Secrets for the slow cooker?

[Lucy]

Rachel,

I use ours a fair amount come winter and summer....if you go but have been using it for so long now 9about 5 years) that I guess my recipes have morphed of their own accord.

My tips would be:

~ Even sized pieces of meat and veg
~ Use liquid from cold
~ Same amount of spices herbs and seasoning that you would generally use
~ As a rough guide, use enough ciquid to cover the other ingrediants.

Once you have slow cooked, then look at what you need to do to it.......for example, I make a lemon chicken, but the sauce is really thin. So I know I need to drain off the liquid and whisk a butter/flour paste into it to thicken it etc.

I am sounding vague, sorry! I guess the recipes evolve over time!

Have you seen this thread?
Slow Cooker Recipes

Also, I notice in t he supermaket that McCormick have just releassed a new range of recipe base mixes specifically for slow cookers.......and it was a fairly good range:

Beef & Mushroom Ragout
Beef & Red Wine Casserole
Garlic & Herb Lamb Shanks
Mediterranean Chicken
Mild Chicken Curry
Tomato & Onion Sausages


This might be a good starting point?