, I've forgotten the horrid short cuts that I used to take and now understand how to achieve flavour in food.


I was hugely intrigued to give the slow cooker another go.  I was more than a little trepidacious that the lovely, dark, rich-gravied beef stew that I had in my mind's eye would turn out to taste not of Beef Shin, but of slow cooker.  It had to be done, though.  After all, I had the biggest slow cooker in the world not only taking up space in my cupboards, but it was a cheaper method of cooking than using the stove.  It should have been a no-brainer, as they say.


So, at around 10am, I sat down with knife and chopping board, hubby stood ready with peeler - and we commenced the cutting-and-a-peeling that is necessary to produce a beautiful beef stew.


It isn't a five-minute job, assembling a really good stew, it takes some time.  However, once you've got everything trimmed, peeled, diced, chopped and out of the cupboards, it's a simple matter of processing it through the browning, sweating, par-cooking and composing (that'll be the gravy) and on into the slow cooker.

Thereafter, all you need do is waft past on occasion, casting a sidelong glance at the contents through the glass lid, and sigh wistfully - right up until that moment when you've got an hour to go and you can safely lift the lid, stir the contents, drop in the dumplings and really begin to anticipate dinnertime.


My slow cooker Muse has returned - and very glad I am too.


SLOW COOKER BEEF STEW WITH DUMPLINGS  (feeds 4)


Ingredients :


800g beef shin, trimmed (start with 800g, to allow for wastage through trimming)
3 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, sliced finely
9 small round shallots, topped & tailed and peeled, but left whole
1 fat clove of garlic, chopped finely
9 chestnut mushrooms, wiped clean, but left whole
2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunky pieces
2-3 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunky pieces
2 celery sticks, de-stringed and chopped finely
enough swede for your own preference, peeled and cut into chunky pieces
1 medium potato, cut into fine dice
6-8 baby new potatoes, washed and left whole
3 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp vegetable bouillion powder
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
150ml red or white wine (I used white, as it was what I had available)
500ml beef stock (from a cube is fine)
1 tsp wholegrain Mustard
1 tsp Bovril
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 large gherkins, chopped
a large handful of curly parsley - including stalks - chopped fine.


For the dumplings :


100g self raising flour
50g vegetable suet
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
water, to combine.


Method :


1.  In a non-stick frying pan, heat up 2 tbsp of the oil and, when up to temperature, brown the pieces of beef.  Once they have taken on a good dark colour, decant them into the slow cooker, taking care to replace the lid and turn it on to low.


2.  Add the onion and shallots to the frying pan and cook until the onion has begun to take on colour and is softened.  Add the garlic and mushrooms to the pan and cook for another 1-2 minutes.  Decant into the slow cooker.


3.  Add the remainder of the vegetables to the frying pan (I did it in two batches) and fry until beginning to take on colour.  Again, decant into the slow cooker.  When all the vegetables are in, stir to combine.


4.  Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the frying pan and heat.  Sprinkle in the flour and bouillion powder and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring to prevent burning.


5.  Add the wine and allow it to frizzle, while you stir like crazy, trying to avoid huge lumps.  It is inevitable that some lumps will occur - but don't fret, as these will disperse once in the slow cooker.  Add the beef stock and continue stirring.


6.  Once up to a simmer, reduce the heat and add the mustard, bovril, tomato puree and worcestershire sauce and stir to combine.  Season to taste and once thickened to your satisfaction, decant it into the slow cooker.  It is best to go for a really quite thick gravy at this stage, as the juices from the meat and vegetables will serve to dilute it as they cook.


7.  Finally, add the gherkins and parsley and give everything a good stir.  Replace the lid, turn it up to high and leave it for a minimum of 4 hours.


8.  At this stage, mix up the dumplings by placing the flour, suet and a pinch of salt & pepper into a bowl and add sufficient water to mix up the dough.  I always opt for a sticky mix, as we like rustic looking dumplings, as opposed to shaped, smooth dumplings.


9.  Remove the lid from the slow cooker and stir the contents.  Then, spoon small amounts of the dumpling mixture onto the surface of the stew and leave them where they fall.  Replace the lid and turn the slow cooker down to medium.  Leave to cook for another hour.


10.  Serve with some tenderstem broccoli, for a lovely splash of green on the plate.


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Shin of Beef : a hearty stew with parsley dumplings

I want to make a steak and kidney pie.

There, I’ve said it.  Owned up to it, so I’ll have to do it now, instead of shying away from it like a pony scared by a flapping leaf.

With that in mind – you see, I’ve been working up to this moment – I thought I’d better suss out the beef from our local butcher.  We’d had a fabulous piece of rib of beef at Christmas, but that was all and I wanted to get some cheaper cut just to see whether I was capable of cooking it in the manner that would get the best out of it.  So, when we visited the butcher this week, I picked up 600kg of Shin with a view to doing a properly hearty beef stew with dumplings.

Now, remember I’ve got two fat-phobic boys in the family here.  They can’t bear it if any of their meat is “wobbly” (their description).  This is why I approached the Shin with caution, as I was very aware of their requirements and didn’t really want to spend hours trimming every little bit of fat from the meat – and so lose a lot of the flavour.  But sometimes you have to experiment in order to discover.

As such, I wasn’t too particular over trimming the meat.  Obvious strings of gristle were removed, as well as thick pieces of fat, but otherwise I left it in the hope that the 4hrs cooking that was ahead of it would do the trick and render what little fat was left.

I found that the 600g of Shin was the perfect quantity for 4 of us.  Yes, I know there are only 3, but you’ve just got to have second helpings of this one!

I started the cooking at around 2pm, by cooking all the ingredients that were going to add flavour to the gravy and then adding the meat.  When we came back from collecting Son and heir from school, the whole flat smelled of glorious beef stew.  I next looked at it with an hour and a half to go and added the “soft” vegetables.  Then, with just a half an hour to go, I included the dumplings.

Oh. My. God.  Honestly, if you never master any other dish – master making this one.  It truly is heaven.

HEARTY SHIN OF BEEF STEW WITH PARSLEY DUMPLINGS (feeds 3-4)

Ingredients :

2-3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

3 tablespoons of plain flour

salt & pepper

600g Shin of Beef, cubed

1 fat clove of garlic, grated

1 leek, sliced

2 sticks celery, de-stringed and chopped

half a red pepper, seeds removed and cut into cubes

2 beef oxo cubes

1 litre plus of boiling water

1 tablespoon of tomato ketchup

1 teaspoon of creamed horseradish

1 large teaspoon of wholegrain mustard

1 teaspoon of Bovril

a shake or two of Worcestershire Sauce

2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1.5cm pieces

1 large parsnip, peeled and chopped into large chunks

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped into large chunks

3 mushrooms, cleaned and each cut into 6

a handful of peas or broad beans

For the dumplings :

150g self-raising flour

50g suet (I used vegetable suet)

salt & pepper

fresh chopped parsley to taste – if you don’t have fresh, make plain dumplings

small quantity of milk to bind

Method :

1.  Turn your oven on at 160deg (fan) to pre-heat.  Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom of a deep pan or casserole – one that will go from the top to the oven.  Cook the onions very slowly until transparent and beginning to colour – approx 5-10 mins.  Remove and keep warm.

2.  Put the flour onto a large dished plate (or one with a lip) and season it well, then mix lightly with your fingers.  Toss the shin of beef in the flour until it is coated.  In the meantime, heat 1 more tablespoon of oil in the pan and add the coated beef.  If your pan isn’t big enough, you might need to fry the beef in two batches.  Make sure it fries and browns – don’t let it stew!

3.  Remove the beef and keep warm.

4.  Add the leek, garlic, celery and red pepper and cook until it begins to soften.

5.  Then return the onions to the pan and add the remaining flour, mixing well to ensure it amalgamates and cooks for 2-3 minutes.

6.  Add enough boiling water to just above the contents, mixing well with a whisk to ensure no lumps form from the flour.  Add the tomato ketchup, horseradish, mustard, Bovril and Worcestershire Sauce.  Return the beef to the pan and stir to combine.  Add a little more water, if the beef isn’t submerged.

7.  Cover with a lid and place into the oven for a minimum of 1½ hours – whatever suits you. A longer time would be fine, but a shorter time is not good.

8.  Remove the lid and give the contents a stir.  Taste, so that you know where the gravy is headed.

9.  Add the potatoes, parsnip, carrot and mushrooms, stir to combine, replace the lid and place the whole lot back in the oven for up to another 2 hours.

10.  Remove the lid, stir the contents and taste for seasoning.  Add more seasoning if you think it is required.  Add the peas or broad beans (or both if you’re feeling rash!), replace the lid and return to the oven.

11.  Make the dumplings.

12.  Place the flour and suet into a bowl and season.  Add the parsley and mix to combine.  Add a little milk and mix to combine.  The dumpling mixture should stick a little to the spoon, but not be fluid in any way.  If your mixture is too fluid, add a little more flour.  Too dry – add a little more milk.  The mixture should make eight dumplings.

13.  Remove the stew pan from the oven, remove the lid and carefully add spoonfuls of the dumpling mixture to the stew.  Allow them to sit where you dropped them, then replace the lid and back in the oven they go, for 20-30 minutes, depending on how big your dumplings are.

Once the dumplings are cooked (you can insert a knife into one, which will show you whether they are still sticky or not), serve into warmed bowls or warmed dished plates.

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This coming week's meals - better late than never.

When I left you last, I believe it was Sunday and we'd just had a lovely Gammon pot roast.

Well, I sort of fell apart over Sunday evening and on into Monday morning, in that the sudden attack of "meh!" that had got me earlier in the week turned into stomach pain and an overwhelming desire to vomit.  Not good.  So not good, in fact, that I didn't go to work on Monday.  Bringing a sickness bug to a Hotel is not a good idea.  As it was, after I'd taken son to school and crawled back into my bed for another hour or so's nap, I took some Milk of Magnesia and almost immediately began to feel better.  After a couple of hours, I could even face a scrambled egg - and so began the climb back to the pathetic level of health that I attempt to maintain.  I'm still not quite right - I couldn't face a curry quite yet - but with some skillful  planning, I'll get there.

So, Monday's lovely prawn risotto that Hubby had planned had to be jettisoned in favour of plain old grilled sausages with vegetables and gravy.  The boys, of course, had waffles and baked beans - but I couldn't face the idea of a greasy waffle.  I opted for a medley of fresh vegetables (leftover bits from the weekend, in fact) which sat a lot more easily in my stomach!

Tuesday is the first day of our new week and, because I was still feeling a tad delicate in the tummy department, I was luckily able to plan accordingly.  So, we had a lovely Macaroni Cheese.  We should have had salad, but again, salad was a bit of a stretch for me so we opted for some garlic bread.

My Macaroni Cheese is made with mature cheddar, onion, streaky bacon, English mustard and cayenne pepper.  Now you would think that the cheese would be too heavy, or the pasta, or the bacon - but no.  Nor is the mustard or the cayenne too much.   On the schedule of "things to eat to make you feel better" - a.k.a. "comfort food" - I think you'll find that Macaroni Cheese (or Spirali Pasta Cheese, as this one was!) is around no. 2, with Shepherd's Pie at no.1.

I did manage to get out to the supermarket on Tuesday, so we are all geared up for this week's meals.

Wednesday (or tonight, as I write this), we had something we haven't been able to have for over a year.  A classic old English Beef Stew, with dumplings.  In the past, stewing beef has always come in as too expensive for us.  However, with the supermarket's special offer help, I picked up some lovely shin of beef.  I made some Parsley dumplings - with fresh Parsley - which were delightful and took the place of potato (you will recall Hubby's strange antipathy towards the humble spud) admirably.

Thursday is the night that the Prawn & Little Gem Risotto makes a comeback - and hooray for it!  I'm really looking forward to trying this - and the wait has made it all the sweeter.

Friday and we're having a blast from the past - Kedgeree.  Now I love kedgeree and it's something I've made for years, perfecting the recipe as I've gone along until we've now got a deliciously dry, spicy confection of smoked haddock, hard boiled eggs, curry and rice.  Personally, I prefer to eat it with a side salad dressed with lemon juice and olive oil - but it would seem I'm alone in that!  That's okay, however, because I can soon rustle up a little salad just for me.  Yum!

Saturday needs to be an easy meal that can be eaten whilst watching t.v.  So this Saturday - thanks to Sainsbury's marked down Springform tins - we're having an old favourite which is "Bacon & Blue Cheese Filo Pie" with salad.

We'd stopped having this one for two reasons.  Firstly, my old Springform tin fell apart and secondly, son demonstrated an allergic reaction to blue cheese.  However, this time I'll prepare the pie with a blue cheese free quarter - and have the antihistamine to hand, just in case!  It's a lovely recipe, using layered filo sheets into which you put a mixture of cream cheese, beaten eggs, ham, rocket and pine nuts.  You then sprinkle over some crushed up blue cheese (I usually use Stilton), then fold the filo in to make a crust and bake.  Gorgeous with salad.

Now, Sunday is very exciting.  We're going over to New Milton to see my Parents and they've offered to take us out for lunch at the Fisherman's Haunt in Winkton.  I've had a peek at their menus and everything looks very tempting - so I expect a review will be forthcoming, in due course!

Not one of our Cottage Pies - but it looks nice,
all the same!

Owing again to the supermarket having some very affordable lamb mince, Monday is looking like Shepherd's Pie day.  Lovely!  Hubby is in the kitchen that day - and he makes an amazing Shepherd's Pie.  It will be extra-nice to have a proper Shepherd's pie, rather than the beef version - Cottage Pie.  So, if I'm not fully recovered by Sunday - I certainly will be, by Tuesday morning!  Shepherd's Pie is akin to medicine, in our house!

Lastly - I'd just like to know whether this qualifies me as a real cook.

Circled - just in case you missed it.  :)

I burned my hand on the cooker shelf when I was retrieving the roast potatoes on Sunday.  Yes, I know it's not a BAD burn - but I'm wearing it like a badge, that says "I cook!".  *smile*