Slow Cooker Experiment
 

Well....okay, experiment sounds way more exciting than this thread actually is, so please forgive me dragging you in here under false pretances *grins*

I just acquired my first electric slow cooker. Never used one before. I do like throwing bunches of different stuff into a big pan and cooking for a few hours with constant stirring and adjusting of water and adding more stuff and generaly faffing about.

This is my first attempt at using it and I have, straight away, abandoned this whole 'cut away all the fat from the meat and use only the leanest cuts' healthy nonsense. The fat's where the flavour is damnit!...bones if you can get 'em.

So. Pork chops (with some of the fat removed, cut into cubes, quick fried to seal em. Then sliced onion dropped into the fry pan with them, along with three cloves of garlic, peeled but uncut. Once onions caramelised and garlic partially smoked from sitting on top, time to go into the crockpot. First into the pot some sliced carrots, and cubed potatoes, then the onions and garlic, then the pork. Little salt, pepper and a sprinkling of chilli flakes along with some dried sage and parsley. Boiling water on top of that. On full for half an hour just to get it bubbling then diwn to slow for about four and a half hours. After that I added some tinned beans (without sauce) and some defrosted frozen cauli and broccoli. Also added a vegetable stock cube and a dash more herbs. Leaving it now for another couple of hours on slow.

I'll let ya know how it turns out:)

Sounds wonderful :)

If you venture into the pot roast realm, substitute the water in the recipe for diet coke. No, don't laugh! The acid (or something like that) keeps the meat juicy. You can't taste it after its been roasting for 8 hours (my guests had no clue and raved about it... then my husband gave away my secret)... and the meat will slice like melted butter.

does it have to be diet?

All the recipes I saw called for a "diet coke". I'm sure it can be diet pepsi or diet RC or diet whatever cola... but I'm not sure it can be regular. Never tried it. Might have something to do with the chemical interaction with nutrasweet.
Also, I do cook the vegetables with the meat - and there is absolutely no cola taste absorbed by the vegetables. I worried about this the first time I tried.

Hmmm, I really need to try that. Thanks!

Oooh. Might try that. I can imagine the sweet taste just adds body in the same way red wine vinegar, or a spoon of strawberry jam in onion gravy does.

I've also seen several versions that call for root beer, usually with pork roast instead of beef.

I'm so happy you made this thread. I've only recently gotten into the slow cooker thing. I have been playing around with it. From what I gather, pork is difficult to do with a slow cooker without drying it out.

I've got the most amazing, delicious and easy pot roast recipe if you are interested though. It's great. It takes 5 minutes and everyone thinks you're a great cook.

I did also buy some slow cooker cookbooks. The one thing I've learned from them all is to make good meals, you don't just toss ingredients into the slowcooker and expect magic. You've got to do some prep work which takes a bit of time, but if you do it, you get some wonderful results. For instance, most of them suggest you sear or brown your meat before putting it in the slow cooker to get more flavor.

I just got a slow cooker myself for Christmas, though I have not used it yet. I do want to try this chicken tortilla soup recipe that one of my friends told me about:

4 chicken breast halves
2 15-oz cans of black beans, undrained
2 15-oz cans Mexican stewed tomatoes, or Rotel
tomatoes
1 cup salsa
4-oz can chopped green chiles
14.5-oz can tomato sauce

torilla chips
2 cups grated cheese

1. Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese
into slow cooker
2. Cover. Cook for 8 hours on low.
3. Just before serving, remove chicken breast; slice
into bite-sized pieces
4. To serve, put a handful of chips in each
individual soup bowl. Ladle soup over chips. Top
with cheese.

I live out of my slow cooker.

It doesn't even have to be diet...it's the acid, not the sugar content. I sometimes use Coke (Aspartame gives my headaches and blurred vision). You can also use vinegar.

The Best Slow Cooker Pot Roast Ever!

....in my humble opinion

INGREDIENTS

1 - 3lb Beef Roast (any kind....Chuck roast, rib roast, etc.)

1 - 1 1/4 ounce package dried brown gravy mix (or 2 small packets)

1 - 1 1/4 ounce package dried Italian salad dressing mix (or 2 small packets)

1 - 1 1/4 ounce package dried ranch dressing mix (or 2 small packets)

1 cup - water

1 - 1 lb bag of peeled baby carrots

1 - 1 lb bag of pearled white onions (peeled)

6 - 8 small red potatoes

5 - garlic cloves


INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pour all of the dried packets into a bowl and mix them together.

2. Peel the garlic cloves and slice them lengthwise once.

3. With a very sharp knife make little slices into the meat and put a half a garlic clove into the little slit all around the roast.

4. Place the roast on a plate and sprinkle the powder mix over all sides of it.

5. Cut the red potatoes into quarters and line the bottom of the slow cooker with the pieces.

6. Pour the bag of baby carrots into the slow cooker evenly over the potatoes.

7. Pour the peeled pearled white onions evenly over the potatoes and carrots.

8. Put the roast into the slow cooker on top of the vegetables.

9. Pour the remaining powder mix over everything in the slow cooker (especially the roast)

10. Pour the water over the roast and vegetables.

11. Cover the slow cooker and cook for 8-10 hours.


I've tried this recipe and it really is fantastic and really easy. Setup is about 5 - 10 minutes and the results are amazing.

Hmm....reckon that'd work if the ingredients were halved? Mine's quite a small slow cooker compared to many (as is appropriate for my teeny tiny house). Sounds bloody lovely though. As does the Mexican chicken dish.

Update on pork broth:

Was very nice. Very nice indeed. I wasn't sure when I first started eating, thought maybe the seasoning wasn't quite there, but couldn't quite put my finger on what was up. As I ate though, I started to really like it. I think I am just used to much more heavily seasoned (i.e prepackaged stuff) food and have got out of the habit of 'real' food.

D liked it too. He had two bowls :)

I did take a couple of pics of the pot whilst it was cooking (camera seems to be working again yey!) had intended to also do a shot of it with the lid off looking steamy, but then D arrived and I got distracted and forgot that's what I was gonna do :P

Will post pics later, when I have more time.

Radar's recipe has pearl onions. Anyone have tips on peeling the little bastards? Think the last bag I had, said something about boiling water. Whatever, I must have done it wrong.

"got distracted", huh? Is that what they are calling it these days?:D

I don't see why it wouldn't work with half the ingredients. My only worry would be the cooking time. If you cook it this way, everything is moist and tender and the meat is falling apart. I wouldn't want you to overcook it and dry it out.

Is your slowcooker programmable? I'm wondering if you cut the ingredients in half, than cooked it for 4 hours and had it stay on warm the rest of the day if that would work.

As far as peeling the pearled onions go, I just cut the end off each and make a slice down the side (very shallow cut) just to get past all the skin, and just peel it off.

I'm lazy and buy the pearl onions in the bottle. lol

I always brown my pot roasts. I will definitely have to try your recipe. I love my simple recipe (ummm... brown the pot roast, put in slow cooker with whatever veggies sound good - usually carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, salt, pepper, italian herbs, and a can of diet coke...) but have to admit it gets old after so many times.

Some people cube the roast into 1 1/2 inch pieces and put a piece of garlic in each. This lets them brown the meat before putting it into the slow cooker. This offers even more flavor, but requires more work.

Mine has a faster setup time, but if you're willing to put in the legwork, I'd say go for it. I might try that myself next time.

One more thing....if you have high blood pressure or just don't like salt, you can back up a bit on the Italian dressing to reduce the sodium content. Personally I like to put in a little extra water so I have more juice.

This has about 6 decent sized servings.

I just brown the meat as one large roast. Its gets a little difficult to get it to flip and stay on the short ends, but still takes less time than cutting it up. lol

You can also buy them frozen, already peeled.

I had a cookbook that was all slow cooker recipes, even desserts! I need to find that bugger. I tried a few of the recipes and they were very good.

I actually have a document that has over a hundred crock-pot recipes. I have yet to try any of them because I didn't get the crock-pot as planned. If you want it, send me a PM with your email address and I will send it along.

PS - They are all Weight Watchers recipes, but you can just use regular ingredients instead of the low-fat/fat-free stuff.

Please see this thread from last July. I mention a book in post #10 that I very highly recommend, though you'd probably have to convert everything...

Peeling pearl onions: parboil, let cool, cut off the very ends with a chefs' knife, squeeze onions out of their skins into a bowl. IIRC.

Early in the Recipe Thread there's a crockpot recipe for baked beans. Sounds like you'd make a single batch with your small cooker, which might be just about right if you're cooking for just one or aren't absolutely mad for beans all week.

I don't use my crock pot as much as I'd like to. Mostly this is because the crock pot is usually buried in back of a floor level cabinet in the kitchen. Anyone who knows old-time radio may have heard of Fibber McGee's Closet. This is what I usually experience getting to it.

I did buy a 6qt cast iron dutch oven for the grill. The heavy lid will probably allow more pressure to build than the light lid of a crock pot. I am also considering adding smoke chips on the grill in the hope that some of the flavor might make it into the pot even if I have the grill lid open.

I've asked Bbro for the recipe document. I am on Weight Watchers, so this would be good for me.

Found that post about pearl onions. You also shallowly slit the skins so the body of the onion comes right out -- poit! -- when you squeeze.

I made scrumptous pot roast this weekend. I did my usual - brown the roast, put in pot with chopped potatoes, carrots, onions, celery... then I added 2 packets of Ranch dressing and 1 packet of Pesto sauce.

My stepson said it was better than Dinty Moore. That from him is a huge compliment. Probably the best compliment I've ever received from him.

I've never actually had Dinty Moore stew.

Trust me, if you do the whole recipe, he'll go crazy. It's the best pot roast I've ever had.

That's a good tip. Blanch them, cut the root side off, and squeeze 'em out.

ok, you've all done it!- "Beef, its whats for dinner" well tomorrow anyway. I'm gonna do a nice slow simmer with lots o' veggies including some wild mushrooms from last fall!
Damn you, all of you, you got me cooking again. Now she'll expect it all the time!

Over the years I've found that some women are turned on by a guy who can cook. Hope it works out for you.

I used Pesto sauce instead of italian dressing because its what we had... lol. I figured it would do ok. I'll try your recipe after another trip to the grocery store.

My fella can cook :)

My hubby and I trade off cooking... and he's very good at it as well :)

That's cool. Let me know how it goes over when you make it. Don't forget the dry packets of brown gravy. :)

Authentic, No Short Cut, Louisiana Red Beans & Rice Recipe

This site is pretty awesome. You can put in the number of servings you want, and it will adjust the amounts and measurements of ingredients for you.

Crossposting the link to the Recipe Thread, which needs a bump.