Slow Cooker Chatter #16

Feel free to talk slow cookers & post recipes, they will be added to the Slow Cooker Recipe thread which you can find HERE

For more slow cooker recipe inspirations, check out the Just Slow Cooking website.

HERE is where you left off.

Burgandy Chicken Casserole

8 chicken thighs, skinned
salt & pepper, to taste
1 onion, sliced
100 g brown mushrooms, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 packet ROYCO Spicy Tomato & Onion Soup
350 ml water
75 ml red wine
15 ml tomato paste
5 ml Worcestershire sauce
1 ml dried thyme

•

Place chicken pieces in SC. Season and cover with onion, mushroom and red

pepper.
Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken and vegetables.

Cover and cook for about 6 hours on low.

Remove chicken pieces and stir sauce before serving.

Serves 4-6
Freeze very well

Has anyone ever put the whole cooking thingy (the ceramic inner bit - I don't know what it's called) in the fridge? If I have leftovers or a change of meal plan I usually empty the food into a tupperware container before fridging it but I was thinking that just putting the whole thing in the fridge would cut down on washing up (I have lazy-housewifeitis) but then I though that it might crack when being reheated....

Chloe I have put it all in the fridge & then dished up from that ceramic thingy onto plates & then microwaved that...?

Does that help?

yeah me too

Same here, I have never heated it up again from the fridge. :)

Help! I made the beef in red wine (from chatter #2 thread) and it turned out really dry - would this have been cause I over-browned the meat, or because my crock is a 5.5 L one? I cooked it on high for 2 hours, then low for 3 hours ...

hmmm im not sure? I never brown anything first....but with my big SC, you always need to add more liquid?

I never cook with less than 2kgs of meat, I turn mine on low as i leave for work 7:45am & then when we walk in the door around 5pm, I turn it to keep warm, whist I do whatever else is going with it!!!

Some have burnt up the side but mine is really big & probably I need 5kgs of meat but I think by then I'll be sick of that meal!!! hee hee!

Its starting to get cooler at night here in melb... time to dust off the slow cookers girls... and inspire me LOL! I'm going out tomorrow so I'll be putting the SC on...

Oh forgot to tell you... I now have TWO 6 ltr slow cookers as SIL returned my old ronson one LOL! 2 meals at once, 2 roasts at once, 2 curries at once, meat in one potato in another, main in one dessert in another... the choices are endless... ;)

*hugs*
Cailin

yay cailin!! i better pull mine out too :D

I pulled mine out the other night and had lamb casserole with cheese and herb dumplings.

I did a beef roast in my SC a few nights ago, and today I have Debbie's Thai Chicken Green Curry (from slow cooker chatter thread #12) cooking in there. Fingers crossed ...

Just found this thread and very excited!

I LOVE my slow cooker, use it all winter, but not very adventurous with it. So far have only really cooked Silverside, the occasional roast, and some beef casseroles!

Anyone got any good ideas with Chicken Breat Fillets??

The Thai Chicken Green Curry was a hit!

The only thing that I would change next time would be not using frozen veges (I was being lazy lol), as I think they had too much water in them and there ended up being a LOT more liquid by the end of the cooking time that what I started with.

Apricot chicken

kg chicken(breast, thighs legs what ever takes your fancy)
1 large tin apricot nectar
1 large tin of apricots, drained
2 pkts french onion soup

pretty simple

Asparagus or mushroom chicken

kg chicken
1 tin of either cream of asparagus or cream of mushroom soup
extra mushrooms or asparagus if you want
1/2 a cup of water
salt and pepper

another simple one

Oh, these recipes all sound yummy!!

We are suckers for Thai, so might try that one first!

wow Cailin, it sounds like you're in SC heaven!!
I might try the curry - Yasin loves rice so anything that goes with rice is a hit in our house.

Help!

Tried the "Creamy Chicken Stew" which I think was in chatter #2 or 3?
But the liquid all seperated... so it all looks erky. Tastes good still, but ...

Any ideas?

I mixed the plain flour with the evap milk properly, and I did use chicken stock cubes (x4) to make up my 1l of chicken stock so may that have been it?

sorry kaz...no idea!

I have a whole chook out ready for tomorrow in the sc! first time ive used it in ages :)

I am putting in some stock and some tomato soup in the bottom ready to serve with rice

Ok has anyone ever done cheese fondue in their slow cooker? Or anyone have a good recipe? DHs birthday is next month and we are having a party and he wants me to make fondue in the slow cooker. I have found one recipe, but it has 2 cups of white wine and no other liquid, which is think is a bit much especially since our kids will probably want to have some too.

I will do a net search but I thought I would check in here first - can anyone help??

BTW I did corned beef in the slow cooker last night for the first time and it was delicious! DH wants it to be part of our regular rotation now.

hmmm no idea on the fondue front.... all my fondue recipes have heaps of wine in them, but none are specifically for a SC as well.

I am doing a leek, potato and bacon soup in the SC for tonight...mmmmm

OK need some help please! Bec???

You know the recipe for the guiness pies? I want to make pies but DH and I dont like beer. Do you think we would still like it?

What if we didnt include the guiness...would it taste crap?

LOL yeah it would taste crap ;)

Its not like drinking beer, the flavour is different its like how you can have wine in food but not like the flavour of wine...

Do the beer it will taste good I promise :D

*hugs*
Cailin

do i have to use guiness or any beer?

I don't think you'd get the same gravy flavour with normal beer. It would have to be a stout of some kind.

*hugs*
Cailin

ok culinary queen! I will try it this week....now to find the recipe! :D

LOL @ culinary queen. Ya dag ;) I'm sure it will be super tasty and you'll be adding it to your regular menu...

*hugs*
Cailin

Ok i cant find it :(

Please help me!!

Ok, Im just popping in to say I am FINALLY trying the corned beef. I've had it on all day and it smells SO good. I put some water, balsamic, onion and brown sugar. I will be making Beckibee's yummy white sauce (with mustard). Can't wait to try it, I've been meaning to do this for ages. I've never done corned beef before!! Will come back tomorrow and report on results!!
xoxo

I've got to get back in to using mine it's been in the cupboard since we moved 6months ago. When i was pg with Eleanor the smell when using it made me sick so i stopped using it also i have to work out where to put it in my kitchen when it's on as my kitchen is a on the small side.

I'll have to find some low fat recipes to use in it.

heya ladies,

I too have a slow cooker and I love it in the winter time, I am a huge fan of the good ol' comfort foods in winter,

so I will be poping in here a bit from now on, only prob I have I guess which is not really a problem it just limits me from using it to much, DH works away for 3 weeks at a time and I dont eat meat so all I need to cook for is the 2 kids and myself and usually slow cookers make so much, maybe I will start freezing the leftovers for when DH is home??? Do you all freeze your lefovers if so what is good to freeze and what is not so good and how do you defrost and reheat them??????

ok DH is home in a week and he loves corned beef so where do I fint the thread with the how to on that one???

Thanks girls

Amy-- the SC is perfect for making big batches and freezing.

I freeze them into chinese containers, defrost in the fridge or microwave and either reheat in the microwave or on the stove.

Everything freezes well...although I dont like freezing rice or pasta :)

The corned beef was DELISH!! Even Dh loved it. My eldest girl wouldn't touch it and Coco spat it out, but she's being extremely fussy at the mo. So Im saying big success and will be doing it again. YUM YUM. I will also be using it more often too, I often forget about my SC until I see the thread here on BB! xo

oh great thanks Danni, I figure if I make a couple of meals in it a week for the kids and freeze the rest then when DH is home and we go out for the day I wont have to make something unhealthy and quick or get take away as I will have a supply of good food in the freezer, yup I think thats wha i am going to do for sure sounds like a good plan.

Meg LOL at the girls not eating it, gotta love kids reactions to different foods it took so so long for my DS to finaly like corned beef and he still pulls a face each time its served I just have to remind him what it is LOL, he was such a fussy little boy and still is but is slowly getting there.

Hi girls

Got a SC for my b'day the other week and am having lots of fun starting to cook stuff. Have so far made a lamb tagine and french onion soup (both from the Sunbeam recipe book) and Tigergirl's gooey choc cake. The family was here for that one so no leftovers.:doh:

A couple of questions about using the SC -

What's the best way to use the auto setting? Most recipes give a number of hours on either low or high. I understand that auto self regulates but am not sure of the general principle of how this works and how to use it.

Do you use less stock/liquid when making casserole-type dishes than you would if cooking in the oven/on the stove? The recipes I've got seem to use much less than 'conventional' recipes. Do you cover the meat or does that not matter? Does it depend on how much you've got in there or the size?

Thanks in advance. Looking forward to using lots of your recipes and hopefully contributing some of my own!

Ooooh, I have NOT been getting the thingy's for here, bugger.

Bon: Maybe you could add 1 cup of wine and 1 cup of water/chicken stock. A recipe I saw used beer or apple cider, maybe you could put apple juice? Still or sparkling?

Blackbird: I only use the auto if a recipe tells me too, generally I go by the recipe so I can't really help you there.
Yep with the water you definitely need to use less water as it doesn't evaporate like it does in other forms of cooking. Not sure it matters to cover the meat and I don't think it matter how much you've got in there or the size either. I generally put half to amount to 3/4. So if the recipe tells me I need 1 cup of water, I will usually put 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup instead.

How did the goey choc cake turn out? I've not yet made it.

I am officially excited! I got a slow cooker on the weekend and am LOVING it!
It is making life soooo much easier. I get up early so I have had dinner prepared by breakky! I am looking forward to reading through the recipes! :hug:

Thanks Tigergirl. The gooey choc cake was fantastic. DH's family are very fond of choc puddings (SiL makes them a lot) and they were very impressed. The cake was a nice texture and the saucy part was thick and rich. Only a small portion needed with some icecream.

ETA: It was great to have dessert on before people arrived and not have to worry about dealing with it during dinner.

I've got a beef, red wine, mushroom, smoked paprika concoction nearly ready for dinner. If it tastes as good as it smells, I'll post the recipe.

Blackbird: Oh that's wonderful, I must give it a try some time. I found it through searching one day but haven't gotten around to trying it.