Slow Cooker Recipies

[milkymumma]

I have a new love in my life... my slow cooker !

Ooo she is being well used!

So has anyone got any great recipies to share? Especialy the ones that take hardley anytime to prepare.. more of the throw in and leave it all dayer?

I just love the smell in the house, preparing it early morning and just enjoying good home cooked food without the stress in the late afternoon when the kids are tired! (screaming toddlers holding onto my legs while chopping carrots is not my idea of fun before dinner!) I just put my ladle in and wack it on a plate.

Perfect!

Please give me some ideas

[Jerseymum]

I fell in love with my slow cooker when my eldest was born. It's great and the smell as you get in from the cold school run...

One of the recipes my family love best was a storecupboard meal, originally.
stick onions, carrots, peppers (whatever you may have left, wilting, at the bottom of the fridge), lob in a cup full of peas/beans, tin of toms, tom puree (dollop of) and some veg stock. Now comes the not so brilliant bit: cube a tin of corned beef and put it in. Stick slow cooker on low all day - if it is still watery take the lid off and whap it up high for an hour. We eat it with rice.

or stick a load of veg in plus a cup full of lentils, some toms, stock and cumin to taste and you get a lovely daal (if it's watery we eat it as soup, if it's thick, good with rice)

or (my fave) brown some stewing steak and lob it in the SC with carrots, onions, peppers, celery and diced potatoes. Deglaze the pan with a pint of homebrew beer or a tinny, pour over meat and veg. Add some toms (tin or chopped homegrown) and stock, cook low all day.

Sarah

[milkymumma]

Ooo thanks, will give them ago

[Milims]

I love slow cookers so much I have 2!! Great for soups! Sautee some onion until lightly browned and chuck it into the pot. Throw i some tinned tomatoes and lots of garlic and oregano. Season to taste Cook for aaaaaaaagggggges!Joooosh with a stick blender until smooth. Italian Tomato Soup! You can also add some carrot if you like.
Roasting meat in it is wonderful. All you have to do is sear the meat first and then bung it in with a chopped up onion and a cup of water - beautifully roasted meat and wonderful gravy!
Bung a chicken in a really hot oven to brown on the outside then sprinkle it with thyme, lemon zest and garlic. Chuck it in the pot with a chopped onion and some lemon juice and water.
Put some split peas in a muslin bag and put it in the pot. Chuck in a chunk of roasting ham some carrots, celery, onion etc, herbs, water seasoning and cook until the bag of peas goes soft. If this happens to be the same time as the ham is cooked remove them both - you know what I mean. Take the peas out of the bag and joosh it with a stick blender, adjust the seasoning to taste and you may need to add some of the stock to make a smooth puree. That's peas pudding and it goes wonderfully with the cooked ham - especially in a sandwich with ready salted crisps!
Add some more split peas to the stock in the pot and cook until they go soft. Joosh it with a stick blender - wonderful soup.

[bonniethomas06]

Mmmmmm I LOVE my slow cooker - I use it for:

1. Porridge - put 1 cup porridge, 2 cups water (makes it creamy so you don't need milk) in the night before, leave it on low and in the morning (I have to get up early for work) it is ready to go. Even better with apples, raisins and cinnamon, or chopped dried peaches - anything really.
2. Soup - 1 cup red lentils, a leftover cooked ham hock bone (with bit of meat) and water, carrots and onions/leftover parsley stems -mmmmm
3. Beef stew - stewing steak or better, cheaper cuts like skirt, red wine, onions, carrots, celery etc, (better if you sear first) and a potato chopped into small dice if you want to thicken it.
4. Poached pears - star anise, white or red wine, lots of sugar - stand them on their ends. Lovely.

It is worth buying/borrowing 'Ultimate Slow Cooker' by Sara Lewis - there is even a recipe for a mushroom and chestnut pudding, I gather steamed puds are easy in a slow cooker. Good luck!

Oh, and mulled wine/spiced warm cider!

[Mrs Moustoir]

What a brilliant idea to use the slow cooker for porridge and poached pears - both are favorites in this household so I'm going to give them a go.

[Green Aura]

I gather steamed puds are easy in a slow cooker.

That sounds very interesting - will look up this book, thanks Bonnie.

Put a whole chicken in (you can use pieces if you want) with a full bulb of garlic, broken into cloves, unpeeled. Bay leaf, chopped carrot, stick of celery - in about 4 pieces, few peppercorns, glass of white wine and top up to above chicken with water - preferably boiling. You can bung in lemon peel and juice too if you want and of course herbs of choice - tarragon and parsley . Put on high until all of it's bubbling then on medium until it's cooked - it should be falling off the bone.

I strain it and chuck the veg and peppercorns but squirt the cooked garlic innards into the stock and season - mmmm, yummy chicken soup. You can add rice or noodles and/or veg. Serve the chicken however you want.

[Ellendra]

I sometimes toss in mix diced potatoes, chopped greens, and ham into the slow cooker, then mix eggs with a bit of cream and pour over top, for a sort of slow-cooker quiche.

[Jerseymum]

Forgot to say we also use it to mull our wine in the winter, when we have parties.
Sarah

[milkymumma]

Wow what brilliant ideas!!

Thank you everyone, I will look out for that book too!

[zaxdog]

Hi All,

I use my slow cooker ALL the time. Yesterday morning I bunged in some browned venison and onions, garlic, stock and tomato puree. It sat all day while we were out gathering firewood and was yummy with mash. I also often make spag bol in it with either beef mince, soya mince or a mix of the two. Any cheap cuts of meat are good and also if you can pick up (free range) boiling fowls (hens who have stopped laying) and chuck them in with a load of any veggies and some stock they are great. I also make lots of soups and curries in the winter and mulled wine and cider!

Cheers

Gail

[Milims]

I made slow cooker porridge, with water, for this mornings breakfast - it was a big hit - with the humans, the chickens and the cat! Must do it again tomorrow!

[bonniethomas06]

Yep the chooks love it, as they always get the crispy chewy bits that stick to the sides. Well, they did last year. I haven't had porrige yet this year, might have to start now, I am inspired. Yumyum.

[wulf]

Slow cookers are brilliant for making stock. A stock needs the ingredients kept at a relatively gentle heat for a long time, leaching the goodness into the liquid without a rolling boil that breaks them up and leads to a cloudy result. If I've made a recipe that leaves me with a chicken carcass, that will go in with some bay leaves and peppercorns. I then add about 1 litre of boiling water (you don't want to leave the carcass sitting in luke warm water, breeding bacteria!), put the slow cooker on high and leave for an hour or three.

The result is pretty clear. You can either save as is or further refine by filtering and perhaps reducing down in a saucepan.

Wulf

[Thomzo]

These recipes sound wonderful.

I'd love a slow cooker too but, as I leave for work at 7am, I don't get any time to do the preparation in the morning. All the recipes I've seen say to brown the meat etc before putting it in the SC. Do you think it would be ok to prepare everything the night before, store it in the fridge overnight and then pop it in the SC in the morning? Or does meat need to be brought to temperature first before putting it in?

Also, I did borrow one for a while but found that the food was a bit overcooked by the time I got home (most recipes say 8 hours max but I'm out for at least 11). Is there a way around this? Are there slow cookers with a timer on perhaps?


Thanks
Zoe