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doris
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| Posted: Oct 30 2006 at 4:28pm | IP Logged
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Can anyone share easy -- and tasty -- slow cooker recipes?
Background: I borrowed my in-laws' slow cooker, as a trial run before buying one of my own. It is ancient and has no instructions so I was working blind. I looked up a recipe on the internet and bunged it all in.
Eight hours later ... raw chicken, hard carrots, and lots and lots of what looks like dishwater!  Is it the machine, or the recipe, or me, or all of the above?!
Advice and suggestions most welcome!
Elizabeth
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Oct 30 2006 at 7:27pm | IP Logged
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Well, my slow cooker would thoroughly cook a chicken in 8 hours even on low, so I think it may be the cooker.
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Mary G
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| Posted: Oct 30 2006 at 7:50pm | IP Logged
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Elizabeth,
I'd say it was the machine not working. I did chicken on Saturday, that was supposed to cook 8-10 hrs....dh said it was done in about 4 (he used to be heavily involved in food science) but I said, "but the recipe said it should cook for 8-10 and if you remove the lid it will mess up"....
8 hrs later the barbequed chicken was extremely well cooked (dh said a bit much ).
Go figure -- each crock pot does cook differently and unfortunately you have to experiment with them to tweak each recipe as you go....
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Natalia
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| Posted: Oct 30 2006 at 9:41pm | IP Logged
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Elizabeth, are you sure you turned it on? I have forgotten before 
Here is a good recipe I got from the Urban Homemaker website:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 jars of salsa (16 oz each)-I only used one and I think it was plenty.
1 can black beans
1 can corn ( I used frozen)
Cook on low for about 6-8h. Serve as a filling for tacos with your favorite topings.
I just made this tonight for the first time and it was a big hit.
Natalia
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Alcat
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| Posted: Oct 31 2006 at 6:19am | IP Logged
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I inherited my grandmothers OLD crockpot (the round cylinder style). It took a long time to cook. I had to put towels on top of it just to retain enough heat so the liquid would simmer. All recipes took the normal 6-8hrs.
Last Christmas my dc gave me a new larger oval style slow cooker. It cooks everything in about 4hours. All my friends who have a newer machine have said theirs cooks MUCH faster too.
Elizabeth, either your inlwas machine is dead or you forgot to plug it in. I am so sorry you first experience was such a bummer. Don't be put off get a new machine, you will love it
God Bless,
Alison
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kjohnson
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| Posted: Oct 31 2006 at 7:47am | IP Logged
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How frustrating!
I agree, it must be the machine. Mine will often times dry out chicken if I leave it for 8 hours. 
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doris
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| Posted: Oct 31 2006 at 8:23am | IP Logged
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Ooooh, ladies, fancy suggesting that I didn't turn it on!!
The outside of the cooker was warm and the chicken was cooked outside, still pink inside.
You're right. I think I need to put a new one on my Christmas list.
Elizabeth
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andibc
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You might like this mother's blog entry that is a months worth of slow cooker meals. We use our crock pot several times a week and many of these are our favorites. I've tried a few new ones on her site too, and they were winners. I did not read through the entire blog and can only recommend that one post. The menus are linked on the left side of the page.
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Mary G
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andibc wrote:
| You might like this mother's blog entry that is a months worth of slow cooker meals. We use our crock pot several times a week and many of these are our favorites. I've tried a few new ones on her site too, and they were winners. I did not read through the entire blog and can only recommend that one post. The menus are linked on the left side of the page. |
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THANKS! I've just started using my crockpot and you're right -- this blog post is excellent!
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: Oct 31 2006 at 2:56pm | IP Logged
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I think the newer crockpots cook at higher heat and many recipes need to be adjusted...
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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anniemm
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I love love love my crock pot. I bet your problem was that it is old. My mom has an older one and it takes MUCH longer to cook than mine does. As Elizabeth said above, the recipes need to be adjusted, because if I cook for as long as they say most of the time, it becomes over-cooked.
Anyway, my favorite crock-pot recipe is the Cola Roast. I chop potatoes, celery, and toss in baby carrots onto the bottom of the crock pot (as much as you want...we are a small family yet, so I usually do 2-3 potatoes, 2-3 stalks celery, and a couple handfuls of baby carrots). Then, mix a packet of dry onion soup with a can of coke (I use diet coke with splenda). Salt and pepper your roast (I prefer a shoulder roast around 3 lbs.) and place it in the crockpot, pour over the coke mixture. Then, cook 4 hours on high or 6 on low. It's delicious, and my family loves it.
I also really like soups. I made a delicious tortilla soup last week, and I have a chicken noodle soup recipe here.
Try looking under the slow cooker section on www.allrecipes.com also.
I'm using my crock pot tomorrow for our All Saint's feast. I'll be slowcooking a turkey breast with a combination of whole cranberry sauce, a few tablespoons of OJ, and a packet of onion soup mix.
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marihalojen
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I've just brought out the crockpot for the winter and am loving the ease of cooking. Why am I always surprised every single year when I start to use my crockpot again and dinner is ready with no last minute prep? 
We had chili for All Hallow's Eve and the smell all afternoon while it simmered in the cockpit was so yummy! Totally worth finding the extension cord to run it outside (still too hot to cook inside the boat here and all that additional moisture needs to be outside, not on my bulkheads) Soups and Stews and Chowders are simple as can be in a crockpot, just use your favorite recipe, Elizabeth, and it'll be fabulous!
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MichelleW
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A friend of mine contributed a beef stroganoff recipe to a church cookbook a few years ago that read "place ingredients in crockpot the night before." We all still tease her about that--her crockpot was 25 years old! That year we all chipped in and got her a new one.
Tomorrow we are having ham in the crockpot. We have errands all day, so I will put the ham in, drizzle with just enough maple syrup to make the brown sugar stick, and turn it on low.
Michelle
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andibc
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newer crockpots cook at higher heat and many recipes need to be adjusted I've found that to be true to and it's created some problems when we're out of the house all day. I've wondered if "warm" is the same temperature now as the "low" position used to be.
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ALmom
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I actually love cooking overnight - so I set my new crockpot on low . Our favorite is a chuck pot roast and I can do it any number of ways - sometimes putting the carrots and potatoes in the bottom and sometimes skipping these (boiling them for a short time or using leftovers and throwing them in the top at the last minute) and using the package of soup mix and one can of cream of mushroom soup. Other times, especially when trying to avoid the extra sodium and MSG, we just put the roast in with half a cup of water and some Italian type spices with or without mixed in carrots and potatoes.
I always stick the meat in the crockpot frozen sometime before turning in for the night (after midnight) and then it is ready right around supper time. This is a tremendous help for me as my general nemesis is forgetting to defrost meat.
We usually are cooking the largest roasts we can find - and squeeze 2 into one crockpot. I keep hoping we'll have leftovers, but we never do. I guess I need restaurant grade everything now since we're such big eaters here.
Janet
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ShawnaB
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I found this recipe on this board, posted by Michaela, and have prepared it several time for my family. They LOVE it, especially dh. Thanks!
Southwestern Pulled Pork
2 cans (4 oz. each) chopped green chilies
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup barbecue sauce
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 c. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 (2 to 2 1/2 lbs) boneless pork loin roast
Flour tortillas
Toppings: sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes
Place pork in a 3-qt. slow cooker. Combine first 7 ingredients and pour over pork. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or till tender. Shred pork with two forks. Serve on tortillas and top with sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes if desired.
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aussieannie
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I have just bought a 6.5litre crock-pot and I am trying to find good receipes and use cheaper cuts of meat than the ones recommended - instead of using expensive thigh fillet chicken, using a whole chicken cut into eighths. A difference of $10 per kilo! (or $5 per pound?)
Here is a receipe that we like:
CHICKEN CACCIATORE
2 Tbls of olive oil
One whole chicken cut into pieces
2 large onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 x 750ml Italian-style tomato cooking sauce
20 Kalamata olives, pitted
1/2 cup of white wine
1 cup of chicken stock
125g button mushrooms, quartered
2 Tbls fresh basil leaves chopped
2 Tbls fresh rosemary chopped
1 Tbl sugar
Heat olive oil in frypan and brown meat and add to pot.
Then fry onion and garlic until soft adding tomato sauce, olives, wine, stock, mushrooms, basil, rosemary and sugar.
Pour mixture over the chicken and cook in crockpot on Low for 8-10 hours or High for 4-5 hours.
Serve with crusty bread, pasta and salad of choice!
Mine is cooking at present and we will be enjoying it tonight! 
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JennGM
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aussieannie wrote:
I have just bought a 6.5litre crock-pot and I am trying to find good receipes and use cheaper cuts of meat than the ones recommended - instead of using expensive thigh fillet chicken, using a whole chicken cut into eighths. A difference of $10 per kilo! (or $5 per pound?)
Here is a receipe that we like:
CHICKEN CACCIATORE |
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This is what I have been doing...buying whole chickens instead of parts. Thighs and legs are cheap, but breasts are an outrage (when you're buying organic, that is), so many times it's the whole chicken.
And Annie, this recipe is just the kind I like! I can't wait to try this!
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aussieannie
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JennGM wrote:
This is what I have been doing...buying whole chickens instead of parts. Thighs and legs are cheap, but breasts are an outrage (when you're buying organic, that is), so many times it's the whole chicken.
And Annie, this recipe is just the kind I like! I can't wait to try this! |
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We buy organic too - so prudent buying is important - as you know I am a babe in the woods when it comes to good cooking and so I rang up my butcher and asked him what would be good alternatives to the expensive cuts listed - he told me that his mother raised them on crock-pot cooking and so he shared with me what his mother used - the whole chook being one.
I follow the Nourishing Traditions ideas and so we see animal fat and bones as good things! The whole chook gives you white and dark meat and when it is cooking for 8-10 hours the bones would be drawn on the way they are in a stock I imagine.
These threads are great - it is through the recent crock-pot threads that I decided to buy one after all these long years and with it has come a great cookbook so as I cook and experiment I will share the receipes we have found tasty and successful. Crock-pot cooking is healthy (I can use my home-made stocks in them) but also very helpful for a big, busy homeschooling family, it enables me to get the night meal underway at 5am in the morning (my rising time) and hour before dressing for Mass, it is then out of the way and I don't have to think about it again until the late afternoon when I just don't feel like doing all the preparing normally needed for dinner - such an asset to the kitchen!
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SuzanneG
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This is my favorite Crock Pot Recipe Book:
America's Best Slow Cooker Recipes by Donna-Marie Pye
normal, everyday ingredients
yummy and good
not a lot of canned goods
she has good notes
large font
Sections include:
appetizers / beverages
soups
chili and beans
pasta and pot luck favorites
beef and veal
pork and lamb
poultry
grains and vegetables
desserts
And, yes, older crock pots DO cook at a lower setting than the new ones....it was regulated by the FDA about 10 years ago (something like that) because of the bacteria, etc. in meats. When I use my old one AND new one at the same time with exactly the same food in them, I have to leave the old one on about 2-3 hours longer than the new one.
Suzanne in WA
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Topic: Easy slow cooker (crock pot) recipes?
