Crockpot recipes, anyone?

Our household is very busy over the next few weeks and with cold weather pulling up an armchair and settling in for the next few months, it seems appropriate to pull out the crockpot. I'm wondering if anyone has a favorite recipe or two they'd like to share?

Thanks...

- Mike

I don't crockpot very often but I saw a good looking recipe in the Nov. issue of Everyday Food. It's a bean & chicken stew-thing.

Basically, you put in a cup of dried pintos, a little flour, water, and a jar of salsa. Then, on top of that, you put a layer of boneless/skinless chicken thighs (seasoned), then chopped onions & bell pepper. Let it go for 8 hours. Shred the chicken and there you go. It was pretty tasty. We ate it with flour tortillas, and sour cream for garnish.

The recipe also calls for adding some chipotle in adobo but I wanted to keep mine mild for our kids. I did add some smoked paprika though.

In general, I'm not a huge fan of crockpots since there's no maillard happening and thus, less flavor. And browning stuff in a pan first, then dumping into the crockpot seems to defeat the whole easy/convenient thing.

That said, I'm curious to hear other crockpot recipes. With work, kids, etc, it's a convenient way to get dinner going.

The only other thing that I though of doing is a congee. Seems like that would work well.

viaChgo wrote:In general, I'm not a huge fan of crockpots since there's no maillard happening and thus, less flavor. And browning stuff in a pan first, then dumping into the crockpot seems to defeat the whole easy/convenient thing.

I agree completely. Sometimes, though, the cost/benefit scale just tips. A few decent crockpot recipes are the difference between eating relatively well and knowing food delivery persons on a first-name basis.

Just a tip here: If you plug your crockpot into a timer, you can have things cooked without being overcooked (I mean if you are gone for 10-11 hours all day long, you don't want your crock cooking that long, you know? I usually set mine to cook for 6 hours or so, anything beyond that is just mush).

Liz in Norwood Park wrote:Just a tip here: If you plug your crockpot into a timer, you can have things cooked without being overcooked (I mean if you are gone for 10-11 hours all day long, you don't want your crock cooking that long, you know? I usually set mine to cook for 6 hours or so, anything beyond that is just mush).

I guess I'm lucky because ours has a built-in timer and delay. However, the batch we got ours from had the lids screwed on too tight and the handle snapped off. We recieved 3 of them for our wedding, and both the one we kept and the one we sold to my mother had the handles snap off during the first use.

Does anyone know where I can get another handle? I've been thinking of replacing it with metal to avoid the breakable situation.

Flip

I've found that if you do your searing in the broiler, you get just fine Maillard-y goodness. Your hands are free, so it's easier than searing on the stovetop, (but you HAVE to get it out on time or it catches on fire - trust me!) and easy enough to transfer into the crock-pot.

Mark Bittman has an article about Slow Cookers with a cassoulet recipe.

Don't have specific recipes, but I've done off-the-cuff sandwich fillings (pork/greens/bbq sauce) If your pot has a reliable "low" setting, you could try chowders, or potato-leek soup using microwaved bacon. Long-cooking recipes that involve smoked sausages, ham hocks or smoked turkey might offer the flavor of seared meat - e.g. Caldo Verde probably would turn out fine in a crock-pot if you're careful with the potatoes. Maybe cassoulet would have more flavor if you used smoked turkey legs instead of chicken. I just did turkey stock in the crock-pot, and it was awesomely easy and IMHO turned out better than stove-top - and then it was a matter of moments to dump into pot, add noodles, meat, and greens for soup.

When i was working at the hospital, i had long shifts and was (still am ) on a budget and i used the crockpot for white chicken chili. This is an amazing recipe - try this:

3-4 boneless chicken thighs skin off
14 oz chicken broth
10 oz chopped spinach
1 jar salsa - your favorite
4 oz monty jack cheese
4 oz pepper jack
4 oz habanero cheese
2 (15 oz) cans of Great Nothern Beans
Salt/pepper to taste
Sauteed mushrooms (optional, and a good handful will do)

Combine everything and cook in a crockpot for about 6 hours. When you stir it up real well at the end of the cook the chicken should just fall apart in there on it's own.

Other'n that specific recipe, i grab some veggies, some cubed beef and some beef broth and make myself some "beef stew" but i won't eat that concoction without mashed potatoes, so there is still some prep time there. And it's pretty average, but, you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. The white chili should serve you well though

There is a blog dedicated to crock pot recipes; there is a new recipe or two every day. Archives go back to Feb '06.

Some of them look quite interesting and others would make Sandra Lee proud.

Slow Cooker Recipes

FYI,
Dave

BadgerDave wrote:..others would make Sandra Lee proud.

Good crockpot rule of thumb: avoid recipes with the words "easy" or "cheesy" in the title.

djenks wrote:When i was working at the hospital, i had long shifts and was (still am ) on a budget and i used the crockpot for white chicken chili. This is an amazing recipe - try this:

3-4 boneless chicken thighs skin off
14 oz chicken broth
10 oz chopped spinach
1 jar salsa - your favorite
4 oz monty jack cheese
4 oz pepper jack
4 oz habanero cheese
2 (15 oz) cans of Great Nothern Beans
Salt/pepper to taste
Sauteed mushrooms (optional, and a good handful will do)

Combine everything and cook in a crockpot for about 6 hours.

Cheese goes in with everything else at the beginning?

Cheese goes in with everything else at the beginning?

Thats how i do it. However, don't really know if it makes a difference but i buy it in blocks and cube it. Probably good 2" cubes works for me fine.

So in my ongoing trials with the slow-cooker, I decided to consult allrecipes.com for some slow-cooker ideas. It seemed like a good source for slow-cooker recipes. And I found one that looked interesting and simple. It's basically a baked chicken.

The original recipe calls for seasoning the chicken and placing it in the slow-cooker on top of some crumpled pieces of foil.

I seasoned my chicken with S&P, smoked paprika, and some adobo seasoning. I also stuffed the cavity with a couple of garlic cloves, piece of onion and bay leaves. I layed it on a bed of baby yellow potatoes that were tossed with olive oil & a healthy dose of S&P. I set the cooker for high for 1 hour, then turned to low (10 hr) & went to work. This is what the original recipe instucted me to do. I'm not sure what the purpose of setting to high for an hour was but I did it anyway.

So it turned out alright. The chicken was a little on the dry side...kind of like a Jewel rotisserie bird. But the best part of this was the juice that had exuded from the chicken & potatoes. Those were basically the only ingredients in the cooker. I didn't any liquid, whatsoever. And here was this all this great liquid! I pulled apart the chicken meat and doused it in the juice. Now, the chicken was tasty and moist.

I'd make this again. But it's still no roasted chicken.

I'm going to keep experimenting with the slow-cooker. I really like the convenience of it on busy weeknights. But, it doesn't make sense if all it's capable of churning out is overcooked mush.

I'm going to try bean dishes, starting with dry beans. And I think my next experiment will be congee.

Any braised dish will work well in the crock. Just double the cooking time after browning and set the crock to low.

A favorite crockpot recipe at the Krasmania house is pot roast. Put the pot roast at the bottom, cover with the entire contents of a 16 oz jar of pepperocinis and cook on low for 6-8 hours. I like it over egg noodles, but also good over mashed potatoes.

Definitely not very sophisticated, but it fills a need during our hibernating months.

I really like using my crock pot. I think that beef roasts and pork roasts often turn out best that way, maybe it's because it cooks while I'm at work and I don't have a lot to do when I get home.

I also like to use the crock pot to slow roast chicken quarters to turn into chicken enchilada meat, or pulled bbq chicken sandwiches. When I'm done with work I just have to pull the chicken off the bone, makes life pretty easy.

Rick Bayless' cookbook Mexican Everyday has several crockpot recipes that work really well. It is a fantastic way to cook black beans.

I'm a working mom, so we use our crockpot alot, for better (short ribs, beans, soups, etc) and worse (dishes with "Cream of" in the ingredient list).

I have this one brewing today. You can adjust the spices to your taste - I like thyme, but it works well with some good curry powder, or cumin and red pepper flakes or chili powder. Feel free to use stock if you prefer. A friend made this with his turkey stock and some shredded turkey.

Finishing with an acid at the end is key though, whether it's balsamic or wine or a little beer. It brightens the flavor. I usually serve it with some brown rice.

Crockpot Lentil Soup

INGREDIENTS:
1 cups dried green french lentils
4 cups water
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped carrot
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried leaf thyme
1 can (14.5 ounces) tomatoes
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar


Combine all ingredients except for the vinegar in a 4 qt crockpot. Crock on low for 8 hours. (Or High for 4). Add vinegar to pot before serving.

I braised a 2lb pork shoulder in the crock last night. First I salted it and left in the fridge for two days, then took it out, patted it dry, and browned it in a pan on all sides. Then just stuck in the crock with some carrots, celery and onions, some white wine and stock, and set the crock on high and left it for 3 and half or so hours. Let it cool a little in the liquid, so it reabsorbed some juices. It was fantastic. So tender and flavorful.

(WARNING: UNTESTED RECIPE - I'm making this tomorrow, but I know I won't have time to post for a couple days...follow at your own risk!) In the spirit of putting my money where my mouth is, here's what I'm trying for tomorrow when my folks are in town and I don't have time to cook. It's loosely based on cassoulet, and mostly following chgoeditor's clean-out-your-fridge principle (OK, OK, I did go out to buy the turkey wings...)

Smoked Turkey Cassoupeia

4 lbs smoked turkey legs or wings
1 lb dried broad beans, soaked overnight
handful of shelled frozen edamame
handful of frozen blackeye peas
2 slices bacon, diced and fried crisp (crumbled precooked bacon might work?)
1/4 cup canned french fried onions
2 small spanish chorizos, cut up
2 tbsp turkey schmaltz
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 can tomatoes
2 artichoke hearts
2 cups collard greens
Chicken broth to cover

Place bacon and schmaltz in bottom of crock-pot and layer remaining ingredients over them, starting with beans. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I'm borrowing browning from a couple places - fried onions, fried bacon, and smoked turkey. We'll see tomorrow if it works out similar to searing ahead of time.

Yesterday, I made the recipe i posted upthread, except I used a 3 lb pork shoulder. It was better than chicken thighs. The pork holds up much better to the long, slow cooking. I loved braised pork shoulder in its many varieties. I did notice the lack of depth from not browning the meat though. It was good but not as good as I knew it could be. I think it's still worthwhile for the convenience of a weeknight meal.

Well, my concoction turned out very well, lovely smoky, paprika-y flavor in the beans - I actully used only about 2 lb of smoked turkey, and added about 1lb of raw beef short ribs to up the meat content. Wound up with a rich broth, some of which I made into gravy on the stove, and the remainder of which became bean soup the next day.

The only thing about this recipe is that the turkey gave it's all to the cause, and wasn't really good to eat; the short ribs did fine. Pork country ribs would have gone really well with this instead of the beef.

I found a recipe for Sweet Potato Stew with Red Beans in a crockpot ages ago, but just made it tonight. It was DELICIOUS. The peanut butter is a critical ingredient, really draws all the flavors together. Also, the recipe says to cook for seven hours, but at six hours, it was already very soft, seven would've been too long for us.

Anyway, it was a BIG hit in our house and I'll definitely be making it again:

http://www.recipezaar.com/207682

Steel cut oats.

After watching The Good Eats episode about oats, I tried slow-cooker oatmeal. I admit that I had never had steel cut oats before. I've only had the rolled, and, truth be told, mostly just instant. So the night before, I dumped in 1 cup of steel cut oats, 3 cups of water, 1 cup of whole milk, and some craisins and raisins. The results were outstanding! The only thing that was a little annoying is that my crockpot lid doesn't create a tight seal, so there was a crusty film on the top of my oatmeal. I just stirred it back in & it was fine. I added some brown sugar & a bit more milk to taste.

viaChgo wrote:Steel cut oats.

After watching The Good Eats episode about oats, I tried slow-cooker oatmeal. I admit that I had never had steel cut oats before. I've only had the rolled, and, truth be told, mostly just instant. So the night before, I dumped in 1 cup of steel cut oats, 3 cups of water, 1 cup of whole milk, and some craisins and raisins. The results were outstanding! The only thing that was a little annoying is that my crockpot lid doesn't create a tight seal, so there was a crusty film on the top of my oatmeal. I just stirred it back in & it was fine. I added some brown sugar & a bit more milk to taste.

I'd love to try this but a couple of questions- first- how long in the slow cooker? second, could soy milk work in place for those of us who have problem with milk?

jpschust wrote:

viaChgo wrote:Steel cut oats.

After watching The Good Eats episode about oats, I tried slow-cooker oatmeal. I admit that I had never had steel cut oats before. I've only had the rolled, and, truth be told, mostly just instant. So the night before, I dumped in 1 cup of steel cut oats, 3 cups of water, 1 cup of whole milk, and some craisins and raisins. The results were outstanding! The only thing that was a little annoying is that my crockpot lid doesn't create a tight seal, so there was a crusty film on the top of my oatmeal. I just stirred it back in & it was fine. I added some brown sugar & a bit more milk to taste.

I'd love to try this but a couple of questions- first- how long in the slow cooker? second, could soy milk work in place for those of us who have problem with milk?

Here's the Alton Brown recipe.

Best,
Michael

jpschust wrote:

viaChgo wrote:Steel cut oats.

After watching The Good Eats episode about oats, I tried slow-cooker oatmeal. I admit that I had never had steel cut oats before. I've only had the rolled, and, truth be told, mostly just instant. So the night before, I dumped in 1 cup of steel cut oats, 3 cups of water, 1 cup of whole milk, and some craisins and raisins. The results were outstanding! The only thing that was a little annoying is that my crockpot lid doesn't create a tight seal, so there was a crusty film on the top of my oatmeal. I just stirred it back in & it was fine. I added some brown sugar & a bit more milk to taste.

I'd love to try this but a couple of questions- first- how long in the slow cooker? second, could soy milk work in place for those of us who have problem with milk?

I used the low/8-hour setting. So I could start it right before I went to bed & it would be ready first thing in the morning.

I'm sure you could sub soy milk for regular. In fact, you could use all water and add soy milk to your bowl to taste in the morning. That's probably what I would do.

Thanks!

viaChgo wrote:

I seasoned my chicken with S&P, smoked paprika, and some adobo seasoning. I also stuffed the cavity with a couple of garlic cloves, piece of onion and bay leaves. I layed it on a bed of baby yellow potatoes that were tossed with olive oil & a healthy dose of S&P. I set the cooker for high for 1 hour, then turned to low (10 hr) & went to work. This is what the original recipe instucted me to do. I'm not sure what the purpose of setting to high for an hour was but I did it anyway.

.

The purpose of setting the pot to high at the beginning is to avoid the possible salmonella contamination that can occur if the outside of an uncooked chicken is left at room temp or just above room temp for too long.

viaChgo wrote:Steel cut oats.

After watching The Good Eats episode about oats, I tried slow-cooker oatmeal. I admit that I had never had steel cut oats before. I've only had the rolled, and, truth be told, mostly just instant. So the night before, I dumped in 1 cup of steel cut oats, 3 cups of water, 1 cup of whole milk, and some craisins and raisins. The results were outstanding! The only thing that was a little annoying is that my crockpot lid doesn't create a tight seal, so there was a crusty film on the top of my oatmeal. I just stirred it back in & it was fine. I added some brown sugar & a bit more milk to taste.

These are EVEN BETTER if you are able to

1 - toast the oats in butter before cooking (just 1 pat of butter to 1 cup oats)
2 - add a pinch of salt to the pot in the morning and stir it in before eating - just a pinch! and do not cook it with the oats, it will make them tough

Moros y Cristianos - disavowed by Abuelita Elena (but in her handwriting)

Makes 20 quarts for freezing

4 pounds dry black beans
Water
12 bay leaves
2 tbsp ground cumin
6 tsp salt
1 tbsp crushed curry powder
1 tsp crushed red pepper (I think she meant cayenne)
2 cups olive oil
3 medium onions, peeled and chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
6 large bell peppers, sliced thinly

Soak the beans overnight in three times as much water as the volume of the beans. In the same water, cook the soaked beans, adding cumin, red pepper, curry powder, salt and bay leaves, simmer for 5 -6 hours. After the beans are cooked but still firm, heat olive oil in a separate pan and slowly saute the remaining ingredients until cooked but not browned (I don't know that I really use this much oil.) Add to the beans and cook for another 1/2 hour. Taste, adding additional salt, pepper or cumin as needed. Serve over white rice.

Freeze and reheat as needed.