In my slow cooker today.... part 2

kazmc

Pollycat wrote: »

Oh no!

How old was it?

Could you have given it a bang when you last used/washed it that maybe weakened the pot?

Was it in use at the time?

Its suddendly clicked why it exploded......
I had put the pot bit in the fridge overnight with the browned off meat etc in and then put it straight from the fridge into the outside bit (element etc) and switched on
from really cold to hot too quickly makes the pot explode!!!!
Just picked up a nice new 3.5L one from Robert Dyas for £ 17.99 though :j

Mazzarati2000

Beef & Mushrooms in ale in mine today, ready to kick off at 2.30 thanks to the timer :-) Dumplings in the fridge ready to add for the last 1/2 hour when we get back. Can't wait! :-)

Pollycat

Mine's got Pork Goulash in.

diced pork
red, green & yellow peppers
mushrooms
onion
tin chopped tomatoes
chicken stock
garlic
fresh parsley
black pepper
hot paprika

I'll stir in some creme fraiche when it's ready and serve wih tagliatelli.

elf06

triticale wrote: »

This may have been asked before, but does anyone stew fruit in their SC? I have a load of reduced (sorry, 'whoopsied' ) nectarines that are a bit manky to eat but might make a nice crumble. I guess I'd need a decent amount of water in - but would I need to add sugar/anything else? They are quite hard.

I do stewed rhubarb in mine. I add very little water but a fair amount of sugar (may not be neccessary for nectarines etc)
A little vanilla and a teeny amount of butter makes it taste wonderful (IMHO )

elf06

Ok the plan was for nothing to be in my SC today and I was going to have sausage, mash and veg for dinner tonight but after realising that I need to nip up to mum and dads house late this afternoon then head straight from there to pick up DS from nursery I decided to chuck the sausages, mixed veg, mushrooms and onions in the SC with some thick gravy (with a spoonful of wholegrain mustard stirred through)!! Fingers crossed this will be ready in time for dinner later and i will service it with the mash I had planned (frozen so wont take long to nuke)

Yategirl

Hi, I am getting my sc up and running again - I need it more than ever now with my children and their after-school activities along with my doing a part-time degree!

I have a leg of lamb to go in tomorrow and wondered if anyone could suggest the best way to sc it?

stinky_daddy

elf06 wrote: »

A first attepmt at tomato and red pepper soup in mine through the night! Smells great but totally had to adapt the recipe (it was originally for on the hob/stove top and had waaaaaaaaaaaay too much liquid for the slow cooker). I decided to double the quantities so that I could freeze some but there was a tad too much to fit in the slow cooker so it may have ended up as a total disaster :rotfl:ach well no matter it will still be eaten

Hi elf

I have never made soup before (let alone in the SC, it only really gets used for whole chickens, various joints and chilli's etc).

Could you let me know the recipe you used / adapted please?

Thanks in advance

S_D

fedupandskint

Just having a browse on here and I've taken some old ham stock out of the freezer and you've inspired me to try making lentil and bacon soup with it tomorrow in the SC.

It'll be a bit of a guess but hey its worth a try

elf06

stinky_daddy wrote: »

Hi elf

I have never made soup before (let alone in the SC, it only really gets used for whole chickens, various joints and chilli's etc).

Could you let me know the recipe you used / adapted please?

Thanks in advance

S_D

Hi no probs with sharing the recipe - I love pinching other peoples
The original recipe was:

Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

Serves 4
Preparation 10 mins
Cooking 25 mins
Ingredients
2tbsp olive oil I DIDNT USE ANY
1 onion, chopped NOT SURE HOW MUCH I USED -HANDFUL OF CHOPPED ONION FROM FREEZER
2 large red peppers, seeds removed and roughly chopped DOUBLED UP TO 4
2 cloves garlic, chopped SQUEEZE FROM TUBE FOUND IN MR T BESIDE THE TOM PUREE ETC
600g (21oz) ripe tomatoes, quartered JUST UNDER 1.2KG USED - QUARTERED AND INSIDES SCOOPED OUT
1 x 400g (14oz) tin chopped tomatoes WOW I LEFT THIS BIT ALONE
1l chicken stock or vegetable stock NOPE USED ABOUT 300-400ML OF VEG STOCK
1tbsp chopped fresh basil, to garnish DIDNT USE
Extra virgin olive oil, to garnish DIDNT USE BUT MIGHT USE A BLOB OF NATURAL YOUGHURT TO GARNISH IN FUTURE

1.Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Saut! the onion, peppers and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add the fresh tomatoes and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
2.Add the tinned tomatoes, the stock and a cup of water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
3.Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little. Pur!e the soup in batches in a food processor or with a hand-held blender. Strain through a coarse sieve and add a little extra stock, if desired.
4.Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve hot, and garnished with the basil and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.


HOWEVER - I decided to double the quantities to make some for freezing.
I Bought t3sco value toms (cut each one into quarters and took seeds out of middle) and used all but 3 of them (only left 3 because it didnt look like everything was going to fit into my SC which is a 3.5lts oval one).
I then deseeded the peppers (4 because I was doubling up) and cut into large pieces.
I only used one tin of chopped toms (instead of doubling up to 2)
I then added the toms, tinned toms, peppers, a squeeze of garlic (always use the tubes of garlic in oil), some chopped onion (about a handful - again because its all that would fit in ) and a splosh of veg stock and cooked on low overnight.
I think there was about 300ml of stock used but cant be sure - I didnt want to use too much because I dont really like 'thin' soups.
Once it was done I just blitzed it up - only got 5 portions out of it so its not the cheapest of soups but nice for a treat every now and then. I also have some natural yog frozen in sticks in my freezer and next portion I take out I think I will stir one into it for a deeper flavour.

Sorry its long winded

HTH

triticale

Just took out my fabulous beef in guinness, oxo, onions and button mushrooms that was cooking overnight.

The meat slid into lovely moist chunks and is enough for a nice pie with DDs tonight (sans mushrooms!) and another with OH tomorrow.

I strongly encourage anyone doing beef in a slow cooker to avoid the supermarket 'lean diced beef' and go for a proper braising/stewing cut, it's so much nicer (and cheaper!) I got skirt from Morrisons, £2.61 for 315g of lovely meat.

Gravy is thick and pastry is in the fridge, can't wait.