I have finally taken my new
slow cooker for it's maiden voyage. Usually when I make stew I just throw in the dodgy looking vegetables from the salad crypt, but for my first venture I thought that I should follow a recipe. As Morgan and Angela said, there are lots of websites out there. I found that the
Netmums website had lots of useful recipes. I've never looked at the Netmums site; my children were slightly older when it became popular and I associated it with potty training and weaning! I appear to have underestimated it.
I chose a simple
beef stew recipe. It felt a bit strange to be chopping onions and browning meat at 7.30am, and the kids found the smell a little strange while they were munching cereal, but we went with it. The smell soon changed into one of delicious cooking. I kept peeking in to check progress, and as soon as the children got home from school they wanted to know when tea would be ready.
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| 8am |
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| 5.30pm |
The final results did not disappoint, the stew was lovely. I am not normally a gravy person, and I added slightly less stock than recommended to the pot. As a result the gravy was beautifully thick. I am looking forward now to experimenting with it, and seeing what I can produce. I am particularly intrigued by the idea of cooking a whole chicken in it!
That looks wonderful! Isn't it great to smell the meal cooking all day?
ReplyDeleteFor some reason we all felt hungry all afternoon! It was worth the wait though!
ReplyDeleteWell done!
ReplyDeleteChicken is great in the slow cooker - I pop mine in with just a little stock in the bottom, not immersing the chicken at all. I usually leave it for a good 8 hours, and then it falls off the bone and is so moist and tasty. It doesn't have the crispy skin you associate with an oven-roasted bird, but it is really lovely. Once I have taken the meat for the first meal, the rest is picked off the bones and popped in the fridge for another day - chicken cooked like this makes great pies afterwards.
So glad you are enjoying it! I have just started a sausage casserole in mine. Don't forget when you have cooked your chicken that you can use the carcase to make a lovely stock using the crockpot - and that will make soup comforting soup if the forecast snow arrives!!
ReplyDeleteblessings xx
hi
ReplyDeletethat looks great!!!
blessings,
regina
Thank you for all the positive comments! I will definitely be on the lookout for a chicken next time I'm off to the supermarket. I hadn't thought of using the crockpot to make stock, I will definitely trying that.
ReplyDeleteRecipe from Slow Cookin' Companion.
ReplyDeleteThis is an easy chicken that is similar to rotisserie style chicken.
3 to 4 pound chicken
olive oil
seasoned salt
garlic powder or lemon pepper, to taste
Rinse chicken (inside and outside)Rub with olive oil. Sprinkle (inside and out) with the seasoned salt and either garlic powder or lemon pepper.
Ball up 4 balls of aluminum foil (somewhere around 2 to 3 inches high) and place in bottom of slow cooker. Put chicken breast side down on top of foil. Cook on high for approximately five hours. Check with meat thermometer in thickest part.
Thanks Shara, that's really helpful.
Delete