Slow Cooker recipes

looksee

I was just sent a link to a list of slow cooker meals https://newleafwellness.biz/2015/08/06/31-crockpot-freezer-meals-for-back-to-school .

I quite like slow cookers for cooking stewing type meat, but most of these recipes are for chicken breast. I can't imagine cooking chicken breast for hours, especially when it hasn't been browned first.

I reckon you could make any of the chicken breast recipes in half an hour - the chicken would cook in 10 minutes - without a slow cooker or pressure cooker, and it would taste much nicer. And the idea of putting frozen meat in a slow cooker - a complete no-no I would think.

Am I out of step completely? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

twignme

I have a couple of cookbooks "The Gourmet Slow Cooker" which have some brilliant recipes but all requiring some prep other than just putting everything in all at once from raw/cold. There are a number of chicken recipes and while most of these have a whole chicken that has been portioned including the breast, a couple have just chicken breasts. In those, it is mainly the sauce that benefits from the low and slow with the flavours taking the time to develop rather than tenderising the meat. I'm not too sure about the frozen meat though.

The Black Oil

iirc, there was discussion somewhere here before about chicken breasts. The issue being that the connective tissue wasn't suited to hours and hours of cooking.

looksee

The Black Oil wrote: »

iirc, there was discussion somewhere here before about chicken breasts. The issue being that the connective tissue wasn't suited to hours and hours of cooking.

Sorry I am a bit new in here, I did check slow cookers but didn't find the original thread. Yes, chicken breast cooks almost instantly and isn't improved by stewing, just turns it to tasteless pulp. I was astonished at the number of people who were saying what great recipes they were. Now lamb hocks or streaky pork is another matter altogether!

The Black Oil

Ah, I wasn't giving out to ye. I can't remember where exactly the discussion started, but the question mark about it did come up.

ETA - looks like it started here.

Zelda247

Never managed to cook a successful slow cooker dish with chicken breasts, they tasted awful, sauce was fine though.

kylith

Chicken thighs or legs are good, but the breasts go really stringy and horrible.

Zelda247

Tried the thighs but still found them tasteless when cooked for a long period.

Zelda247

Has anyone tried cooking a baked potato in their slow cooker?

kylith

Zelda247 wrote: »

Has anyone tried cooking a baked potato in their slow cooker?

Yeah. They turn out ok. Not quite the same as in the oven but good if you need to cook a lot of them.

toadfly

Zelda247 wrote: »

Never managed to cook a successful slow cooker dish with chicken breasts, they tasted awful, sauce was fine though.

I always do Thai Chicken Curry in the slow cooker and it turns out perfect. The chicken very tender and the sauce is fab. Ive done casserole with Chicken Breasts too and it turned out great.

Zelda247

toadfly wrote: »

I always do Thai Chicken Curry in the slow cooker and it turns out perfect. The chicken very tender and the sauce is fab. Ive done casserole with Chicken Breasts too and it turned out great.

How long have to cooked it for?

toadfly

10-11 hours on low.

Dizzyblonde

I make chicken and chorizo stew regularly in mine, usually using breasts and thighs and it's very successful. I cook it on high for about 4 hours.

harr

Cook a lot of breasts in mine,nearly always on high for 4 or 5 hours I do find using bone in breasts work out better and if a recipe is for diced chicken over a longer period I won't add chicken till about 3 hours from end....always works for me...

Zelda247

I am wondering if cooking it on high for 4 hours (whatever the dish) would be more successful, I will give it a try.

mooseknunkle

I just bought myself one of these today and ive never used one before,im going to attempt the pulled pork recipe on here at the weekend,but quick question for anyone i want to make ribs spuds and cabbage,can i just put all that into the cooker and leave it for a few hours? do i need to add water? thanks in advance

oleras

mooseknunkle wrote: »

I just bought myself one of these today and ive never used one before,im going to attempt the pulled pork recipe on here at the weekend,but quick question for anyone i want to make ribs spuds and cabbage,can i just put all that into the cooker and leave it for a few hours? do i need to add water? thanks in advance

Mam ? Is that you ?

mooseknunkle

oleras wrote: »

Mam ? Is that you ?

I probably should of said do I put the bacon and potatoes in first with water ,then add the cabbage near the end

Marty McFly

Here's one I do regularly enough done it last week for my one year old birthday party and it went down a treat.

No measurements I tend to just judge it myself.

Your normal diced beef,stewing beef
Passata
Onions
Peppers
Garlic
Chick peas
Worcestershire sauce
Balsamic vinegar
Dried oregano
Dried basil
Cayenne pepper
Smoked paprika

Then cook on high for about 6 hours.


I was nervous making it given its my own concoction and had only ever made it for the better half so was delighted to see people going back for seconds.

wuffly

Does anyone have a vegetarian chili recipe for a slow cooker they would recommend? Or a spicy veg casserole type thing? TIA!

Shenshen

wuffly wrote: »

Does anyone have a vegetarian chili recipe for a slow cooker they would recommend? Or a spicy veg casserole type thing? TIA!

I think the famous lentil chili should work fine in a slow cooker.

Or your could try making a bean goulash (or Hungarian bean stew as I have to call it around my husband, as the word "goulash" puts him off).

2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, grated or finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped

1 carrot, in bitesize chunks
1 or 2 small potatos, same size chunks as the carrots
1 cup of dried butter beans (you can soak them beforehand, but with the slow cooker that's not essential)
1 cup of dried kidney beans
2l of veg stock

2 bay leaves
3-4 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of smoked paprika
Dried chili to taste
1 tbsp tomato puree

Fry the onions, garlic and celery until soft, then put everything into the slow cooker and cook for about 4 hours (until the beans are soft). Top up with water if required, but the result should be a nice, thick stew.
You can add other veg as you fancy - turnip, mushrooms, whatever your tastes.
Great with rice, or - if you want to be authentic - bread dumplings

wuffly

Shenshen wrote: »

I think the famous lentil chili should work fine in a slow cooker.

Or your could try making a bean goulash (or Hungarian bean stew as I have to call it around my husband, as the word "goulash" puts him off).

2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, grated or finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped

1 carrot, in bitesize chunks
1 or 2 small potatos, same size chunks as the carrots
1 cup of dried butter beans (you can soak them beforehand, but with the slow cooker that's not essential)
1 cup of dried kidney beans
2l of veg stock

2 bay leaves
3-4 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of smoked paprika
Dried chili to taste
1 tbsp tomato puree

Fry the onions, garlic and celery until soft, then put everything into the slow cooker and cook for about 4 hours (until the beans are soft). Top up with water if required, but the result should be a nice, thick stew.
You can add other veg as you fancy - turnip, mushrooms, whatever your tastes.
Great with rice, or - if you want to be authentic - bread dumplings

Thank you! Just what I was after! I like the sound of the lentil chili!

Lovely Bloke

EZ24GET wrote: »

Som e one sent me a few Slow cooker/ crockpot recipes, thought I'd share. I know they are in U.S. measures but since this sort of thing is more or less to taste shouldn't be too hard to get a fair equivalency

Chicken Cacciotore in the slow cooker

ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
14 1/2 ounce can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
1 medium green Bell pepper cut into strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry red wine or chicken broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Put all into 5 or 6 quart slow cooker. Stir well. Cover and cook for 4 to 5 hours
on HIGH or 6 to 7 hours on LOW. Serve over hot cooked penne pasta accompanied by garlic bread.
serves 4.

Made a version of this today, absolutely gorgeous.

54and56

Marty McFly wrote: »

Here's one I do regularly enough done it last week for my one year old birthday party and it went down a treat.

No measurements I tend to just judge it myself.

Your normal diced beef,stewing beef
Passata
Onions
Peppers
Garlic
Chick peas
Worcestershire sauce
Balsamic vinegar
Dried oregano
Dried basil
Cayenne pepper
Smoked paprika

Then cook on high for about 6 hours.


I was nervous making it given its my own concoction and had only ever made it for the better half so was delighted to see people going back for seconds.

What on earth does this actually make? I can't imagine it but it does sound nice. Any pictures? Like a warm spicy Hummus

magicmushroom

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

What on earth does this actually make? I can't imagine it but it does sound nice. Any pictures? Like a warm spicy Hummus

Sounds like a spicy beef stew to me or maybe with the chickpeas, more of a tagine...thats what my mind has conjured anyway!
Sounds yum.

Marty McFly

magicmushroom wrote: »

Sounds like a spicy beef stew to me or maybe with the chickpeas, more of a tagine...thats what my mind has conjured anyway!
Sounds yum.

Spot on it started off as a Spanish Stew recipe I found on BBC good food that I kinda changed over time through trial and error.

Then decided one day to try it in the slow cooker as using stewing beef sometimes the meet can be quite tough and I was feeling lazy that day and it worked out perfectly thank god. I usually have it with rice.

Marty McFly

Sorry turns out it started as an Italian stew.

Heres an old pic of it before I started slow cooking it but you get the idea

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=89320997&postcount=1065

54and56

Marty McFly wrote: »

Sorry turns out it started as an Italian stew.

Heres an old pic of it before I started slow cooking it but you get the idea

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=89320997&postcount=1065

Looks great Marty, real wholesome yet exotic! The only thing I'd probably change for personal taste reasons is I'd leave out the peppers, I REALLY don't like peppers for some reason. Love chilli's and garlic and ginger and all kinds of flavours but celery and bell peppers give me the heebee jeebee's.

amdublin

I am going to try this and will let you know how I get on
http://hostthetoast.com/crock-pot-general-tsos-chicken/


I love American-Chinese food.

54and56

Marty McFly wrote: »

Sorry turns out it started as an Italian stew.

Heres an old pic of it before I started slow cooking it but you get the idea

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=89320997&postcount=1065

Do you just toss them all in the slow cooker or do you fry off the onions and garlic in some oil and brown the meat first?

Edit: I hope so as I'm just about to serve this for Sunday dinner!!



My version is as follows:-

1.2 KG of stewing beef (2 X 600g packs from Aldi)
2 X Cans of chopped tomatoes
12 X peeled and roughly chopped shallots
2 X bell peppers roughly chopped.
4 cloves of chopped garlic.
2 X cans of drained chick peas
A good dose of worcestershire sauce
Balsamic vinegar
Dried oregano
Dried basil
Cayenne pepper
Smoked paprika
Good pinch of salt.

It's very nice. Might have put a small bit too much chilli in for the kids but that's easily adjusted for next time.

Thanks for the recipe, it's a keeper.

Marty McFly

Delighted you liked it

I don't fry off anything I just prep and throw it all I'm the slow cooker.

54and56

Marty McFly wrote: »

Delighted you liked it

I don't fry off anything I just prep and throw it all I'm the slow cooker.

Good, that's what I did too. Thanks for sharing this.

curiousb

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Do you just toss them all in the slow cooker or do you fry off the onions and garlic in some oil and brown the meat first?

Edit: I hope so as I'm just about to serve this for Sunday dinner!!

My version is as follows:-

1.2 KG of stewing beef (2 X 600g packs from Aldi)
2 X Cans of chopped tomatoes
12 X peeled and roughly chopped shallots
2 X bell peppers roughly chopped.
4 cloves of chopped garlic.
2 X cans of drained chick peas
A good dose of worcestershire sauce
Balsamic vinegar
Dried oregano
Dried basil
Cayenne pepper
Smoked paprika
Good pinch of salt.

It's very nice. Might have put a small bit too much chilli in for the kids but that's easily adjusted for next time.

Thanks for the recipe, it's a keeper.

I hadn't used my slow cooker in a while but chanced upon this recipe this morning and decided to give it a go and it turned out great! It has a Spanish feel with the chick peas, smoked paprika and cayenne I think. It reminded me of some tapas I had over the Summer! Just in a larger quantity.

Will definitely make it again!

beertons

^ I'm making this tomorrow. Can't wait. Found some chorizo too, going to add it as well.

L'prof

Looks class lads, nearly time to get the slow cooker back out of the press.

So no browning of the meat or frying of the veg? I'll definitely give this a go as any time I use the slow cooker I put it on low for 8+ hours!

curiousb

L'prof wrote: »

Looks class lads, nearly time to get the slow cooker back out of the press.

So no browning of the meat or frying of the veg? I'll definitely give this a go as any time I use the slow cooker I put it on low for 8+ hours!

I would usually brown the meat and cook off the onions and garlic first but I didn't have time yesterday so didn't bother and I couldn't taste the difference. Probably won't bother from now on.

I did 6 hours on high, but 8 hours on low should be fine also I guess.

54and56

curiousb wrote: »

I would usually brown the meat and cook off the onions and garlic first but I didn't have time yesterday so didn't bother and I couldn't taste the difference. Probably won't bother from now on.

Me too and the ability to just throw it all in the pot, out it on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours makes it a very handy option. I think browning the meat and frying off the garlic and onions are hangovers from old recipes which didn't utilise long slow cooking methods.

If you think about it browning the meat must create a barrier to the juices being soaked in. Compared to other stew type recipes I've done with Aldi diced beef where I've fried the meat first the result this time with no frying was much much more tender and flavoursome.

I also think this dish would be interesting to do with diced lamb or mutton if it's even possible to source old cheap mutton any more. Might give that a lash soon.

Dolbert

I think browning the meat is mainly for appearance, I personally never bother and it makes very little difference

beertons

Bit watery. Next time, I'd fry the veg and the chorizo together. I like it though.

Marty McFly

beertons wrote: »

Bit watery. Next time, I'd fry the veg and the chorizo together. I like it though.

Yea I've never tried it with Chorizo but I'd imagine if you want to get the full flavour from the Chorizo best off frying it first.

Glad you liked it though.

the beer revolu

Browning meat is for flavour and appearance but mostly flavour.
Meat doesn't absorb juices while cooking, it looses moisture (even in luquid).

I'd love to do a side by side test. Same recipe and cooking method but brown one lot of the meat and not the other.
It's the only way to properly compare.
Unlikely I'll ever be bothered making 2 stews when I only need to make one, in terms of washing up and energy.

oleras

beertons wrote: »

Bit watery. Next time, I'd fry the veg and the chorizo together. I like it though.

I made this myself yesterday and anticipating the watery consistency at around 7 hours into the 8 hour cook i made a roux and added it to it and it made the liquid a really nice soup consistency. Really easy and tasty dish, i would add more heat though, i only used half a tsp of cayenne and 2 chilies. It could do with a bit of sweetness too to balance the smokey paprika, maybe if i didn't use 39c tins of tomatoes that could be sorted easily...lol

My first roux effort, i have used the baking powder slurry before but you can always taste it i think.

3tbsp of flour, it turned out to be 50g when i weighed it and 50g of butter.

Melted the butter slowly and added the flour 1 tbsp at a time to cook the flour evenly, whisking constantly after all the flour has been added and cooked it looks like a choux pastery i think, i could be wrong never made choux, only seen it on tv. Then i added a ladle of the liquid to the roux, whisked that, then another 2 ladles and i ended up with a what looked like a large ball of dough. Added that to the stew, stirred and left for another hour or so.

beertons

I think I'd add cous cous to it next time. Be the same as rice almost.

the beer revolu

oleras wrote: »

My first roux effort, i have used the baking powder slurry before but you can always taste it i think.

You used what??
Baking powder to thicken??

Please tell me more.


An easier way to use butter and flour is to just rub the butter and flour together to form a kind of dough. You can just add little balls of this to your dish a bit at a time and they will dissolve in.

Dizzyblonde

the beer revolu wrote: »

An easier way to use butter and flour is to just rub the butter and flour together to form a kind of dough. You can just add little balls of this to your dish a bit at a time and they will dissolve in.

That sounds nice and easy. I have a huge chicken, chorizo & chickpea stew in the slow cooker today and sometimes it can go a bit thin even though I add flour at the start. I'll try this is if does.

oleras

the beer revolu wrote: »

You used what??
Baking powder to thicken??

Please tell me more.


An easier way to use butter and flour is to just rub the butter and flour together to form a kind of dough. You can just add little balls of this to your dish a bit at a time and they will dissolve in.

Yeah...that would be corn flour. :pac::pac:

the beer revolu

oleras wrote: »

Yeah...that would be corn flour. :pac::pac:

Ah. That make a bit more sense.
It's the texture of cornflour as a thickener I don't like - too snotty. Never noticed a taste.

beertons

beertons wrote: »

I think I'd add cous cous to it next time. Be the same as rice almost.

Actually, I meant lentils.

oleras

beertons wrote: »

Actually, I meant lentils.

Its ok, its brain fart day.