slow cooker quick questions thread

Penelope_Penguin

Try chicken with ginger. Alternatively there are lots of recipes in the Slow Cooker Collection.

Welcome - hope you enjoy it here!

Penny. x

patentgirl

Hi

mine is bubbling away as I type but sure you could do it in a slo cooker I just fry an onion, green pepper, stick of celery, few chicken breasts chopped fry together then add big spoon of flour, I tsp ginger, 1 tsp garam masala, big spoon of curry powder I use sharwoods korma, couple cloves of garlic cook this for few mins then add pint and half of chicken stock and couple sachets of creamed coconut it is a bit of this and that but always gets lots of compliments it is quite a mild curry then cook for 30 to 40 mins or put in slo cooker you could add anything ele like mushrooms chick peas veg, hope it helpsxx

JillD_2

I bought my somewhat massive slow cooker about 2 years ago and generally love it, but I often worry that its too big ( I think its 5 litre) and that people will never like what I make in it.

Anyway we went to a post Christmas dinner on Saturday where everyone had to bring a course. Some of the friends are a bit posh and cook fancy stuff so I was stressed about what to do for the vegetarian main course I'd agreed to provide, and how to transport it, how long to cook it for at the hostess' house, how/when to cook it bearing in mind I have a 3 month old who breastfeeds like crazy around tea time and I would need to get her and my 4 year old and 3 year old fed and settled into bed for a babysitter before we left the house at 7pm!!

Anyway I did a Thai green curry in the end. I just bunged everything in the slowcooker at lunchtime and left it on until we left at 7, giving it a few stirs during the day. We took the whole slow cooker to the party, not just the dish bit. It was still hot 30 mins later when we arrived at her house and I just set it on the "Warm" setting until it was time to eat the main course.

It was soooooo delicious. I got loads of compliments about the food so those worries were banished. The girl whose house it was at was having slow-cooker-envy at the excellent dinner party capacity of my slow cooker so all those worries are banisshed too. and there was even enough left to bring home again which we had for tea tonight!!

There. Juat wanted to blow my own trumpet for a bit (and that ofmy lovely slow cooker of course

Olliebeak

Congratulations, JillD! :T

Your friends will now think of you as 'Superwoman' - three children under 5 (one still breastfeeding) and still managed to create a superb 'Dinner Party Dish'! :j

IMO there's no such thing as a SC that's too big! Who would want to waste an opportunity to 'cook ahead' ?

orchid-96

Hi, I got my new slow cooker today and had planned to cook mince and onions in the oven today (ready to make into whatever), I usually just put the lean mince as it is (uncooked) in a casserole dish with chopped onions and cover with water, then cook for a few hours on a low heat in the oven..This I then add gravy granules a the end and turn into shepherds pie (or halve it first) and the rest can be frozen and turned into anything..

Anyway, I just wanted to know, can I do the same with this only in the slow cooker and not the oven? the small selection of recipes that come with the machine all need some browning or cooking before you put the ingredients in..

Silly I know but I can't wait to try out my sc!! as never had one before....

Olliebeak

I'venever cooked mince in the slow cooker - BUT I think it is one of the meats that I would brown first - you need to get rid of any excess fat out of it. You don't want a thick layer of greasy fat on the top of your finished meal.

orchid-96

The thing is when I do this in the oven as I always get the lean steak mince there is only ever a tiny bit of fat and I find the meat much nicer, often when browned first it can be a bit chewy...

Anyone out there do it this way? My mil always cooks her mince like this and I thought it seemed odd, but tried it and find it much nicer...

rumblytum

Hi orchid

I make batches of mince/onions/tomatoes in the slow cooker for pasta/chilli/bolognese etc, and I don't brown it first - it works without a problem. I usually put my slow cooker on in the morning before I come to work and never brown the meat - I can't bear the thought of cooking meat at that time of the morning, and you'd never know from the dishes that it had been done that way. I recommend grilling sausages before a sausage casserole though, as the sausages can be a bit soft and slimy :eek: !

HTH

rumbly x

chocolate.orange_2

I usually brown my mince first , to get the fat off ( i buy any old mince) Then put it into the slow cooker with a jar of bollognaise (sp?) sauce and cook on high for a couple of hours, normally 2, then turn it down to low for 4 or 5 hours

Its so nice that way, i havent found it chewy and it goes moist

JillD_2

I sometimes think oh god can I really be bothered to fill up that massive dish when all I want is chilli for two etc, but yes I do do a lot of cooking in advance now!