Food Slow Cooking

I received a slow cooker for Christmas and I'm looking for ideas on how to use it

There are the obvious ones, such as chilli or stews, and I'm planning on cooking lamb shanks tomorrow.

Does anyone have any good recipes, or can think of anything else that might go well if cooked for a long time? Also, any tips for using a slow cooker in general?

 

I really like using the cooker for larger cuts of meat that need time to soften.
Think large cuts of venison, pork shoulders.
Remember to start with a bit of water or cooking liquid on the bottom but not too much because the cooking process will generate plenty of liquid.
Root vegetables like carrots, rutabaga, parsnip hold up well to the prolonged cooking.
Have fun and just remember that the edges of the cooker may be hot so don't burn yourself!

 

I definitely rate them.

My simplest two meals are

1, tomato & fish soup

1 tin tomatoes
1 small tin /half tin of kidney beans
1 tin of sardines

I pour all of this into the pot and add maybe 1 pint or a bit more boiling water on top

Add:

A good bit of paprika
a bit of black pepper
a bit of Basil
a segment of garlic (crushed or broken up)
a bay leaf

Mix it all up, leave it on all day, lovely.

2, beef stew

1 however much beef you like, brown it off in a pan for 5 or 10 mins
While its going chop of the following

2 sticks of celery
2 medium carrots
1 big onion
2 segments of garlic
2 potato's chopped up nice and small
about 20 green beans chopped up

Now pour boiling water over the top so it just covers the meat

Add the following for flavour
1 vegtable stock cube
a nice bit of worcestershire sauce
good bit of paprika
some rosemary

(the main thing is to put in plenty of worcestershire sauce)

You might want a bit of conflour so that gravy is nice and thick by the end.

Beautiful.

(Works really well with liver also, but if you have liver I personally would have a cup or so red wine in it too)

 

Strange have you always added boiling water to your crock pot recipes?
I've always just used tap water, or room temperature broth. Have not heard of using boiling water.

 

There is a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish dish called cholent (or chulent), which is a kind of meat and bean stew, usually with beef. It is specifically designed to be cooked slowly, since it is usually made for Shabbat (the sabbath, during which we are prohibited from cooking), so it was put up to cook before sunset on Friday, and let cook until people returned from synagogue for lunch the next day, at which point it was served. There are a nearly infinite number of variations, but this is the version that I make. Now, I usually cook this in a dutch oven on the stovetop, or in a stew pot inside the oven. But I know many people who cook it in a slow-cooker or crockpot, and they say it comes out wonderfully.

2 lbs meat (I usually use beef cheeks or flanken, but standard cubed beef for stew works fine also; I have occasionally used lamb instead, and it works very well)
1/3-1/2 lb very tiny gold potatoes, or small gold potatoes cut in quarters
2 medium sweet yellow onions, roughly chopped
1/2 cup diced rutabaga
1/3 cup roughly chopped carrot
6-10 cloves of garlic, according to taste
1 can small white beans, drained well
1 can butter beans, drained well
1 can small red or pink beans, drained well
2/3 cup pearled barley
1/3 cup faro (any other sturdy grain can be substituted, such as wheat berries, if it's hard to find faro)
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 tsp anchovy paste
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme, stripped
2-3 sprigs fresh marjarom, stripped
2-3 sprigs fresh sage, stripped
1 small fresh bay leaf (or 1 large dry bay leaf)
1/8-1/4 cup fresh curly parsley, minced fine, according to taste
1/2 tsp mace
1/4 tsp nutmeg
sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 bottle good quality hard cider
1/2 bottle good quality ale or lager
1 cup water
4 cups beef broth (low sodium if possible)
2 tbsp margarine

Brown the meat lightly in a pan, over medium-high heat using some of the marg, then remove. Using the rest of the marg, and covering the pan, cook down the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes. Add in the herbs (except for bay leaf), the spices, the anchovy paste, and stir to incorporate well. The anchovy paste should kind of dissolve into everything after a minute or two. When that happens, add in the tomato paste, mix well to incorporate, and after that cooks for a couple of minutes, add the worcestershire sauce, the cider, the ale, and cook for another couple of minutes. (At this point, I would suppose that if one were using a slow cooker, now would be the time to put in the meat, and add all the ingredients from the pan.) Add the meat back in, and add all the other ingredients as well. If there is not enough liquid to cover everything, add in some more water or beef broth (or both). Toss them a bit, cover, and set to cook on a very low flame for around 18 hours. Serve hot, with warmed fresh bread.

This dish is supremely good on cool winter days, but be warned: a large enough serving will result in uncontrolled napping. Also, Beano before eating this is a kindness to everyone around you.

 

I'll have to make a note of all these hearty recipes, to bring up when the season is right. The timing of a slow cooker as a southern-hemisphere Christmas present isn't great, but I'll definitely be trying some of these as things get colder again.

 

Alright, the lamb shanks didn't turn out great, but I think I have all the mistakes covered for next time.

 

Lamb shanks are a tall order, with high "bust" potential no matter what you do with them.
Get yourself a nice fatty pork shoulder or a big venison roast. You can't miss with those, and you will learn and get more confident as you go.

 

I'm definately going to try this one. What type of beans do you typically cook? Do you put any seasonings at all or do you cook them again after the crock pot?

I always thought that salting beans was a no=no until they are fully cooked or they get all hard or something?

 

Never thought about dried beans in a slow cooker. Have to try that.

 

I make macaroni casserole in the ceramic pot from the slow cooker. But I cook it in the oven. The problem is, the stupid lid had a plastic handle that isn't meant for the oven. Now I need to get a knob from the hardware store to replace it as it cracked.

I've tried a number of recipes in the slow cooker. It is good for a pot roast of beef. I also like jambalaya.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/colleens-slow-cooker-jambalaya/

 

Some people have a custom not to serve fish and fowl together. But there is actually nothing in Jewish Law that says that you can't have meat and fish together.

Cholent rocks. So many variations. Almost impossible to make a bad cholent.

 

i can't imagine a food besides chili that anyone would ever want to eat

ever