In my slow cooker today.... part 2

gizmo111

Spirit wrote: »

Complete novice here.

I have bought a slow cooker today as my cooker is broken.

I am very disapponted as it seems I have to saute or boil meat and other ingredients before adding to SC.

My only other real 'weapon' is a microwave. Please can some 'experienced' advise me.

The only thing I ever cook before putting in the SC is monce - fry t off to get the fat out, some others don't even do that.
I just chuck in whatever I paln on cooking from whole chickens/joints to small meatballs in sauce and have always had great results.
WHat are you planning ot cook?

waddy80

In mine today - chicken and veg soup.

I fried off a 2 onions and a leek in some butter, chucked it in the slow cooker with a load of hm stock. Added the carrots from the bottom of the fridge, and swede, both chopped. Also chucked in a couple of chopped potatoes. Then I opened the cupboard and found some lentils, so a handful of them went in aswell. I added some worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and some mixed herbs. Finally some shredded chicken left from the rubber chicken I cooked in the slow cooker on thursday. I'm gonna leave it on low for 6 hours.

It will be tomorrow's lunch as OH is working in the morning and then coming home to watch the football with a few of his work friends. I'll set the slow cooker up with bowls next to it and they can all just help themselves. I'll serve it with bread fresh from the breadmaker.

waddy80

Spirit wrote: »

Complete novice here.

I have bought a slow cooker today as my cooker is broken.

I am very disapponted as it seems I have to saute or boil meat and other ingredients before adding to SC.

My only other real 'weapon' is a microwave. Please can some 'experienced' advise me.

Most books that come with slow cookers do tell you do this, but generally there is no need. Read a few pages of this thread and you will find that most people just bung stuff in.
I think one of everyone's favourite's is a whole chicken in a slow cooker.
All I do is chop an onion into 4 and put it in the slow cooker. Add a couple of carrots (I don't peel them, just wash and take the tops off). Then sit your chicken on them. Add about an inch of water, bit of salt and pepper and leave on high for (well in mine) 5 hours. You will then find that the chicken will be moist and perfectly cooked, you will get more meat from it than you can imagine!

HTH

beckyandjack

hi guys, am thinking of buying a slow cooker or ramoska thingy and wondered if anyone had any recommendations on which is best/easiest to use????

Spirit_2

gizmo111 wrote: »

The only thing I ever cook before putting in the SC is monce - fry t off to get the fat out, some others don't even do that.
I just chuck in whatever I paln on cooking from whole chickens/joints to small meatballs in sauce and have always had great results.
WHat are you planning ot cook?

I have chicken breasts that I would like to casserole with celery, tinned tomatoes, onions and garlic. I would like this for tomorrow now. It is something I have cooked before and it is simple . But where to start with slow cooker?

I have looked at the recipe thread but I am absolutely clueless about what to do. Do I heat the cooker first? Microwave the onions,celery & garlic? Add stock?

champys

Spirit wrote: »

I have chicken breasts that I would like to casserole with celery, tinned tomatoes, onions and garlic. I would like this for tomorrow now. It is something I have cooked before and it is simple . But where to start with slow cooker?

I have looked at the recipe thread but I am absolutely clueless about what to do. Do I heat the cooker first? Microwave the onions,celery & garlic? Add stock?

You will have to be brave, Spirit! Just chop your vegetables, and layer them in the SC first. No need to heat it first. Next put your chicken breasts, either whole or cut into pieces - whatever you prefer. Pour the tinned tomatoes over with their liquid. Add a little seasoning, only a little, you won't need much and you can always add some more later. Maybe some mixed herbs if you have them? I don't think you'll need any stock - as long as your veggies are mostly in the tomato liquid (they will produce more liquid as they cook). Then switch on your SC and let it do its job.
You don't need to sweat the onions first, but it helps to chop them quite finely. If at the end of cooking the liquid in the pot looks very thin, you can either thicken it with flour, corn starch or Bisto - or alternatively blitz some of the veggie content in it with a stick blender. It really is all trial and error, so just experiment and have fun!

Sunnyday

annieb30 wrote: »

Please help!!

Have got a gammon joint and coke to cook in the slow cooker tomorrow but confused what to do .............

How much coke do i put in?
How long do I need to cook it for?
Do i need to add anything else e.g. onion?
Do i need to finish it off in the oven?

Any help greatly appreciated x

When i did this i used a small bottle of coke think its 250mls? not sure though as its not something that i normally buy so i can`t just check the size on the bottle. I didn`t add anything else at all and when the gammon was almost cooked i put it in a roasting tin and covered it with honey and blasted it in the oven for a while, think it was about 20 mins or so.

It was lovely but whatever you do don`t be tempted to use the leftover sauce for gravy as it was vile the only reason that i won`t cook this again is that i feel a bit cheated as i wasted the liquid from the gammon and i would normally have used it for a soup. Will deffo do the honey part again as it was great.

HTH

SD

annieb30

Sunnyday wrote: »

When i did this i used a small bottle of coke think its 250mls? not sure though as its not something that i normally buy so i can`t just check the size on the bottle. I didn`t add anything else at all and when the gammon was almost cooked i put it in a roasting tin and covered it with honey and blasted it in the oven for a while, think it was about 20 mins or so.

It was lovely but whatever you do don`t be tempted to use the leftover sauce for gravy as it was vile the only reason that i won`t cook this again is that i feel a bit cheated as i wasted the liquid from the gammon and i would normally have used it for a soup. Will deffo do the honey part again as it was great.

HTH

SD

Thanks SO much - popping it in now

lickylonglips

nothing at the moment, but maybe a quorn bolognese sauce later...

Winter_Jasmine

Hi All, I'm a new poster but have been lurking for a few weeks and making good use of your advice, so thanks! Had a triumph in my SC yesterday (and on a night when parents in law were over for dinner so was double great haha!) I did a smoked gammon joint:

• Put joint in pan of water, brought to the boil then tipped water away (was told this would remove some of the salt and seemed to work as there was quite a bit of icky scum in the water)
• Plonked it in SC with a small bottle of chardonnay (about 200ml I think) and about the same of boiling water, four cloves and some sugar.
• Left it on high for 4 hours, then took the cloves out and switched to low for 2 hours. Then I left it on keep warm till we were ready to eat.

It did fall apart a bit on carving but, tbh, it tasted so good that I'd have eaten it if it had been mashed into the ground with a dirty fork!

Following advice on here I put some lentils and more boiling water in when I took the meat out and whacked it back up to high for prob 30 - 45 mins and have now got the most gorgeous soup for lunch today