Slow Cooker Chatter #19

[~kellie~]

Just used my slow cooker for the 1st time, I made a beef, mushroom and tomato casserole - yummo!!!!! I cant wait to use it again!

[briggsy's girl]

we've just set two slow cookers going for overnight cooking - vegie soup in one (with home grown pumpkin base) and braised lamb chops with lots of veg in the other

always do huuuuuuuuuuuge cook ups when we cook - so DH can take nice (and healthy) food with him when he goes away. poor freezer was looking a bit sparse the other day...

[Hollybolly]

Last night I made chicken korma - put it on at 9.30am and Luke & I ate it at 7pm... OMG it was yummo

DH had it later when he got home, and by then the chicken was so tender it just fell apart... he loved it

Served it with rice, and cheesy garlic naan... hhhmmmm!!!

By the end of winter I swear I would have put on so many kgs due to what I'm cooking in the slow cooker!!!!

[~kellie~]

so, based on one of the recipes I found on here, I've bought a whole chicken and a packet of french onion soup mix to cook in the slow cooker.... just wondering, do I need to add any liquid?

[~Trish~]

I'm not sure Kellie, maybe add a little bit of water for the soup mix? You will find that heaps of juice comes out of the chicken so you don't really want to add much liquid.

I LOVE roast chicken in the slow cooker, it is sooooo tender

[sportychick]

KellieD, you don't needto add any water - just rub the soup mix over the chicken and pop it in - sometimes i sit the chooks on top of some carrots and halved onions to keep them out of the liquid because so much juie comes out. Keep the juices and freeze for home-made chicken stock!

[Netix]

I was just wondering, is there a lot if salt in those soup mixes (like the french onion ones)?

I do add a bit of salt to my cooking, only for the iodine factor, but I thought there is a lot of salt in the soup mixes, especially for children? I think that is why I haven't used them as yet.

[~kellie~]

netix - I think you can buy lower salt versions of them

[minimatron]

Hi All,

Does anyone know how tothicken my sauce? I have been cooking lamb shanks today with parsnip, carrot, onion, garlic and I put in 2 cups of vegi stock and a can of crushed tomatoes....now its like soup....help

TIA

[Netix]

I read in my sc cookbook before (looking for ideas for beef), and it said to add a tablespoon (I think) of flour and turn it to high for the last hour of cooking. I hope its not too late.
I forget what the difference is between using ordinary plain flour and cornflour. I also read you can use rice flour, which has some other benefit in itself, above the other two.

[minimatron]

I added a tablespoon of cornflour and put it on high, but it didnt do much for it!!! I just left the liquid in the sc and ate the solids. OMG it was delicious. I have got the rest, including the liquid in the fridge, and will probably make a soup out of it for tomorrows dinner Thanks for your help.

[Netix]

Thats okay. I forgot to say to mix the flour with some water to form a smooth paste before adding it to the sc. The flour needs to be mixed with a cool liquid before being mixed in with the simmering mixture, or else it can be lumpy.
Maybe a couple of tablespoons would have done the trick?

[mrsmac]

I found a recipe on facebook slowcooker site that is a whole chicken cooked in Coke and ketchup! has anyone tried it?

[briggsy's girl]

not tried it personally mrsmac - but i lived with some people at uni that used to cook chicken in coke all the time - they reckoned it was delish - the coke goes like a thick syrup type marinade when it's cooking...

[mrsmac]

Might give it a go. Ketchup is just tomato sauce isn't it??

[briggsy's girl]

pretty much yeah...

[Netix]

Melissa, I am just looking on the justslowcooking website, and a stew there calls for thickening by adding half a cup of dry instant mashed potato....

Something different I suppose.

I am still trying to figure out what to do with this beef I have, and some lentils. STILL looking for a yummy looking dahl recipe! So far its looking like beef, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, beef stock, maybe half an onion.... some tin beans, whatever spices I can find, and maybe some barley. Eeek - what a combination!

[christy]

With my lamb shanks, I use 1 cup red wine & 2 cans of tomatos. I also use 2 carrots chopped and 2 potatos choppes and 1 celery stick chopped, 2 whole garlic cloves and 2 sprigs of rosemary...and then I take out the shanks & mash the veges in the sauce with a masher to make them into a sauce. Sometimes I use my barmixer and I reduce the sauce in a sauce pan for 10 minutes and pour it over the shanks. HTH