Slow Cooker recipes

bertsmom

Do you not need to put in ANY liquid when doing the leg of lamb or beef? Also does it brown the meat at all?

odyssey06

Teeley wrote: »

What’s the best piece/type of beef joint to cook in the slow cooker? Thanks

I usually go for rib steak pieces\pieces from butcher, its about €7 a kg.
Have had better results with that than round steak.

Short rib beef on the bone is good too but more expensive and harder to come by.

Housekeeper's cut as a full joint.

rawn

Sear & Stew slow cooker in Debenhams €37.50

Glebee

bertsmom wrote: »

Do you not need to put in ANY liquid when doing the leg of lamb or beef? Also does it brown the meat at all?

Im always afraid not to put some liquid in as well...

blinding

rawn wrote: »

Sear & Stew slow cooker in Debenhams €37.50

Thats the kind of price an expensed politician would be paying .;)

Penn

Does anyone have a good fish/seafood chowder recipe for the slow cooker? Preferably low calorie (<500kcals).

Caranica

goat2 wrote: »

Leave it thaw, season it, and whack it in, that is it, 5 to six hrs later, beautiful tender leg of lamb, and the juices can do for gravey, no mess or fuss

Because of this post I bought a leg of lamb tonight. No pressure!

goat2

Caranica wrote: »

Because of this post I bought a leg of lamb tonight. No pressure!

Give us a feedback on how you got on,
I find it the easiest cleanest way of doing a roast, and it ends up fab

Caranica

Well folks, what we were told is true. Had a logistical issue because the bone was longer than my slow cooker is high but improvised with a couple of layers of foil and the lid on top of that. Had a small pool of water around the slow cooker but not a problem.

6 hours on low with just salt and pepper seasoning and it's delicious! Was amazed at the amount of juices that came out. Definitely make good gravy

54and56

Caranica wrote: »

Well folks, what we were told is true. Had a logistical issue because the bone was longer than my slow cooker is high but improvised with a couple of layers of foil and the lid on top of that. Had a small pool of water around the slow cooker but not a problem.

6 hours on low with just salt and pepper seasoning and it's delicious! Was amazed at the amount of juices that came out. Definitely make good gravy

So slight issue on this.

First is all I had the bone too long problem but easily resolved with a wood saw.

My leg of lamb was just shy of 2.5kg.

I scored it all over then rubbed in a marinade of freshly ground sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, dried rosemary and lazy chopped garlic (from Lidl) with just enough olive oil to make it into a paste.

I then put the leg of lamb in a large lock tight bag along with the juice of a lemon and let it marinade overnight in the fridge but turning and rubbing it a few times as i used the fridge for other stuff.

Put it on low for 6 hours and it was very tasty but over cooked and not visually appealing relative to a regular roast or BBQ leg of lamb.

I'll try it again but might drop the lemon and just cook for 5 rather than 6 hours.

It was all scoffed so was a success but I know it can be much better.

Penn

I followed some generic recipes for thai green curry in the slow cooker yesterday, most of which said fry the paste in a frying pan for a few minutes, then add in the coconut milk for a few minutes, then add that and the chicken to the slow cooker and cook on low for a few hours.

However, after leaving it until it was nearly done, I noticed the coconut milk split and/or curdled. I think I've managed to salvage it by removing the chicken from it and just remaking the sauce in the pan, then adding the chicken to it (though some remnants of the lumps from the coconut milk are still on the chicken, not sure how it's going to taste overall. Find out at lunchtime I suppose).

I've since read on other sites that they recommend adding the coconut milk only for the last half hour or so, but I'm not entirely sure how you're meant to cook the chicken and paste or if it's worth doing in the slow cooker at all now. Anyone any tips? Thanks.

McMurphy

Made a chilli last night, (I always do my chilli with half steak chunks and half mince) let it cool over night, and then let it simmer in the slow cooker all day.

Came home to a house smelling absolutely amazing, and a slow cooker full of this amazing stuff.



The baked potato was an added extra:)

I might have cooked it, but I'm still giving it a solid 10/10, it was delicious.

If anyone wants the recipe/method just let me know and I'll try and throw it up here later.

Glebee

Johnny Dogs wrote: »

Made a chilli last night, (I always do my chilli with half steak chunks and half mince) let it cool over night, and then let it simmer in the slow cooker all day.

Came home to a house smelling absolutely amazing, and a slow cooker full of this amazing stuff.



The baked potato was an added extra:)

I might have cooked it, but I'm still giving it a solid 10/10, it was delicious.

If anyone wants the recipe/method just let me know and I'll try and throw it up here later.

Put it up, might try it later in the week.

McMurphy

Glebee wrote: »

Put it up, might try it later in the week.

Ok, here goes.

500g of steak pieces or stewing beef.
500g of mince (the better the quality, the better the taste)

1 or 2 medium to large onions diced.
3 x cloves of garlic crushed.
1 or 2 bell peppers roughly chopped.
Chopped chilli or 2, but you can omit if you don't like it too hot.

2 x tins of tomatoes.
300 ml of beef stock
Good squirt of tomato puree
Dash of Worcester sauce
1 x tsp of chipolte chilli paste (Tesco do good authentic jars)
1 x can of kidney beans (drained)
2 x square of dark chocolate (optional)

5 x tsps of cumin
3 x tsps of cinnamon
1.5 x tsps of chilli flakes
2 x tsps of ground coriander
2 x heaped tsps of smoked paprika.
(1 or 2 x tsps of cayenne pepper if you like a bit of heat in your chilli)
Salt and black pepper to taste


Fry up the steak chunks in some oil (not too much) and drain off any excess juice/far and set aside. Then do the same with the mince, soak up any juices with kitchen roll etc, you want your mince fried, not stewed! Keep the meat to the side.

Fry the onions and garlic (and chillis if youre using them)for 5 mins or so until the start to go translucent, add some water if the start to stick to your pan.

Add in all your spices and stir well, then quickly followed by the tomatoes, puree, Worcester sauce and stock, bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.

Add in the meat, and stir everything together well.

Season with salt and pepper to your preferred taste (you will need salt especially to take the edge of all the tomatoes in there)

Bring back to the boil on a high heat, then reduce to a simmer, and sir in your chipolte paste.

At this stage, I normally bring the whole thing down to the lowest heat I can, and let it simmer for 30mins or so.

Throw in chocolate, and stir it in well.

That's it.

In the morning, tip everything into your slow cooker and cook on low for 8/9 hrs, draining and rinsing kidney beans then stir them in an hour before you're ready to serve it up.

Goes well with either mashed spuds, baked spuds or rice.

Our lads like to sprinkle some cheese on top, but I seldom bother with that.

Let me know how you get on.

Enjoy.

beertons

Picked the wrong time to read that ^, I'm starving.

Is the lamb still good now? Forgive my innocence, but I thought it was only good in the spring.

beertons

beertons wrote: »

Picked the wrong time to read that ^, I'm starving.

Is the lamb still good now? Forgive my innocence, but I thought it was only good in the spring.

On a cooking course I was on before, the chef mentioned that he much prefers autumn lamb because it's actually lamb (born in spring). He said the lamb you buy in the shops in spring time are much fattier and is technically mutton as it's up to a year old.

Haven't checked how accurate this statement is, but anecdotally I did notice in spring this year that the lamb available in the shops was pretty fatty.

beertons

I'm going shopping so.

Dial Hard

Bought a slow cooker yesterday, looking forward to checking out some of these recipes. The Daily Edge actually had a post yesterday with slow cooker recipes in it but half of them required the dish to be started separately on the hob, which kind of defeats the purpose for me.

tickingclock

Dial Hard wrote: »

Bought a slow cooker yesterday, looking forward to checking out some of these recipes. The Daily Edge actually had a post yesterday with slow cooker recipes in it but half of them required the dish to be started separately on the hob, which kind of defeats the purpose for me.

I've been given one from a colleague as she had two and is trying to convert me. I agree with what what you wrote about starting recipes on the hob and then transferring to the slow cooker is a complete waste of time and washing up!! I've been reading about them and that they don't need much liquid as it doesn't reduce. I make beef casserole, Shepard's pie, curries etc. by starting them on the hob and transferring to the oven all in the one casserole dish. I don't know if I'll actually end up putting it to use

blinding

tickingclock wrote: »

I've been given one from a colleague as she had two and is trying to convert me. I agree with what what you wrote about starting recipes on the hob and then transferring to the slow cooker is a complete waste of time and washing up!! I've been reading about them and that they don't need much liquid as it doesn't reduce. I make beef casserole, Shepard's pie, curries etc. by starting them on the hob and transferring to the oven all in the one casserole dish. I don't know if I'll actually end up putting it to use

If you have a metal inside pot ( inside the main apparatus ) then you can use it on the hob if you want and then transfer in to the slow cooker itself .

Penn

Dial Hard wrote: »

Bought a slow cooker yesterday, looking forward to checking out some of these recipes. The Daily Edge actually had a post yesterday with slow cooker recipes in it but half of them required the dish to be started separately on the hob, which kind of defeats the purpose for me.

I was wondering the same when I got mine as recipes like chili con carne required you to cook the mince in a pan first, but a friend told me it was because if you cooked the mince in the slow cooker with everything else, the fat from it would mix with the sauce and ruin it, so you cook the mince first, drain the fat, then cook it in the slow cooker. Or with a thai green curry, you pan fry the curry paste for a few minutes first to essentially activate it til it becomes aromatic, then put it in the slow cooker.

It does kind of defeat the purpose, but it depends on how much of the recipe you have to cook before putting it in the slow cooker, and the reasons for doing so (eg. for the chili, if you don't mind the fat mixing with the sauce, you could just throw it straight in without cooking it first).

matrim

Penn wrote: »

I was wondering the same when I got mine as recipes like chili con carne required you to cook the mince in a pan first, but a friend told me it was because if you cooked the mince in the slow cooker with everything else, the fat from it would mix with the sauce and ruin it, so you cook the mince first, drain the fat, then cook it in the slow cooker. Or with a thai green curry, you pan fry the curry paste for a few minutes first to essentially activate it til it becomes aromatic, then put it in the slow cooker.

It does kind of defeat the purpose, but it depends on how much of the recipe you have to cook before putting it in the slow cooker, and the reasons for doing so (eg. for the chili, if you don't mind the fat mixing with the sauce, you could just throw it straight in without cooking it first).

It depends on if you are slow cooking for the ease of use (i.e. throw everything in and leave it for 8 hours), or for the extra time to make your meat tender.

I've done both depending on how busy I am and the 10 minutes of prep cooking can make things much nicer.

Macy0161

Penn wrote: »

It does kind of defeat the purpose, but it depends on how much of the recipe you have to cook before putting it in the slow cooker, and the reasons for doing so (eg. for the chili, if you don't mind the fat mixing with the sauce, you could just throw it straight in without cooking it first).

Or just buy a less fatty mince. Mince can range from 18-20% fat down to under 4%. However, the issue I've found isn't really fat related, but due to mince clumping if not fried and broken up.

fwiw and in my experience Chilli (and other "mince" recipes) work just as well with diced beef or "stir fry" beef in the slow cooker. If you want to just throw it all in in the morning, try those options as an alternative. I tend to use mince recipes where I do have time in the morning.

Penn

Macy0161 wrote: »

Or just buy a less fatty mince. Mince can range from 18-20% fat down to under 4%. However, the issue I've found isn't really fat related, but due to mince clumping if not fried and broken up.

fwiw and in my experience Chilli (and other "mince" recipes) work just as well with diced beef or "stir fry" beef in the slow cooker. If you want to just throw it all in in the morning, try those options as an alternative. I tend to use mince recipes where I do have time in the morning.

Yeah I go for 5% lean mince where possible and very little fat comes off it, but I'm usually cooking a large batch for multiple lunch/dinners throughout the week so the few extra minutes to brown it first never bothers me. Agree about the clumping though, another reason I find best to fry it and break it up.

How long is safe to leave a slow cooker going for? I'm usually away for about 11 hours, but my SC is one where I can't programme it to come on at a certain time. I could leave it going for a set time (say 6 hours) and then it'll switch to a 'keep warm' rather than cook mode, but is 11 hours too long to leave it in the house unattended? Always been paranoid about that sort of thing.

ellejay

Penn wrote: »

Yeah I go for 5% lean mince where possible and very little fat comes off it, but I'm usually cooking a large batch for multiple lunch/dinners throughout the week so the few extra minutes to brown it first never bothers me. Agree about the clumping though, another reason I find best to fry it and break it up.

How long is safe to leave a slow cooker going for? I'm usually away for about 11 hours, but my SC is one where I can't programme it to come on at a certain time. I could leave it going for a set time (say 6 hours) and then it'll switch to a 'keep warm' rather than cook mode, but is 11 hours too long to leave it in the house unattended? Always been paranoid about that sort of thing.

I've regularly left my slow cooker on from 8 in the evening til 9 or 10 in the morning the next day.
It's been fine.
The whole point of them is so you can leave on for long periods of time.

Macy0161

Penn wrote: »

How long is safe to leave a slow cooker going for? I'm usually away for about 11 hours, but my SC is one where I can't programme it to come on at a certain time. I could leave it going for a set time (say 6 hours) and then it'll switch to a 'keep warm' rather than cook mode, but is 11 hours too long to leave it in the house unattended? Always been paranoid about that sort of thing.

We'd leave ours from 6.30ish in the morning until the evening regularly. I don't think how long really matters - ultimately you're leaving something on unattended.

goat2

Caranica wrote: »

Well folks, what we were told is true. Had a logistical issue because the bone was longer than my slow cooker is high but improvised with a couple of layers of foil and the lid on top of that. Had a small pool of water around the slow cooker but not a problem.

6 hours on low with just salt and pepper seasoning and it's delicious! Was amazed at the amount of juices that came out. Definitely make good gravy

If you can get housekeepers cut of beef in there, again no water, there is enough liquid in the meat as you can see now from the lamb, Roughly cut an onion in with it and a bit of carrot , let it on for the same time,
to the juices add a little red wine and cornflour in the end, it is out of this world also, no fuss or bother about it, no watching

goat2

beertons wrote: »

Picked the wrong time to read that ^, I'm starving.

Is the lamb still good now? Forgive my innocence, but I thought it was only good in the spring.

I had it in the freezer with a few months, and was doing a clean out,

54and56

beertons wrote: »

Picked the wrong time to read that ^, I'm starving.

Is the lamb still good now? Forgive my innocence, but I thought it was only good in the spring.

Aldi have legs of lamb at the moment. Circa €21 for a 2.5kg leg. I have a chest freezer in an external shed which I load up with bargains as and when I see them. Put 6 legs of lamb in there last week

They also have nice round roast joints costing €10 a kilo which are perfect for the same recipe as Goat2 outlined just above.

cullenswood

Penn wrote: »

, but is 11 hours too long to leave it in the house unattended? Always been paranoid about that sort of thing.

Do you leave your fridge on unattended for long periods?? Its fine to leave it on for 11 hours....