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Did you know that to save more time when preparing dishes, you must actually practice slow cooking?

"Slow cooking (with low fire) allows you to do more things, like preparing your next dish or other ingredients, or even going out to shop while waiting for the food to cook," says Chef Sau del Rosario, one of the country's most respected chefs. "And the tendency, particularly for meat, when you cook things too fast is it gets hard and you’d spend more time undoing the damage."

Chef Sau, resident chef of Chelsea in Serendra, says that quick cooking via microwave oven and the like should be done sparingly, as these do not contribute to healthy diets and do not necessarily make cooking convenient. "It actually takes longer to cook with high fire since the meat doesn't cook very well, and not even lengthening the cooking time would make the meat tender enough," he said.

When it comes to beef, slow cooking is surely the way to go, especially if you want tender meat. He recommends three hours of cooking time with low fire for beef. This is the best way to cook meat you will serve to elderly people and kids who have no patience for cutting food into bite-size parts.

If you want to practice slow cooking, you can try Chef Sau's recipe for slow-cooked beef bourguignon with organic Tagaytay vegetables.

Slow-cooked beef bourguignon with vegetables

Ingredients:
250 g braised beef, cubed
1 tbsp oil (preferably olive oil)
80 g bacon
2 tbsp flour
30 ml red wine
30 g flour
39 g butter
125 g shallots
1-2 tbsp brown sugar (optional)
Bouquet garni (bay leaf, thyme, onion, cloves, parsley)
Salt and pepper

Procedure:
1. Heat the oil in a sauce pan and add the brown meat. Heat on all sides.
2. Add the bacon and cook for two to three minutes.
3. Stir in the flour and cook for another minute.
4. Pour two thirds of the red wine, add bouquet garni. Season to taste and bring to a boil.
5. Transfer to an oven-proof casserole dish, covered with aluminum foil. Place the dish in a pre-heated oven or 325 F (162.77 C) for two hours.
6. Melt butter in a saucepan and add baby carrots, shallots, green beans, and cook for two to three minutes.
7. Stir in to the casserole and cook for another few minutes until the onions are tender.
8. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.