Slow Cooker Chatter #19

[briggsy's girl]

i made up about 10L of soup at the weekend in the slow cooker! all came out delish too

one was a vegie soup - chucked everything that i could find in, added some stock (you can use water, but we'd just made fresh chicken stock) - and let it cook over night on friday night on low. got us yesterday morning, whacked it through the food processor, and have delicious soup! it's got a pumpkin base (so it's orange vegie soup!) - carrot, cauli, broccoli, potato, carrot, turnip, swede, celery, a little garlic (forgot onion, but it adds nice flavour) - and just let it go over night. made similar last weekend, and just let it cook during the day though...

friday we also made chicken and corn soup. fresh chicken stock (you can buy it, but we wanted the chicken chunks), chucked it in the slow cooker with some corn, carrot and celery. when it was starting to chug along nicely (the carrot was almost done) - we threw in some pasta to make it a thicker soup - cooked it another hour or so on low

the justslowcooking website has lots of soup recipes. ours were made from scratch, but you can use the recipes available there. just be careful of times listed - for some reason, even on low, our cooker only takes half to two thirds the time listed - if you're confident of how well your cooker matches up with listed recipes, it's fine - just something to take note of though...

[Trish]

Not sure if this has been posted in here as I haven't been in here for a while. But I just saw that McCormicks now have Slow Cooker recipe base packs.

They have Mild chicken curry, Garlic & Herb Lamb Shanks, Beef & Mushroom Ragout, Beef & Mushroom Ragout, Tomato & Onion Sausages and mediterranean chicken. They all look pretty yummy. I am going to grab the chicken curry one for tea tonight. Will let you know how it goes

[gorgeous_lea]

Hi everyone

I have just recently brought a slow cooker. I have only made 2 different meals so far. A pork and pineapple curry and an Irish Stew.

I was just wondering with the stew, as it has potato in it, if it should be eaten straight away, or is it ok to freeze. A friend told me that potato goes off quickly.

TIA

Lea x

[Netix]

Hi All! Some of you may remember me having a vent in a prior SC thread, about how much I disliked my SC, and how the food turned out.
Well, things have changed. I have used it two days in a row, with complete success both times. Chicken the first day (I had only ever cooked beef in it before, so I think this initial success gave me confidence to try beef again), and yesterday, beef. Debbie Lee's Beef and Vegetable Casserole with Dumplings from the first SC recipe thread to be exact.
My foray into chicken was a bit of this and a bit of that (mainly tomato sauce base), and the chicken I used was thigh, with the bone still in. Even the Boy (who is 11) came back for seconds, so I'd definately say it worked.
I really want to make a pea and ham soup, so I think I will do that today, I have a ham hock that needs to be cooked asap! (Doh, I forgot about it! ). Looks like that is what I have to do today, instead of making a dessert in the SC. Doesn't matter, will let you all know if my successes continue.

[alioops]

I am getting a slow cooker for mother's day (getting it early coz I am working tomorrow and want to have dinner ready when i get home) so i am planning to make a nice chicken or mince dish. I will be out for up to 11 hours though. I can prepare it all and just get DH to turn it on at lunch time so I need ideas. Have read through the list of recipes but got a bit overwhelmed. Dont have any apricots but the apricot chicken looks awesome. Do have a couple of jars of sweet and sour sauce. how long would that take in the slow cooker and do I have to cook the chicken first? I would much rather leave it partially frozen and set a reminder for DH to turn the slow cooker on with enough time for it to cook.

[Netix]

My pea and ham soup ended up being pea and smoked bacon hock soup. But it was delicious! The ham bone I had looked a little suspect, so I chopped all the meat off it and gave it to the dogs. They thought all their Christmas's had come at once! Even though the two of them had to decide on who got the actual bone! So I had to go down the street again and get another bone. But the butcher didn't have one, so I got a lovely looking smoked bacon bone/hock from the deli. It only just fitted into the SC! It was cooking most of the day, and my Mum looked after it. I used Cailin's recipe from thread #17, but instead of the soup pack, I used two carrots, an onion and couple of garlic cloves, All finely chopped. And six or eight cups of water. I forget now.
Today while in Safeway, I decided on doing chicken thighs again, this time Indian. Bought the chicken and rushed home to put it on (it only went on at 2.30, the same as the other day). This time I cut the thighs, from the soft side to the bone, so I hope the flavour will penetrate the meat more, and cook better. Next time I make Indian, I will put it on early morning, and leave it on Low. Or Auto. Which is slower? Going all out for dinner tonight, have pappadums and garlic naans too! (Even though I have cheated today and used a jar of Pataks sauce! )
I have been looking on the web for a good, simple lentil/split pea curry/dahl, but I am wondering if anyone here has a fabulously yummy recipe they would care to share. Or any curry really. I'm starting to really like my SC, and I think the tips and ideas thread for SC's is a great idea.

[Rouge]

MMMMMMmmmmmm!

Tonight we had Broccoli, Potato, Bacon & Cheese soup.

2 Large florets of Broccoli (stalks and all), 4 large potatoes, 3 medium onions all chopped finely (I used my tupperware chef chopper). In the slow cooker with a garlic cube and a 1 ltr carton of chicken stock. Cooked on high for about 3 hours, then on low for 3 then I added 200 gms of strong cheddar crumbled and 375gm pack of organic bacon rashers (chopped and fried). OMG! Soooooo good! We had it with a pull apart from bakers delight and the kids completely devoured their dinner.