Slow Cooker recipes

Macy0161 · 17-01-2019 08:44AM

Put on an amended version of this https://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/slimming-worlds-slow-cooked-pulled-pork this morning before leaving. I swapped the shoulder for two pork steaks/ fillets and added two sliced red onions, and two tins of mixed beans rather than the green beans, and didn't bother/ have time to reduce the sauce (I'll stir in cooked rice when I get home, post pulling, so not too concerned about too much liquid).

54and56 · 17-01-2019 10:43AM

Caranica wrote: »

I got the link on this thread but here it is again. It's one of my favourite slow cooker recipes. The only change I make is to swap out the tomatoes for passata as I prefer the texture that way. I free hand pour the herbs and spices so there's usually a lot of chilli flakes in mine!

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/slow-cooker-lamb-and-pasta

I made this this morning so will see how the dish turns out. We love lamb and love pasta dishes so it should be a winner!

My only concern is that 3 tins of tomatoes seems a bit OTT and made the dish very liquid even though I had 900g of mince lamb rather than the 700g called for in the recipe and I didn't rinse the cans of tomatoes with a cup of water and include in the mix.

If it turns out too liquidy but otherwise a keeper I'll try 2 tins of tomatoes and some tomato concentrate next time.

I'd also be interested in seeing if some white wine or stock would improve the dish other than making it even more liquidy if liquidy is even a word?

Dial Hard · 17-01-2019 10:55AM

It's a perfectly cromulent word.

odyssey06 · 17-01-2019 10:56AM

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I made this this morning so will see how the dish turns out. We love lamb and love pasta dishes so it should be a winner!

My only concern is that 3 tins of tomatoes seems a bit OTT and made the dish very liquid even though I had 900g of mince lamb rather than the 700g called for in the recipe and I didn't rinse the cans of tomatoes with a cup of water and include in the mix.

If it turns out too liquidy but otherwise a keeper I'll try 2 tins of tomatoes and some tomato concentrate next time.

I'd also be interested in seeing if some white wine or stock would improve the dish other than making it even more liquidy if liquidy is even a word?

If it isn't it should be! Seems to more descriptive here than watery \ runny.
But just curious why you'd opt for white wine over red here given the lamb and tomatoes?

54and56 · 17-01-2019 11:08AM

odyssey06 wrote: »

But just curious why you'd opt for white wine over red here given the lamb and tomatoes?

Because I'm not a very accomplished cook

odyssey06 · 17-01-2019 11:20AM

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Because I'm not a very accomplished cook

We would also have accepted "because I have some leftover white wine" or "its higher acidity is better for cooking" *

* No idea if this is true or not...

the beer revolu · 17-01-2019 11:31AM

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Because I'm not a very accomplished cook

I'd say it's because white wine is far better than red wine in tomato sauces.;)

Once you add meat, perhaps red would be nice, too but for a basic tomato sauce, I'd never use red (learned this from an Italian).

54and56 · 17-01-2019 12:00PM

the beer revolu wrote: »

Once you add meat, perhaps red would be nice, too but for a basic tomato sauce, I'd never use red (learned this from an Italian).

I am an accomplished cook I am I am :P

Caranica · 17-01-2019 05:20PM

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I made this this morning so will see how the dish turns out. We love lamb and love pasta dishes so it should be a winner!

My only concern is that 3 tins of tomatoes seems a bit OTT and made the dish very liquid even though I had 900g of mince lamb rather than the 700g called for in the recipe and I didn't rinse the cans of tomatoes with a cup of water and include in the mix.

If it turns out too liquidy but otherwise a keeper I'll try 2 tins of tomatoes and some tomato concentrate next time.

I'd also be interested in seeing if some white wine or stock would improve the dish other than making it even more liquidy if liquidy is even a word?

Don't forget you will be cooking the pasta in the liquid and pasta hoovers up liquid. I usually end up adding extra!

LushiousLips · 17-01-2019 05:25PM

I'm trying to get healthy for the new year and am thinking of buying a slow cooker.
Is it as easy as putting my meat, spuds and veg in the cooker?
Leave for work at 8.45am and back around 7pm and hey presto the meal is done?
Was thinking of buying frozen veg to spare me chopping and dicing....that ok?

Thanks in advance

crustybla · 17-01-2019 06:04PM

I've a magic lemon sponge in now, no idea how it will turn out. First time doing a desert in the slow cooker. It's for after the rest of yesterday's curry.

I assume you could do frozen veg, I haven't tried that but add less water than you think you'll need. It is very easy, have a look through this thread, something might take your fancy. Let us know how you get on Lushious.

Macy0161 · 17-01-2019 10:23PM

We use frozen veg. Can disappear into the sauce, but that is some times an advantage with the children.

Spuds we've had mixed results. For stews on work days we tend to go for either cook the spuds the day before and reheat, or a fresh loaf as the carbs.

Btw The pulled pork came out well. It was quite liquid, but the rice soaked it up. Two steaks way too much though - we got 10 portions of it, albeit served with flatbreads and wraps.

Tigerandahalf · 17-01-2019 10:36PM

LushiousLips wrote: »

I'm trying to get healthy for the new year and am thinking of buying a slow cooker.
Is it as easy as putting my meat, spuds and veg in the cooker?
Leave for work at 8.45am and back around 7pm and hey presto the meal is done?
Was thinking of buying frozen veg to spare me chopping and dicing....that ok?

Thanks in advance

I find the slow cooker a hard one to get right.
You always hear 'just put everything in and leave it' but it doesn't end up well.

Potatoes will go to mush if left in too long. Carrots need more cooking. You need to get the amount of liquid right or you end up with a pot of water and soggy ingredients.

I did a beef bourguignon recently and it worked out well. It takes a few goes to know what size to cut veg/spuds into but it can be a lovely dish especially the day after.

I wouldn't go with frozen veg as you are adding a lot of water to the pot and that type of veg is very small in size. Cut your potatoes bigger than your carrots (no smaller than quartered, smaller potatoes just halve them). There are some good recipies on the bbc good food site.

Cook on the low setting is best I think. It takes longer but the flavour doesn't get boiled out.

Macy0161 · 17-01-2019 10:59PM

Tigerandahalf wrote:

I find the slow cooker a hard one to get right. You always hear 'just put everything in and leave it' but it doesn't end up well.

I think that depends on the recipe. While I skip pre frying, I just don't bother with recipes that are "add with 2 hours to go" or "stir half way". I'd also say try and stick to slow cooker recipes rather than stew or casserole ones.

I've never had issue with root veg not being done or mush. Spuds we've given up on really though.

mrsdewinter · 18-01-2019 09:56AM

odyssey06 wrote: »

If it isn't it should be! Seems to more descriptive here than watery \ runny.
But just curious why you'd opt for white wine over red here given the lamb and tomatoes?

This is a variant on a dish that appeared in Nigella's How To Cook. At that time, she characterised it as 'Greek style' and FWIR she justified the choice of white wine on the basis that it was 'closer' to retsina. I don't think I've ever had retsina, so I can't really rule on this.

the beer revolu · 18-01-2019 11:00AM

mrsdewinter wrote: »

This is a variant on a dish that appeared in Nigella's How To Cook. At that time, she characterised it as 'Greek style' and FWIR she justified the choice of white wine on the basis that it was 'closer' to retsina. I don't think I've ever had retsina, so I can't really rule on this.

Retsina is a white wine.

Cheshire Cat · 18-01-2019 11:34AM

It is a white wine but it has added resin so has quite a distinct and unusual flavour.

Gloomtastic! · 18-01-2019 01:24PM

Cheshire Cat wrote: »

It is a white wine but it has added resin so has quite a distinct and unusual flavour.

From memory it tasted like Dettol. :rolleyes:

Cheshire Cat · 18-01-2019 01:47PM

Can't comment on that. Never tried Dettol

54and56 · 18-01-2019 02:11PM

Caranica wrote: »

Don't forget you will be cooking the pasta in the liquid and pasta hoovers up liquid. I usually end up adding extra!

You were spot on!! I added 500g of dried Rigatoni for the recommended 25 minutes but it was still under cooked and seemed to have hoovered up the juices so I added a generous glass of white wine (emptied the dregs of a bottle of Pinot Grigio in the fridge) and gave it another 15 minutes which did the trick.

It was a winner all round but next time I think I'll use a half tomato can of red wine at the start and see if that makes it even better.

Defo a keeper either way.

shamrock55 · 18-01-2019 09:40PM

Just got a slow cooker today, please someone give me a nice handy thing to cook in it please

Gloomtastic! · 18-01-2019 10:20PM

shamrock55 wrote: »

Just got a slow cooker today, please someone give me a nice handy thing to cook in it please

This is my favourite thing to cook in the slow cooker but add way more sausages. Slow cooked sausages are just the best.

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2055468379/27/#post86456614

Dial Hard · 18-01-2019 10:29PM

shamrock55 wrote:

Just got a slow cooker today, please someone give me a nice handy thing to cook in it please

There's an entire index of recipes in the first post.

shamrock55 · 18-01-2019 10:47PM

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

This is my favourite thing to cook in the slow cooker but add way more sausages. Slow cooked sausages are just the best.

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2055468379/27/#post86456614

Wow this does sound good, thanks

mrsdewinter · 19-01-2019 05:22PM

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

This is my favourite thing to cook in the slow cooker but add way more sausages. Slow cooked sausages are just the best.

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2055468379/27/#post86456614

Would regular SuperValu sausages be okay for this? Or would they have to be super meaty butcher's sausages?

crustybla · 19-01-2019 07:12PM

My magic lemon sponge turned out fairly crap. It was flatter than it looked in the pic so probably my method was at fault. It went in the bin.

I've half a ham in it now. Smells like Christmas around here.:D

Gloomtastic! · 20-01-2019 10:34AM

mrsdewinter wrote: »

Would regular SuperValu sausages be okay for this? Or would they have to be super meaty butcher's sausages?

Yes, I’ve used all sorts, all good.

Dial Hard · 21-01-2019 01:20PM

Did chicken tikka masala over the weekend, it was lovely.

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Also ridiculously simple. I whizzed the onion, garlic, chilli and spices into a paste in the blender with the tomato puree and a few tablespoons of water as a) I'm lazy and b) I feel you get better flavour payofff that way. Used 500ml of passata instead of tinned tomatoes and added peas (very inauthentic, I know, don't @ me!) just to up the veg quotient a bit. I gave it six hours on low rather than three on high as, again, I think you get better flavour that way.

Oh, and I doubled the quantity of garam masala, when I tasted the paste as per the quantities on the recipe I felt it was a bit lacking.

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the beer revolu · 21-01-2019 08:05PM

Indian dishes often have peas, carrots too.
It's the likes of bell peppers that I've never seen in Indian food.

Macy0161 · 25-01-2019 08:49AM

Well broke one of my rules with yesterdays slow cooker dish - I did a smokey beef chilli, with mince. No prefrying, but sliced across the mince going in, and then spent time mixing through the finely diced onions and celery, and then did the same adding the spices and diced smokey bacon, and again adding the passata. Did that on Wednesday night in the removable pot, in the fridge. I took it out when I got up, and the better half put it on when she was leaving (so it'd come up in temp a bit). It worked really well, no clumps, so mince back on our slow cooker menu for work days.

The recipe was from an ebook, so can't post it, but it was a "Smokey Beef Chilli" from the foodforfitness.co.uk High Protein Handbook 4 Slow Cooker Special ebook. There is, however, a video of the recipe on the Scott Baptie FaceBook page though (I couldn't work how to link it). We haven't had a dud yet from his recipes, but this one was really really nice.

We mixed through 300g (raw weight) of pre cooked rice, and from 1kg of mince it split 11 ways (albeit served with flatbreads/ nachos - but a tenth would've been loads without any sides).

Slow Cooker recipes

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