BS: Slow cooker recipes

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: gnu
Date: 08 May 13 - 03:09 PM

Q... I communicate in spoken and written English eloquently and I am fluent in a number of dialects and styles including Queen's, Canuck, Yank, modern business, technical, Herring Choker, Albert County, Kent County, Shaques, Newfie (bot' yer Townie and yer Bayman b'y), Labradorian (which is a bloodofabitchtapickdabonesutta), and a specialty of mine... pissed off profanity. Plus, I make up a lot of my own when I mix em all up. Good nuff fer da girls I goes wit.

leeeia... NEVER cook foul from frozen! No matter who says so. Sally Minellie is not invited for a scoff at my house EVER!

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 May 13 - 03:28 PM

gnu, tell M and M that. Their cook from frozen "jumbo chicken wings" are right good.

We knowed yew was fluent, but it pays to clean out yer flues tho.

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: gnu
Date: 09 May 13 - 06:29 AM

Hehehee. As for M&M, read the ingrediants. I dare say it would take a gentleman of your education to easily pronounce all of the chemical kinda words. My gramma LeBlanc used to say, "Read the ingrediants. If you do not know what any of them are, cook your own." I would add that yer talkin chicken wings an I'm talkin *A* chicken. A might fair difference.

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 09 May 13 - 11:18 AM

"Well... chicken in the pot at 7AM and vigorouly boiling on low setting at 8AM."

Gnu, there may have been something wrong with your pot, but let me say that slow cookers are supposed to come to a boil, then get cooler, then come to a boil again.

I have two Rival Crock Pots, one small and one big. They have served me well for many years, and I expect them to keep going for many more.

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 May 13 - 12:11 PM

Our Crockpot ("the original slow cooker") is programable with High settings for 4 and 8 hours, and Low settings (8 hours and another- I haven't gone to the kitchen and looked).
The High is a slow boil.
Other models, my daughter's, has a high and low setting, but no timer.
Ours is several years old and works well.

At our ages (90 and 89) we don't do chickens from scratch any more. We usually get a baked (barbecued?) one at the market and when the best meat is gone, the carcase goes into the pot and is boiled until the meat is ready to fall off. It is stripped and then the meat is made up into stew, soup, with spices, rice and vegetables or whatever. We don't bother with the crockpot for this.

But we often buy quick meals, M&M or the many kinds available in our markets so all we have to do is heat and serve.These may have the extra ingredients (preservatives, etc.) that gnu mentions, but the convenience is paramount.

The Crockpot is used to make out chili, which takes time, but it is something we can't do without. None of the prepared chili con carne con frijoles in the markets is edible.

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: gnu
Date: 09 May 13 - 01:33 PM

SRS... vent hole for probe.

Slow cookers aren't the only way to save time.

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: gnu
Date: 09 May 13 - 02:07 PM

leeneia... ideally, it should heat to 205F to 210F and never to 212F. A slow cooker is supposed to "maintain" such a temperature to avoid any boiling - IDEALLY. Of course, it depends what is in the cooker. Right now, I have bubbles in the liquid but it is not bubbling and it's 2:45h now, on high.

Q.... no doubt that convenience is a major factor. Given your ages, it's safe to assume high blood prssure is not a consideration. As well, I have noted that the offerings by M&M have a lower salt content than the stuff in big grocery chains. If yer gonna buy yer frozen prepared food, M&M delivers the best quality, at least around here. Mum used to shop there a lot until I bought the house next door to her about ten years ago and started cooking almost every lunch and supper she eats. I don't need to cook fruit and cereal for her breakfast.

Exception - Sal's Pizza once in a while. Sal's I can hit with a sling shot from where I live and it's deeeeelicious and unbelievably cheap... all fresh ingrediants and I can by U-Bake but I'd rather support the business and buy it cooked. I buy U-Bake Vito's (local family business) lasagna BUT I gotta buy it at Costco on accounta over half of the last 6 lasagnas I bought directly from Vito's had hardly any sauce! Costco requires that each lasagna made for them has EACH ingrediant weighed and if they get any complaints about quality... the axe. Sad but true.

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: gnu
Date: 09 May 13 - 02:44 PM

Chef's Log. Slow Cooker Hamilton Beach. Entry: 2013.05.09.3.30

NEVER... NEVER... NEVER... EVER plug the vent hole! You'll burn the green beans above the fluid level. Yech!

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: gnu
Date: 09 May 13 - 03:01 PM

Oh dear... at 3:50h in the internal temp is 194F. I will never plug the vent hole again. Apparently, the Beach knows how to cook.

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jan 16 - 06:44 PM

I need more recipes!

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: GUEST,#
Date: 20 Jan 16 - 08:39 PM

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/top-rated-recipes/slow-cooker-favorites

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jan 16 - 08:59 PM

Thanks, #. I'll have a boo on the morrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: Janie
Date: 20 Jan 16 - 10:37 PM

Don't know if you are fond of Texas Chili, but this a good recipe.    Served it up one pre-Getaway to Dani, Amos and Abby Sale to rave reviews. (and these folks are always polite, but not prone to rave unless they really, really like it - I know because I have also fed them when the results were not so agreeable to their palates:>)

Recipe: Slow Cooker Texas Red Chili


Inspired By: International Chili Society winning recipes (between 1989 and 1993)

Cooking time: 10 hours
Equipment:

    6 quart or larger slow cooker (Crock Pot brand is fine, but I like my fancy one from All-Clad)

Ingredients

Beef

    1 tablespoon vegetable oil
    5 pounds boneless beef chuck roast cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
    2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
    1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Aromatics

    2 medium onions, minced
    6 cloves garlic, minced
    1/3 cup tomato paste (half of a 6 ounce can)
    1 teaspoon kosher salt

1st batch of spices

    1/2 cup chili powder
    1 tablespoon ground cumin
    1 tablespoon ground coriander
    1 tablespoon dried oregano
    1 tablespoon chipotle en adobo puree

Liquids

    1/2 cup beer (preferably an amber ale – use the rest of the bottle to fortify the cook)
    16 ounce can tomato sauce
    2 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)

2nd batch of spices

    1 tablespoons chili powder
    1 teaspoon ground cumin
    1 teaspoon brown sugar
    1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
    1 teaspoon chipotle en adobo puree
    Juice of 1 lime

Directions

1. Brown the beef
Season the beef with 2 1/2 teaspoons of salt and the pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a large fry pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Split the beef into two batches, and put one batch into the slow cooker crock. Put the second batch of beef in the fry pan in a single, loose layer, and put any pieces that don't fit into the slow cooker. Let the beef in the fry pan sit until it is well browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the browned beef into the slow cooker pot with the rest of the beef.
        

2. Saute the aromatics and toast the spices
Add the onions, garlic, and tomato paste to the fry pan, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt, and saute until the onions soften and the tomato paste darkens, about 5 minutes. Make a hole in the middle of the onions and add the first batch of spices. Cook until you smell the spices toasting, about 1 minute, then stir the spices into the onions. Add the onions and spices to the crock pot, and stir to coat the beef. Put the fry pan back on the stove, turn the heat to high, and pour in the beer. Bring the beer to a simmer and use a wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits loose from the bottom of the pan. Pour the beer into the slow cooker crock, add the tomato sauce and chicken broth, and stir to coat the beef.
        
        

3. Slow cook the chili
Cover the slow cooker and cook the chili on low for 10 hours or high for 5 hours.

4. Finish the chili
1/2 hour before serving the chili, stir in the second batch of spices. Put the lid back on and let the spices simmer. When the chili is done, taste for seasoning, and add more salt or lime juice if needed. Serve.
        

Notes:

    Stove top safe crock instructions: As you can see in the pictures, my All-Clad slow cooker has a stove top safe crock. I do all the browning, sauteing, and boiling steps directly in the crock. The only change to the instructions is, in step 1, move the beef to a bowl after it is brown, and in step 2, stir it back into the crock when the onions and spices are done toasting.
    "I'm in a hurry" instructions: Skip step 1 – browning the beef – and put it straight into the crock. Saute the onions and toast the spices, then rinse the pan out with beer and pour everything in the slow cooker. Skip the second batch of spices, but make sure to add extra salt if it's needed when you taste for seasoning. You won't get the same depth of flavor, but you cut a lot of the active time out of the cooking
    No slow cooker? No worries. Here is the stove top version of the recipe.

Subject: RE: BS: Slow cooker recipes
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jan 16 - 12:26 AM

That may be chili, but it isn't Texas chili, not with chicken stock and beer and such. (Don't feel bad, you should see what my Norwegian mother called "chili.)

Terlingua (Texas) spice mixes from various winners.

Texas chili from an Esquire article

Chili cookoff winning recipe from 2014 (contest held in Reno)

Chili in its most basic form doesn't have meat or beans.