Slow Cooker Newbie

silverfoxdude

Hi Guys. Bought a Swan 3.5l from Littlewoods (with codes) so cost me about a tenner. I've done a quick search for the recipies but cant find them. I havent used one before, but I'm eager to get started and have a nice tea with it. Where are the recipies, and what would you suggest I make for the first meal.

Thanks:j

recovering_spendaholic

I have a slow cooker. One thing I make is chicken casserole, or chicken curry - for some reason the chicken always remains nice and firm, or I make scouse in it. For scouse you just need about 1.5lbs of stewing steak, a large onion, couple of sticks of celery, about 3 carrots (depending on size), half a medium swede, a few stock cubes, a level tsp of thyme, about 2litres of boiling water, salt and pepper, a tbs of Marigold powder (or an oxo veg cube), and a big dollop of brown sauce. You just bung it all in together (chop the veg and meat of course) and cook on high for 3 hours. Then you add about 3lbs of potaotes peeled and cut in quarters and cook for a further three hours on high. It is fab!!! Don't leave out the thyme though as it really adds to the taste. For chicken casserole I just put the chicken pieces in with onions and either wine or stock and herbs and cook on high for four hours. One tip I was given is that you should always put boiling liquid into the slow cooker as this really speeds up the cooking process and helps the temperature to get high enough to kill any bugs - not sure whether it is true but I always do it!! Good luck! Don't forget you can also do lovely rice pudding in the SC too.

silverfoxdude

Thank you, I'm gonna go to Asda after mi cuppa, and get all my ingredients. Scouse sounds yummy. (Liverpudlian dish?) Rice pud sounds exciting cos I'm rubbish at making that normally!!

raven_3

I don't think you need specific recipes, just bung everything in! You might be better off browning any meat you add before it goes in, just a tip.
I've recently got myself one (free - hand me down!) and I look forward to using it!

recovering_spendaholic

silverfoxdude wrote:

Thank you, I'm gonna go to Asda after mi cuppa, and get all my ingredients. Scouse sounds yummy. (Liverpudlian dish?) Rice pud sounds exciting cos I'm rubbish at making that normally!!

Yes Scouse is a real Liverpudlian dish and every scouser has their own (wihich they consider to be the "true" version) receipe. You are meant to eat it with pickled red cabbage and crusty bread to mop up the juices. Years ago if you had little money you made it the same way but without the meat - this was called "blind scouse". Sometimes you can put a suet crust over the top of the scouse and this is called "sea pie". My Mum always made her scouse in a GIANT pan with a little bit of meat and loads of carrots and potatoes because we never had much money and it always tasted lovely. Sometimes if money was tight and she didn't want us to just have it "blind" she would stew a lamb bone for ages and then make the scouse with the stock and add pearl barley - that was just fab!

nuttyrockeress

Hiya

Try the Slow cooker thread from the mega indexed collection!

nutty x

squeaky

silverfoxdude wrote:

Hi Guys. Bought a Swan 3.5l from Littlewoods (with codes) so cost me about a tenner. I've done a quick search for the recipies but cant find them. I havent used one before, but I'm eager to get started and have a nice tea with it. Where are the recipies, and what would you suggest I make for the first meal.

Thanks:j

The Complete Slow Cooker Collection

silverfoxdude

Thank you nuttyrockeress and squeaky, I was looking for that particular thread. Well done!

marybishop

Been thinking of buying a slow cooker - might be a silly question but are they energy efficient if on all day? and can anyone recommend which one to buy i.e. size, make. Thanks all.

silverfoxdude

Hi marybishop, the above links are really useful for all info needed. Apparently they use about as much electric as a light bulb... My stew - concoction- is smelling lovely. I would get one!!

aurora_borealis_2

I am making my first meal in my new one today.
I'm cooking goulash and it smells delicious