Crockpot testing day

Oh I LOVE my crockpot. I have some really yummy recipes.
If you don't get good results that first time don't give up.
Some recipes are better than others.

We had slow-cooked something or other with tomato/bbq type sauce. It was supposed to be beef, then it looked a bit like pork when it had defrosted a bit, but by the time it was cooked I couldn't be sure at all. I just know it wasn't chicken or lamb! The sauce was tomatoes, brown sugar, sherry vinegar, worcester sauce, pepper, sweetcorn, garlic and maybe some other stuff. Don't remember adding any salt interestingly enough. Turned out kind of BBQ flavoured, and DD asked what was in it because she thought it was a bit spicy!

Anything with a can of tomatoes and some meat and veg will work in a slow cooker. If I didn't have an aversion to using canned soups I could probably widen my raneg considerably!

I tend to put mine on around lunchtime (that would be midday Honey!) but I didn't used to need it until 7pm. Now it will probably have to go on a bit earlier. You'll have to let us know what you ended up with...

Kerri.

This recipe was chicken, broccoli, a packet of stuffing and some canned soup (sorry Kerri!). It sounded nice, but the resultant greeny-grey pap with lumps of chicken in was gross. It is now residing in the dustbin. Now I remember why I don't like trying new recipes! What a waste of £6, which is what the ingredients cost me. AND we haven't had any dinner, though neither of us is hungry after a few mouthfuls of that. Urgh.

Back to the drawing board!

What's your favourite recipe Trisa?

Try this next time you have chicken breasts:
cubed Chicken breasts
1 can (I use a family sized one) of Cream of Chicken soup
1/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup chopped green onions
dash of chayenne pepper
salt and pepper

Mix it all up in the crockpot and cook for 8 hours. Serve over or with rice.

Thanks, Jenny! That sounds simple enough for even me to cope with. I'll try it soon and let you know how it turns out!

What happens when you overboil broccoli?? Well, why do you expect it to stay a beautiful green in a slow cooker if it turns to yellow slime in a pot of boiling water??? Add the broccoli towards the end of cooking another time, or start off testing with vegetables which are safe in a slow cooker forever like sweetcorn, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions. Green veg is asking for trouble, and even carrots courgettes and aubergines will turn to mush eventually, so if you want texture, add them later.

Another thing you might want to try next time is to do an all-in-one recipe you're already familiar with. A lot of one pot stuff translates easily to the slow cooker, just ensuring that you can walk out of the house safely while it cooks, instead of having to turn the gas off. My number one safe suggestion?? Pasta sauce. Whatever you normally do for pasta sauce will work perfectly in a slow cooker I promise, so no need to splurge on fancy ingredients for a new recipe. Just don't leave it on high after the first hour or so or it will eventually dry out. You could probably resurrect it - I've had to in the past when I forgot to switch to Auto (starts on high than automatically moves to low after a couple of hours), but it's best not to have to!

Stick to what you know. The slow cooker is new, so don't also try to work with new and unfamiliar recipes or you're asking for trouble.

Kerri.

I followed the recipe to the letter. It said 'mix together soup, stuffing and broccoli, put in crock on top of chicken and cook for 6 hours'. It must have been written by someone who likes their dinner to resemble brains

Hope has sent me a recipe for chicken cacciatore and my next step will be to try that and Jenny's Chicken a la King recipes. Both of those sound nice

Hey you guys! Please chuck recipes into the recipe box. A place for everything and everything in its place, blah de blah.

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

has following a recipe ever been a good thing in cooking??

You have to use a little bit of brainpower too, and sometimes work round things that just don't sound right. The more cooking you do the more you'll learn that, and to trust your instincts. What is it about me and instincts today?? How does anyone survive without trusting their instincts on things?? I certainly wouldn't make through a day!

Remember to substitute for anything in those recipes from Hope and Jenny that would mean an extra special grocery trip. Learning to substitute smartly will save you money and headaches. You can then take any basic recipe and tailor it to fit you better, without needing to make a special trip to the supermarket (from which nobody can emerge with just the one single item they went in for, unless they have testosterone in their veins!).

I still reckon you should test the recipes you're familiar with first, see how the slow cooker works with them. It will work, but you need to see that. My curry works perfectly well in there too because I've been known to do it in there once or twice. You just have to not panic at the sight of coconut milk that's been left unattended for several hours!

Kerri.

Tomorrow I am trying the recipe Hope gave me - Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore. If it's a success I'll post it in the recipe box

I have high hopes of this one.......

Yum yum

Details!

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

Onions, chicken breasts, mushrooms, Italian seasoning (should have been oregano too but I couldn't get any), tomato paste, salt, water, bay leaf. I threw some julienne carrots in too. Cooked it on low for about 8 hours and then ate it with spaghetti. Yum

I WILL post it in the recipe box Lynn, I haven't forgotten, just been a bit busy

Honey

I forgot to say - the following day I made a beef stew type affair which was also very nice. Beef, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, with some salt and paprika. I added some green pepper towards the end of the cooking time. Reheated leftovers the next day were even better. I'm not usually a big fan of beef (sorry Jenny ), but this was really nice. We usually eat chicken a lot, but stewing beef seems to be cheaper, so I am pleased to have found a beef dinner that we like

Honey

Honey, here's a really easy one:

Put a layer of onions, potatoes, and carrots on the bottom of the crock and top with a whole chicken. Sprinkle with the herbs/seasonings you like and cook on low for 6-8 hours. The skin will be white and blubbery, but ignore that and just pull it off. The meat will be very tender and flavorful. You can also make a gravy on the stovetop with the liquid in the crock if you want.

We also love the stupid-simple beef barley soup in the recipe section.

Hope it keeps working for you, I don't know what I'd do without mine!

-Jo

Thanks to the slow cooker even my DD occasionally eats beef. She's the type of child who chews her own saliva (at the age of 7 1/2 - we're not talking about a toddler here!), so the slow cooker does all the hard work for her!

A lot of the cheaper cuts respond well to slow cooking, and they're also usually far tastier than the more expensive, leaner cuts you'd buy for quick frying. Brisket is one example I played with a bit recently - very tasty!

any all-in-one dishes will work in a slow cooker... I'm just glad you had a success with the second one, because I could see that Christmas present quickly becoming a white elephant otherwise!

Kerri.

We have a potluck at my church, which is 40 min. away from my home, so I'm trying to figure out how to time this. I guess I'll cook 'em in the middle of the night! I actually have real red beans for this. For some reason, they are hard to find around here. Usually I have to use red kidney beans (which are very tasty too).

Can I post the recipe if I got it off about.com?

We had Jenny's Chicken a la King today Actually it was Turkey a la King, as I had turkey lurking in the freezer that I wanted to use up. No cayenne pepper, but I used some ordinary black pepper and a bay leaf and it was very tasty. We had it with rice, carrots and slices of courgette which I sauted in garlic and ginger.

Tomorrow or Monday I am going to try roasting a chicken (thanks Jo). The instructions on my crockpot say that the food must be covered with liquid, which is the only thing that worries me. Think I'll go ahead and do it anyway

How did your beans work out, Susannah?

Kerri - translation please What would we call brisket over here?

Honey, I forgot to say to pour in some chicken broth or wine. I usually use 1/2cup to a cup. Good thing you mentioned it!
Hope it works for you!
-Jo

Thanks Jo - I already cooked it before I checked here, though! It worked fine though - so much liquid came out of the chicken that everything worked well. I had friends call in unexpectedly though so I ended up leaving it in the slow cooker far too long. I offered them some and they refused, but then they didn't leave until 9.30pm, by which time the chicken had disentegrated. Still tasted nice, though Tomorrow I am making stock from the carcass.
I LOVE my new crockpot

I took them to the dinner today and had somebody else's chili instead. I'll make another batch of rice and have 'em for supper.

Brisket is the same in the UK and in the US. Check the meat section at Tesco more carefully. (It's a cut of beef.)

Thanks Becky. I've honestly never known anyone cook it here nor seen it anywhere. I am so bad at knowing about meat. You wouldn't think my Dad and Grandad used to work in a butcher's shop when I was growing up, would you??!
I will look closely in Asda today!

I went to Asda, looked in the beef section - and there it was, brisket It seemed to be around the same price as the stewing beef I bought last week, but the brisket had hardly any fat on it, whereas I cut quite a bit of fat off the beef last week (don't like fat). So a better bargain Thanks Becky

This is really good, I serve it over rice...

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 small, sweet onion, chunked
red and/or green pepper, chunked
1 pkg. mushrooms, cleaned and cut into quarters
1 can of pineapple chunks, juice reserved

Mix together the following and pour over the top:
reserved pineapple juice
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 Teaspoon fresh minced ginger
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Mix these together well

Cook on low for 4-6 hours and stir in a box of frozen green beans that you have defrosted. You can also sprinkle in some cashew nuts.