From our Food Goddess, TaMara:
Years ago, when I was first learning to ski, I was very frustrated by the amount of time I spent on my ass and not skiing. Someone told me that if I wasn’t spending a lot of time picking myself up, I wasn’t really skiing. I needed to push my limits to get better. In other words, it was all good. I find that information works for a lot of things in life. Cooking is no exception.
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This week, I spent a lot of time on my figurative ass, playing with the new crock-pot making various recipes. There were epic failures. The first thing I tried was a slow cooker meatloaf. It called for a basic meatloaf recipe – I have a favorite – and then cook all day on low. The results were not stellar. More like steamed meatloaf. An unappetizing color and texture. Not the nice deep brown of a good baked loaf. I was able to salvage it by cutting it into thin slices and frying it up for sandwiches.
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The next failure was the scalloped potatoes. This called for a slightly modified recipe, a bit more moisture than in the baked method. The flavor was fine, the texture was horrible. Kind of like if you reheated some that you baked. Rubbery and chewy. I’m not sure how you could modify the recipe to get a creamier texture. I’d love to hear any ideas in the comments.
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The rest of the week was spent making traditional slow cooker foods – soups and a lovely pot roast. It wasn’t a total loss. I did learn that for a fool-proof slow cooker recipe it’s best to have a recipe that can cook, unattended, all day without risk of ruin. Both the potatoes and the meatloaf really could not have cooked any longer than they did. They would have turned out even worse.
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So that was adventures in cooking this week. What foods do you use your slow cooker for successfully? Anything usual that we’ve never thought of? Hit the comments. Next week I think our theme will be Mardi Gras, and I’m hoping you’ll come prepared to share some favorite drinks as well as Cajun food recipes. Someone should bring the King’s cake recipe, too.
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Here’s one of my favorite fool-proof slow cooker recipes:
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Portuguese Beef & Pasta
This works best if you cook the pasta separately and either add it to the beef the last 15 minutes or serve the beef over the pasta. This is one of those slow cooker recipes that the longer it cooks, the better it gets, usually 10 hours minimum for best flavor.
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1 lb round steak, cut into thin strips, remove excess fat
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
1 tsp crushed garlic
6 oz can tomato paste
2-14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup water
1 bay leaf (remove before serving)
½ tsp crushed red pepper
8 oz dry macaroni**
Slow-Cooker and saucepan
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Add beef, salt, pepper, onion, green pepper, garlic, paste, diced tomatoes, water, bay leaf & red pepper to Slow-Cooker. Cook according to manufacturer’s directions (usually 8-10 hours on low) until beef tears easily with a fork. In saucepan, cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain well (you don’t want any water in your beef mixture) and mix beef and pasta and serve.
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(**Ditilani works really, or any tiny pasta, like tiny elbow macaroni or tiny bow-ties.)
Cassidy
Okay, beef question. Pot roast , on low, in my slow cooker, comes out tough. Did it in my braising dish a week or so ago and it came out tasty, but still kinda tough; not as tough as the slow cooker, but not fall apart either. I’m trying to get the fall apart pot roast effect. Where am I failing?
Mnemosyne
OT-ish: Nancy Pelosi denouncing Stephen Colbert’s SuperPAC.
(She’s kidding of course, but kidding on the square.)
Raven
I use a pressure cooker instead of a crock pot.
MikeJ
Oh goody:
hamletta
@Cassidy: Try my girl Deb’s Southwestern Pulled Brisket.
You need to let it cook for a good 10 hours.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
Here’s one of my favorite slow-cookers:
Beef and Beer Stew (Serves 4)
1 lb lean beef stew meat, cut in 1-inch cubes
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, cut in ½ inch slices
2 stalks celery, cut in ½ inch slices
2 medium potatoes, cut in I-in cubes
12 oz beer
2 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 6-oz can tomato paste
Place all ingredients in crock pot, mix well. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
wobblybits
I’m with Raven, I tend to use the pressure cooker but I do have a crockpot and would like to try out some recipes.
Michael Demmons
Here’s a great slow cooker recipe:
1. Throw a bunch of shit in a slow cooker.
2. Turn it on low.
3. Wait 10 hours.
4. Eat it.
You can’t fuck up with a slow cooker. Simple as that.
Violet
I don’t own a slow cooker. I keep thinking I should get one, but then I just never do. Any recommendations if I do get one?
David
Best Potato Soup Ever Recipe
Cube potatoes and place in cooker. Barely cover with milk, add salt and pepper. Cook for 7-8 hours.
It’s like most delicious, cheesy baked potato you’ve ever had.
Raven
@wobblybits: One of my colleagues just started an intensive 2 year “executive” doc program in Higher Ed Admin. She’s gonna be a mess.
cathyx
@Cassidy: Try cooking it on high or longer on low. It sounds like it’s not cooked enough.
cathyx
I love my slow cooker. There;s nothing better than coming home after being gone all day and having dinner waiting for you when you get home. Kind of like having a husband who cooks.
Cassidy
@Michael Demmons: Let me tell you some stories about pot roast that had the texture of a basketball and could have been used for a shot put.
SiubhanDuinne
@Michael Demmons:
And the next day you can have a nice shit sandwich?
Michael Demmons
@Cassidy: See above :-)
Cassidy
I just don’t see that. It’s cooked all the way through. It’s tough on the outside and in the middle. But if I let it keep going, that will get it to break down into that pull apart, tender effect? Seriously?
wobblybits
@Raven: She has my sympathies.
Michael Demmons
@Cassidy: Yes. That’s exactly how it works. Same way barbecue works. They put that stuff in the oven early in the morning and serve it for dinner.
Shana
Best Chicken Stock in the World
2 rotisserie chicken carcasses (put one in the freezer until you acquire a 2nd one)
whatever ingredients you usually use for soup stock – onion, carrot, celery salt and pepper, turnip, etc.
Put the ingredients in the slow cooker, cover with water. My pot holds about 16 cups of water. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours. Strain. Clarify if desired.
The color is golden, the aroma is divine, it doesn’t get as cloudy as some cooking methods. Way cheaper and better tasting than anything you could buy in a store, including Kitchen Basics or Better than Bullion.
Shana
Best Chicken Stock in the World
2 rotisserie chicken carcasses (put one in the freezer until you acquire a 2nd one)
whatever ingredients you usually use for soup stock – onion, carrot, celery salt and pepper, turnip, etc.
Put the ingredients in the slow cooker, cover with water. My pot holds about 16 cups of water. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours. Strain. Clarify if desired.
The color is golden, the aroma is divine, it doesn’t get as cloudy as some cooking methods. Way cheaper and better tasting than anything you could buy in a store, including Kitchen Basics or Better than Bullion.
wobblybits
@Cassidy: I’ve had that happen as well, hence my using the pressure cooker more often than the slow cooker.
Shana
Sorry, don’t know why that posted twice.
folkbum
1 pack of chicken thighs
1 jar of your favorite salsa, but the higher-heat version than what you normally like
Six hours on low, serve on warm corn tortillas with cheese, sour cream, whatever.
Mindless!
A less mindless one:
6-10 apples, mostly sour, cored and quartered
A pork shoulder of appropriate size for your family unit, tied up, seasoned to taste, and browned in a skillet or under the broiler
1/2-2/3 of a cup of apple juice or cider, mixed with 1/2 cup of brown sugar
Load in the apples, smear the juice mix over the pork, and cook 8 hours on low
Mnemosyne
@Cassidy:
Yep. Because what you’re breaking down is all of the connective tissue that’s not obvious to the eye. You want to cook it long and slow enough that it basically turns to gelatin, which is what lets the strings of meat pull apart.
Also, you may need a little more liquid. Not too much, especially in the crockpot, but if there’s too little, you’re roasting, not braising.
wobblybits
I just worry that it will dry out (past experience). I wonder if I start off with frozen meat, might that take care of the dryness situation.
cathyx
I have a recipe for a lava cake that you make in the slow cooker. It is nothing but chocolate heaven. And it only takes 2 1/2 hours to cook.
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup veg oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup boiling coffee
Spray souffle dish that will fit into slow cooker with oil.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa in bowl. Add milk, vanilla, oil, and mix into stiff batter. Scrape into souffle dish and smooth top.
Mix brown sugar, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup cocoa in small bowl. Sprinkle on top of what’s already in souffle dish. Pour boiling coffee over whole thing. Put souffle dish in slow cooker and cover slow cooker with a towel then put the lid on the slow cooker. Cook on high for 2 1/2 hours until cake is set and bottom is still syrupy. Serve over vanilla icecream.
wobblybits
@wobblybits: Or is using a fattier/cheaper cut the key to success?
Cassidy
@Michael Demmons: @cathyx: @Mnemosyne: Well, I’ll be damned. Thanks. Here I thought I was overcooking it.
Arm The Homeless
I ran across this the other night. It turned out awesome with a couple changes.
The local supermarket had Vidalias on sale. I came to the conclusion that having them slow-roasted in the crock didn’t actually taste much better than an hour simmering in a pan. I also substituted ground lamb and turkey for the beef ‘n’ pork. Next time I will try basting the bottom of the cooking dish with the BBQ sauce for a braised effect.
Now I need a good vegetarian-meatloaf recipe. I have a mango chutney recipe that I think would be good on a loaf.
cathyx
@wobblybits: Those cheap cuts of meat need to cook real slow to be tender. And it needs a bit of liquid in it too. A can of beef broth or consume works great. Season the meat and 8 hours later it falls apart.
Sammi
I tried a whole chicken in the crock pot and didn’t like the way it disintegrated because it was sitting in liquid for a long time. The taste was good but I wanted it to stay together. I was looking for some kind of small raised rack that I could put on the bottom of the pan to keep the chicken from the fats and liquid. Someone told me I shouldn’t put a foreign object in the crockpot. Is that true?
jharp
I do chicken, beef brisket, country ribs, etc. all on slow cook. I just put in the oven @ 170 degrees until it starts to fall apart. Usually 12 to 18 hours but it really doesn’t matter. You can’t fuck it up if you tried.
And throw whatever sauces and veggies or whatever on top either at the start, midway, or towards the end. It’s all good.
wobblybits
@cathyx: I will try this. Thank you.
nwithers
Ok, for all of you Kama’aina stuck on the mainland, here is an excellent slow cooker recipe to remind you of the islands, or a massive winner for all those who want to throw a luau on a budget
Kahlua Slow Cooker Pig
Ingredients
6-8 pound Pork Butt (sometimes called a shoulder roast)
1 Tbs Liquid Smoke
1 ½ Tbs Salt (coarse sea salt, or Alea salt if you can find it)
3-5 Ti leaves (Can find at Flower shop)
[optional] Banana Leaves (Can find in Mexican/South American food freezer)
Equipment
Slow Cooker
2 forks
Cooking Instructions
Put the pork butt in the slow cooker pour the Liquid smoke over the pork butt and rub in
Rub in the 1 ½ Tbs of salt into the meat
Wrap the meat with the Ti Leaves in the slow cooker (and if you want to, the banana leaves as well)
Set Slow cooker to low and let run for 18-22 hours
Remove foil and vegetation, use forks to pull the meat apart. Remove the large bone
The Fat Kate Middleton
When I cook any kind of beef in the slow cooker, esp. roast, I like to add dried onion soup with a can or two of beef stock – how many depends on the size of the roast. And, yes, a full eight hours is necessary – in fact, I turn it up to high an hour to an hour and a half before serving (which is also when I put in potatoes, celery,and carrots). You can also add extra onion in the form of a chopped up medium onion at that time. Serve with simple “tube biscuits” and butter, and weep tears of appreciation.
brettvk
My favorite, because I love nursery food:
Crock Pot Tapioca
[triple recipe]
butter-flavored cooking spray
6 c milk (whole or lowfat)
1 ½ c sugar (I reduce to 1 1/4)
¾ c small pearl tapioca
3 t (1 T) vanilla extract
3 large eggs
Coat the crock with butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray.
Combine the milk, sugar, and tapioca in the crock with a whisk. Cover and cook on LOW 3-5 hours, until tapioca beads are mostly transparent (they may still have little white centers). [Locally,small pearl tapioca is available most economically from Asian markets.]
Beat the eggs in a small bowl with the vanilla until lemon-colored. Remove the lid from the slow cooker and stir the tapioca mix to break up any clumps. Beat a few spoonfuls of the tapioca mix into the eggs to temper them; then mix the eggs into the tapioca mix thoroughly. Replace the cooker lid and let cook on LOW another 30 minutes. Turn off the cooker, remove the lid, and let cool at least 15 minutes. Serve warm or refrigerate.
Cassidy
I did a braised pork the other day that was good. I made a dry rub of corriander, sea salt, pepper and chipotle chili powder and then pan seared on high heat. Bone in pork loin worked great for this. Then I added a carton of chicken stock, diced tomatoes, some diced up tomatillos, and an onion. It took about 6 on low heat and came out tender enough to fall off the bone, but not pulled pork tender, so a couple more hours would have been good (apparently).
Michael Demmons
@Cassidy: No ma’am. Overcooking is what slow cooking is. Let whatever didn’t turn out right go for three more hours.
Cassidy
@Michael Demmons: Cool.
I’m a dude. :)
Xjmueller
Pulled pork – five or more pounds of Boston butt (shoulder). Bone, no bone – doesn’t matter. Make or buy a good pork BBQ rub and put it on the meat. Add a little apple cider in the pot 1/4 to 1/2 cup. Put the roast in, cover and cook minimum eight hours on low. Longer is better (cooking time, in this case). When done remove meat and “pull” it – shred. Pour liquid from the Cooker into a gravy separator and let the fat rise. Add some of the juice to the BBQ sauce. Pour some over the shredded meat to keep it moist Eat on rolls with pickles or slaw, in tortillas, on bread, by itself etc. douse in BBQ sauce or not. Can’t go wrong, it’s all good. Mmmmmmmm… Pork….
TaMara (BHF)
@Cassidy: I haven’t read the whole thread yet, so someone may have already answered. Cut of beef is important – you want a chuck roast with lots of fat marbled in. Use water, wine or beef broth (or a mixture) – about 1/2 cup to 1 cup depending on the size of the roast.
Coat the roast in seasoned flour (salt, pepper, little garlic powder) and sear on all sides in hot oil. Then add roast and liquid to slow-cooker and cover. Cook on low. DO NOT open the lid for the first 4 hours, if at all. This is a mistake many people make. 8-10 hours should give you fall apart, moist roast.
That should be foolproof. Hopefully.
TaMara (BHF)
@Raven: I love my pressure cooker and use it almost every day. But sometimes, like for pot roasts and stews, I like the flavor an all day simmer can bring to a dish.
Roger Moore
@Cassidy:
If you want something like pot roast to be really tender, you need to cook it on low and let it go for a really long time. With any meat, there are two things competing for how tender it is. The hotter you cook it (above about medium rare to medium, at least) the more the muscle fibers squeeze out their moisture, making the individual fibers tough and dry. But as you cook it, the collagen that holds the fibers together breaks down into gelatine, which makes it more tender.
If you cook a tough (i.e. has a lot of collagen) cut at a low temperature for just long enough to cook it through, it will still be tough, but at least it will still be juicy. If you cook it at a high temperature for a long time, the fibers will get dry, but at least the meat will still fall apart because the collagen has broken down. In that case, you can partially rescue it by serving it with a sauce or gravy that will help to make up for the dryness. If you cook it hot and for a short time, the fibers will dry out and it will still be tough because the collagen won’t have a chance to break down. It’s only when you cook it low and slow that you can keep it juicy and have it fall apart tender.
TaMara (BHF)
@Cassidy: Here’s the actual recipe I use.
Slow Cook Roast Beef Menu
Betsy
@Cassidy: Boiling pot roast could be the culprit. It has to barely simmer for a long time (3 hours or so), but not to boil, which would toughen it.
Betsy
Don’t the acids or other things in wine also tenderize the meat as they penetrate it slowly?
5x5
I love the concept of a slow cooker — put the food in the cooker in the morning and eat it when I get home.
It rarely works out for me. It’s good but not great.
I have two — a cheapo (with a removeable pot) and an original “Crock-pot.”
Betsy
@wobblybits: Yes, definitely don’t let it dry out. Liquid should just cover or almost cover the meat. If the liquid evaporates, add more.
Joseph Nobles
I highly recommend braising pork shoulder in beer, my preference being a Stella. Some diced tomatoes, carrots, and onions and boy howdy.
Roger Moore
@Violet:
If you have the money, I’d suggest getting a sous vide cooker instead. Just about anything you can do with a slow cooker can also be done sous vide, but there are plenty of things you can do sous vide that can’t be done in a slow cooker. Sous vide is also great because it’s really easy to freeze for later, since the stuff is already sealed in vacuum pouches. That also makes cleaning up easy. The sous vide cookers are still expensive compared to slow cookers- the cheapest ones are still a few hundred dollars- but I expect prices to come down once production volume takes off.
Betsy
The thing I don’t like about crock pots / slow cookers is that everything just tastes boiled. It’s like the stereotype of old, awful British cooking: put everything in water and boil it til it falls apart and turns white.
I guess I’m a crazy elitist, but my feeling is that vegetables and meats (and some other things) are better if one sautes them in a little oil to get a caramelized edge and to reduce their volume and concentrate their flavor. THEN dunk them in the simmering water. This is braising (saute then simmer) and it makes things taste, well, more French and less British.
Otherwise, I am very fond of British things …
cathyx
@Betsy: My pulled pork definitely doesn’t taste boiled. The sandwiches are out of this world.
Roger Moore
@wobblybits:
It’s a misconception that cooking too long dries meat out. As long as you keep enough liquid around to braise it properly, it will reach maximum dryness when it’s cooked through and then stay there. If you cook it just until it’s cooked through, though, it will be dry and tough, since the connective tissue won’t have had a chance to break down. Cooking it longer will make it more tender by breaking down the connective tissue, which takes a lot longer than just heating the meat through. The tenderness will make it seem less dry, especially if you have a sauce or gravy, so you get the paradoxical situation that the solution to dry meat is to cook it longer.
kmac
I put stuff in before I go to bed, and put the timer for 8 hours. Mine will cook for 8, then go on a warming cycle for another 8 hours.
By the time I wake up in the morning it smells wonderful and I can do any other preperations and have it for lunch, and dinner.
JCT
Another pressure cooker fiend here — I’ve been living on my own for the past 6 weeks and I would go insane cooking for myself every night. Now my freezer is stocked with lentil stew, chickpea dishes and my current fave, a curried sweet potato + coconut milk chicken dish. The latter is so good that I’m about to buy my daughter a pressure cooker because I know she would love that dish…
I think it is the best way to make chicken, period. OK, along with beer can chicken, maybe.
Constance
Stews are fabulous in my crockpot. Before I went Paleo I had success with any kind of bean or lentil dish.
Lean Bean Cuisine: Over 100 Tasty Meatless Recipes from Around the World [Paperback]
Jay Solomon (Author) Many of the recipes in this book are perfect for crockpots. It includes a vegetarian feijoada that friends still recall with passion.
Scuffletuffle
@Sammi: Use veggies instead, coarsely chopped at the bottom to hold the bird out of the liquid. Bonus… delicious veggies!
Cassidy
Thank you all. I do try and get a nice marbled loin. Maybe I’ll get a shoulder next time. I’ve been doing it for about 6 hours, so I’ll set it up earlier and try all this out. I really appreciate it.
hamletta
@Violet: Oh, dear Lord. Ix-nay on the ous-vide-say.
I have three slow cookers, and I got them all at Goodwill. Make sure you get one with a removable crock, because it’s easier to clean. And its maiden voyage should be on a day you’re going to be home, just in case it shorts out or something. But I’ve never had a problem.
The perfect recipe for that purpose is caramelized onions: Slice a 3-lb bag of cheap onions and load it up. Dot with a couple Tbs. of butter. Cook on high for 8-10 hours, stirring every hour or so.
You’ll have a shit-ton of onions that you can freeze and use at will: caramelized onions without standing over a stove for 30 minutes? Heaven!
protected static
Whoever asked about slow-cooking starting w/ frozen meat? Don’t do it. Used to be recommended in the ’70s, but isn’t now. The meat stays at bacteria-incubation temperatures for a really long time as the meat thaws in your cooker.
currants
Oh boy! Lots of good recipes here!
Shredded Beef Sandwiches
1 – 3lb beef chuck pot roast
1/3 c vinegar
1 large onion, cut up (sliced is fine)
3 bay leaves
½ t salt
¼ t ground cloves
one garlic clove crushed
lettuce and French rolls
Trim fat from roast. Cut if necessary to fit into crock pot. Place meat on bottom. Combine vinegar, onion, bay leaves, salt, cloves, and garlic, and pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 11-12 hours or til very tender. Remove meat and shred, discarding bones and fat. Strain juices, skim fat. Line French rolls with lettuce, place meat on rolls. Horseradish makes a good dressing for this. Serve juices with sandwiches for dipping.
currants
Slow Cook Pork Roast
Ingredients:
1 pork butt (4-6 lbs)
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
1 cut up onion
½ bag carrots
1 t hot pepper flakes
2 chopped celery stalks
Noodles or Rice
Salt and Pepper
Directions:
Brown the pork butt on all sides in a separate cooking pan in olive oil. In a slow cooker or a crock pot, add all of your ingredients except for the noodles. Cook for 7 hours on low heat until the pork is tender and almost falling off the bone. Half an hour before the meal is complete, cook the noodles or rice and add the pork and the rest of the meal from the crock pot on top of the noodles. You will love this slow-cook meal on a snowy winter day.
currants
Holiday Breakfast Cereal (wonderful for Christmas morning!)
2/3 c steel cut oats
1/3 c barley (not quick-cooking)
1 c chopped dried fruit (cranberries, apples, apricots, raisins, etc)
freshly grated nutmeg
stick of cinnamon (or maybe a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, to taste)
two whole cloves (optional)
about 5 c water
Before bed, place all ingredients in crock-pot; cook on low for 8-10 hours. Stir before serving remove cinnamon sticks and whole cloves, if used). Serve with: brown sugar, or maple syrup, or cream, or butter….
(Note: the ratios are easy to adjust for different quantities: 5 portions of water to one portion of grain. The grains are 2 portions of oats to one portion of barley, and then the same total amount, more or less, of fruit)
hamletta
@Betsy: Yeah, but for stews, brisket, beans, soups? It’s perfect. Low, slow braises are the way you make a tough cut of meat tasty.
currants
Sorry, lost my head. As someone above has already said, it’s just great to come home to dinner already made.
One non-cook equally good option is this: Put a bag of Trader Joe’s frozen meatballs (we’ve used turkey or vegetarian, but all work well) and a jar of Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara (green label) in the crock pot. Run it on high 2 hours or low 6-8 hours. Boil a pot of water, cook yer pasta, and voilà! Dinner! Well, add a salad if you MUST, but still. Great to come home to, if you’ve got a hungry kid in the car.
protected static
…but back to the main post. We’ve had pretty good luck with the “Not Your Mother’s” series of slow cook cookbooks. Carbonnade is probably the family slow-cook favorite: stew beef cooked in bacon, onions, and beer. Serve over egg noodles, with Belgian ale & good crusty bread.
I would disagree, however, with the idea that you can’t fuck up a slow-cook recipe – I just did this week. I started a batch of sloppy joes about 90 minutes too early and came home to something that was edible, but not great. It smelled perfect when I came home to take my son to swim practice, but by the time we got home it, well, didn’t, and was vaguely scorched-tasting.
Frankie T.
My family loves short ribs done in the slow cooker. Use the Google to find dozens of great recipes. Coat the raw ribs with flour and brown them before they go in the cooker, then add whatever broth, seasonings and vegies you like and ignore on low for 10 hours. I like to pull the ribs out when they’re done, cover and set them aside. I pour the cooking juices out of the pot, extract the good stuff from the appalling amount of fat from the ribs, and reduce the juices in a skillet to make a rich sauce, sometimes adding red wine to the reduction. Then ladle the sauce on the ribs and serve.
Luthe
Now, while I love meat cooked in my slow cooker, my boyfriend is a vegetarian. Suggestions for veggie-friendly meals?
TaMara (BHF)
@Scuffletuffle: That is positively brilliant.
Cacti
Slow Cooker Chili
1+ lbs stew meat cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 serrano pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
2-3 14.5 oz cans of your favorite chili beans
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
Cook for 4-5 hours on high, or 8-10 hours on low
flounder
I make a good green chili. Cubed pork, a 28 oz. can of green chilis, some diced tomatillos, onion, and spices. Water and chicken broth. Cook all day, mix in a little flour/cornstarch to thicken. Serve with tortillas, queso blanco, and cilantro
Lyrebird
@Arm The Homeless: Might be worth trying this one:
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-meatless-loaf.html
For me, it tasted too much like celery and rosemary. If I try it again, I will put in some fava beans to make it taste meatier. (Shelling them is tedious but great if you need something to take your mind off…)
As far as another base for mango chutney, red lentils or split peas, cooked ’til soft and drained, can be mashed and just baked w/some sautéed onions or shallots… Makes a nicer loaf if you’re not wedded to the “tastes like Thanksgiving” theme. (BTW I have had great success w/most of the recipes I’ve tried from Susan V.’s blog over there. If I buy a slow cooker I will stop there first…)
kilgore rosewater
@Violet:
get one where the crock pot is removable so it is easy to wash
Lyrebird
@Betsy: I have that response as well, esp. bc i now cook almost all veg. Zucchini and tomatoes seem to do much nicer things when exposed to a high temp first.
I’m lucky, tho, bc I get to put in some work hours at home; if I couldn’t maybe I’d adapt to that watery taste.
protected static
@Luthe: The slow-cooker is perfect for all kinds of bean dishes. You can also make a decent mac & cheese in it.
ferd of the nort
Vegetarian slow cooking
1 head cabbage sliced
2 onions sliced
salt pepper
(tricky bit here)
1 can apple sauce
1 bay leaf
Thyme
3 hours in slow cooker (first hour on high)
Pig bits optional
Caraway if you like it
Clove if you like it
Serve over boiled potato
Mix your cabbage (savoy, napa, red)
utter simplicity? Use El-Bag-o-‘slaw, just dump it in.
Janet Strange
Second everyone who recommends the slow cooker for beans. Cooked beans in mine overnight last night and made refried beans with them tonight for some tostados for supper tonight.
Easiest thing I’ve tried lately: Can of sauerkraut and a can of diced tomatoes mixed together in the crockpot. Cover with kielbasas. That’s all. No salt, no additional liquid. Cook all day on low. Yum.
BTW, my first crockpot (35 years ago?) (!) came with a little metal rack that fit in the bottom for cooking meat over but not in, or just barely in, liquid. Braising basically. I’ve kept it and used it with all of the crockpots I’ve owned since, and have never had any trouble. It’s not like a microwave that reacts badly to metal.
pseudonymous in nc
Anyone tried the combo electric pressure/slow/rice cookers? I’d like to consolidate the kitchen a little bit, and while I’m not getting rid of my big stove-top pressure cooker, it’d be nice to have an electric rice cooker that truly doubles up as a slow cooker.
Mnemosyne
@Janet Strange:
Be cautious which kinds of beans you slow cook, though. Crazy as it sounds, uncooked or undercooked beans can be toxic, particularly red kidney beans, and the slow cooker doesn’t always cook them fast enough to get rid of the toxin.
ETA: Canned beans are actually pre-cooked before they go in the can, so it’s making beans from dried beans that can be problematic.
Karen
You must be psychic because I was considering the idea to buy a slow cooker for the first time. I’m a single person so I can only eat so much. Could the food I slow cook be stored in the fridge for a few days or frozen?
Bill H.
Pulled Pork
3 sweet yellow onions (i.e. Vidalia), chopped coarse
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp, dried oregano
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 boneless pork shoulder roast
Lay the onions in the bottom of your slow cooker. In a small bowl mix the olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Rub that mixture all over the pork roast and place it on top of the onions in the slow cooker. Cover and cook for 10 hours without ever removing the lid. Warning; the smell will drive you nuts.
Remove the pork roast from the cooker and put it on a plate, cover it with foil and let it sit while you deal with the sauce in the cooker.
Pour the sauce through a strainer into a bowl and put the onions back into the cooker. Separate the fat from the liquid and save the non-fat portion.
Pull the pork roast into shreds with two forks. Actually, it should be really tender and you may only need one fork, but… Put the “pulled” pork back into the cooker with the onions and add some of the sauce back to it, just enough to moisten it nicely.
Reverend Lowdown
One of my favorite things to make with my crock pot is this lentil concoction: I use a bag of lentils, a big can of chicken broth, garlic, some diced celery, onion, carrots, a smoked pork hock, and a pack of sausage. While any sausage can be used, I’ve had really good results with andouille, Hungarians, chorizo(very good, but gets kind of greasy with that one) or kielbasa. I throw everything together and walk away for a few hours. When ready, I serve over rice.
moderateindy
Favorite super easy crock pot recipe.
Take any “lower grade” piece of meat, the kind with lots of connective tissue. Rub with onion soup mix and dump a 12-16 ounces of Coke over it. Use real Cola not diet. Cook for 6-8 hours. Always comes out great, tender and very deep flavor.
If you’re home dump in root veggies with 3 hours left. If you are at work dump some cans of strained new potatoes and carrots in, turn it on high for a half hour.
If you are real ambitious brown the meat on high on all sides before putting it in the slow cooker.
Suffern ACE
From “Not your mother’s slow cooker”
Red-Cooked Chicken
3-4 pounds chicken
1.5 C Water
1 C Soy sauce
1 star anise, broken
1 stick cinnamon, broken
1 in ginger & 1 clove garlic – crushed
1 3 in strip orange zest
2 green onions
1/4 C rice wine
2 T sugar
Cook 1 hour on high, turn, then cook another hour.
I like this and it is now pretty much the only thing that I’ve done in the slow cooker that I make frequently – about every month. Once the chicken liquid has cooled, strain the liquid and store it (I freeze it), then reuse it. Every other time, add 1/2 C soy and 1/2 the other ingredients.
Michael Demmons
@Cassidy: So, you’re a butch cassidy, so to speak. Sorry!
Friday Jones (a Haole)
@nwithers: Mahalo nui loa!
BigHank53
If you’ve got a farmer’s market near you, ask one of the folks who sells eggs about stewing hens–these are the layers that are getting elderly. They’re tougher, so slow-cooking is better than roasting or frying. Part the bird and save the back and wings for stock, then treat the rest just like you would for a beef stew.
Shana
Yes you can. You might also consider buying some good quality single serving freezer containers for some of the leftovers so you’re not stuck eating the same thing every day until it’s gone.
chopper
@Sammi:
i put whole chickens in the slow cooker all the time. it’s hard to get them out when they’re done, but you can do it with a bit of practice.
i put racks in the cooker too, but i avoid metal ones. i use a stand-up silicone colander-thingy sometimes if i want to separate stuff from liquids.
chopper
as to pressure cookers vs slow cookers, mine does both and it’s pretty awesome.
chopper
@BigHank53:
i use stew hens for soup. pressure cooked for about 35 minutes at 15lbs. not much meat, but the stock is insanely good from those fuckers.
i’ve slow cooked them for things like coq au vin, they don’t produce much meat at all and it’s still tough unless you cook the shit out of it. better to use a decent meat bird for the meat and a stew bird for the stock.
HW3
A programmable slow cooker is a great idea, something that will switch to warm or turn off after a set period of time.
I know it’s been done to death already, but my take on it below:
Trailer Trash Pulled Pork
1 pork butt or shoulder (bone in is tastier)
1/4 cup salt
2 liters of good root beer or ginger ale
prepare a brine with the soda and salt and let the pork brine overnight or at least 4 hours
place a steamer basket (remove the little post in the middle — mine screws out) in the bottom of the slow cooker and preheat slow cooker.
brown the pork on a skillet
place the browned pork on top of the steamer basket
deglaze skillet with some soda and scrape up the tasty brown bits. pour over pork.
Cook on low for 8 to 12 hours or high for 4 or so.
remove the pork and pour off the renderings.
separate the fat from the juices (a quick cool down or a gravy separator).
use the gravy to flavor the pulled pork.
I also make sure to put a good selection of bbq and hot sauces out for those who want extra kick.
Also too, my hero Alton Brown has a great recipe for overnight oatmeal that is amazing on a cold morning…
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/overnight-oatmeal-recipe/index.html
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
Browning the meat before you put it into the slow cooker does wonders for the flavor.
I’ve had really good luck with meatloaf in the slow cooker. I use a disposable aluminum bread pan with holes punched in the bottom for drainage and suspend it from an aluminum foil sling.
Somewhere around here, I have a recipe for lasagna in the slow cooker.