Slow Cooker - The Recipe Collection

purpleparrotuk

Doing my first ever dish in my new slow cooker tomorrow. I am trying Jamie Olivers recipe for Jools Beef Stew which contains butternut squash. I intend to leave it on for about 8 hours. In past experience cooking squash in the oven I think it goes mushy very quickly. When you slow cook it, is it best to leave it until its half way through cooking before you add it or put it in straight from the start?

Cheers

sozzifer

Hi,

Does anyone know if it's possible to cook meringue in a slow cooker?

Thanks.

pawpurrs

purpleparrotuk wrote: »

Doing my first ever dish in my new slow cooker tomorrow. I am trying Jamie Olivers recipe for Jools Beef Stew which contains butternut squash. I intend to leave it on for about 8 hours. In past experience cooking squash in the oven I think it goes mushy very quickly. When you slow cook it, is it best to leave it until its half way through cooking before you add it or put it in straight from the start?

Cheers

Prob too late, but it needs to go in at the same time as veggies for some reason take longer than meat in a slow cooker.
Its quite nice that stew I have done it before.

devon_guy

I've been reading about people putting joints etc in their cookers without liquid yet reading my slow cooker book, it says food should never be cooked without any form of liquid in the pot or it could damage the cooker. Has anyone got any advice please?

Fozz

I have cooked joints with no liquid and they are fine, lots of juices come out of the meat which are lovely to make gravy with!

tbassett

I have just spent the last 3 hours reading the first to the last post on slow cooker recipes. I thought it was time I now added my bit.
I have been in possession of my MR slow cooker now for nearly 3 weeks and used it for the first time last night/today. My over blew up and as I cant afford a new one decided to buy a slow cooker to do for now.

Last night I attempted a beef stew - a recipe that I have been making for years in a conventional oven. It is a delicious stew with a beautiful sweet taste and melt in your mouth beef. Well thats how it has always been when done in an oven!! Not in my SC!!! This is what I did:

Ingredients:

Pack of Tesco Finest Braising Steak
1 Can of Macceson Stout
1 Tablespoon Tom Puree
I red onion finely chopped
2 large flat mushrooms chopped small
1 large carrot sliced into discs
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1 1/2 pints beef oxo stock
little oil for browning meat
1 Tblspoon cornflour mixed with a little cold water
bisto gravy browning powder mixed with a little cold water

Cut steak into 1inch pieces. Browned in a frying pan with the onion for a few minutes. Transferred to SC along with all other ingredients except the bisto mix. Stirred, put on lid and set to low and left to cook from 10.30pm last night to 11.00am this morning. At 11am took off lid and stirred. Turned up SC to medium setting. At 4pm stirred again. STEW VERY WATERY AND BROTH LIKE. Set SC to high and finally added bisto mix to try to thicken. NO JOY. Gave up at 5.30pm, turned it off and had a bowl of beef broth.

Even though this was quite nice it wasnt anything near as nice as my oven one. The sweetness wasnt there and I hadnt missed anything out.

I wont give up though. I am going to try a whole chicken 2moro as I miss my roast sunday dinner. Even though I cant do yorkshire puds and roast potatoes, I can still have the meat and veg with mash and gravy.

Can anyone obviously see where I went wrong?

sozzifer

tbassett wrote: »

I have just spent the last 3 hours reading the first to the last post on slow cooker recipes. I thought it was time I now added my bit.
I have been in possession of my MR slow cooker now for nearly 3 weeks and used it for the first time last night/today. My over blew up and as I cant afford a new one decided to buy a slow cooker to do for now.

Last night I attempted a beef stew - a recipe that I have been making for years in a conventional oven. It is a delicious stew with a beautiful sweet taste and melt in your mouth beef. Well thats how it has always been when done in an oven!! Not in my SC!!! This is what I did:

Ingredients:

Pack of Tesco Finest Braising Steak
1 Can of Macceson Stout
1 Tablespoon Tom Puree
I red onion finely chopped
2 large flat mushrooms chopped small
1 large carrot sliced into discs
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1 1/2 pints beef oxo stock
little oil for browning meat
1 Tblspoon cornflour mixed with a little cold water
bisto gravy browning powder mixed with a little cold water

Cut steak into 1inch pieces. Browned in a frying pan with the onion for a few minutes. Transferred to SC along with all other ingredients except the bisto mix. Stirred, put on lid and set to low and left to cook from 10.30pm last night to 11.00am this morning. At 11am took off lid and stirred. Turned up SC to medium setting. At 4pm stirred again. STEW VERY WATERY AND BROTH LIKE. Set SC to high and finally added bisto mix to try to thicken. NO JOY. Gave up at 5.30pm, turned it off and had a bowl of beef broth.

Even though this was quite nice it wasnt anything near as nice as my oven one. The sweetness wasnt there and I hadnt missed anything out.

I wont give up though. I am going to try a whole chicken 2moro as I miss my roast sunday dinner. Even though I cant do yorkshire puds and roast potatoes, I can still have the meat and veg with mash and gravy.

Can anyone obviously see where I went wrong?

I would have added the flour to the beef when I was browning it in the frying pan... Can't think of any other reason it might have gone wrong.

Gill72

tbassett wrote: »

I have just spent the last 3 hours reading the first to the last post on slow cooker recipes. I thought it was time I now added my bit.
I have been in possession of my MR slow cooker now for nearly 3 weeks and used it for the first time last night/today. My over blew up and as I cant afford a new one decided to buy a slow cooker to do for now.

Last night I attempted a beef stew - a recipe that I have been making for years in a conventional oven. It is a delicious stew with a beautiful sweet taste and melt in your mouth beef. Well thats how it has always been when done in an oven!! Not in my SC!!! This is what I did:

Ingredients:

Pack of Tesco Finest Braising Steak
1 Can of Macceson Stout
1 Tablespoon Tom Puree
I red onion finely chopped
2 large flat mushrooms chopped small
1 large carrot sliced into discs
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1 1/2 pints beef oxo stock
little oil for browning meat
1 Tblspoon cornflour mixed with a little cold water
bisto gravy browning powder mixed with a little cold water

Cut steak into 1inch pieces. Browned in a frying pan with the onion for a few minutes. Transferred to SC along with all other ingredients except the bisto mix. Stirred, put on lid and set to low and left to cook from 10.30pm last night to 11.00am this morning. At 11am took off lid and stirred. Turned up SC to medium setting. At 4pm stirred again. STEW VERY WATERY AND BROTH LIKE. Set SC to high and finally added bisto mix to try to thicken. NO JOY. Gave up at 5.30pm, turned it off and had a bowl of beef broth.

Even though this was quite nice it wasnt anything near as nice as my oven one. The sweetness wasnt there and I hadnt missed anything out.

I wont give up though. I am going to try a whole chicken 2moro as I miss my roast sunday dinner. Even though I cant do yorkshire puds and roast potatoes, I can still have the meat and veg with mash and gravy.

Can anyone obviously see where I went wrong?

You've got quite a bit of liquid in there, what with the stock, stout and extra water added. The veg and meat would also have released a lot of liquid as they've been cooking and liquid doesn't evaropate in the slow cooker like conventional cooking methods. Maybe that's why?

tbassett

Thank you both for taking time to reply. Yes I think I know now that it was certainly the amount of liquid and most definately a case of getting in to the correct thickness on the hob first when I brown the meat. I will attempt it again though.

So far, aswell as the above, I have tried a chicken curry made with browned cubed chicken breasts and a Patak Korma tin sauce. Left it on low from 8am till 4pm then up to medium for another hour. Very nice. Chicken just melts in your mouth.

Also done lamb cutlets with a splash of water, mint sauce and cranberry sauce. Browned the chops first (as I would be ill if I dished up grey meat as thats what happens I think if you dont brown it first) then added the water a dollop of mint sauce and cranberry. Again put on at 8am on low and up again at 4pm for another hour on medium. Very tender and lovely with boiled potatoes and salad.

Still a bit worried about doing a whole chicken in it but am going to attempt it this weekend. I understand that I should brown it first. This sounds really trickey to brown a whole chicken in a frying pan!! Oh well - give it a go.
Watch this space.....

Berni888

Tbassett - I posted the below on the other slow cooker link

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=20936425#post20936425

Found these tips which might be helpful

Slow-Cooking Tips

Slow cooked food adds a whole new dimension to family meals. However, there are some slightly different game rules to traditional cooking, so take note of these top slow cooking tips:
Slow Food Tip #1: Brown the meat first- There is much debate on whether searing or browning meat actually adds flavour to the dish, if you are worried about bacteria on the meat, this will die during cooking anyway.
Unless the recipe instructions say to brown meat, or you believe that meats should be seared then this will come down to choice - Jamie Oliver has tested his Beef Stew with and without and he now cooks all stews without.
Slow Food Tip #2: Saut! and season vegetables - likewise, saut!ing the vegetables with herbs and spices can add considerable flavour, but this is up to you or if the recipe suggests.
Slow Food Tip #3: Cook tough meat cuts on a low heat - tougher meats like roasts or brisket need extra cooking time as they have more connective tissue. To compensate, lower the heat and increase the cooking time (one hour on a high heat usually equals two hours on low heat).
Slow Food Tip #4: Use half the liquid- most stove top or oven recipes require liquid to be added which reduces naturally during the cooking process. However, liquid doesn’t escape from slow cookers so use 50% less liquid to avoid a watery dish.
Slow Food Tip #5: Cook poultry for less - while red meats take longer to tenderise in a slow cooker, chicken cooks relatively quickly. Most poultry recipes require 5-6 hours on a low heat.
Slow Food Tip #6: Cut root vegetables into small pieces - many root vegetables (like potatoes, carrots, and parsnips) cook even slower than meats in a slow cooker. To ensure root vegetables are cooked thoroughly, cut them into small pieces no bigger than an inch in diameter.
Slow Food Tip #7: Add leafy vegetables last - high-moisture vegetables (like leafy greens, peppers, peas, courgettes, and squash) can become soggy, so add them in for the final 15-30 minutes of slow cooking.
Slow Food Tip #8: Avoid lifting the lid - each time the lid is removed from the slow cooker, it adds twenty minutes to the overall cooking time! So only lift the lid to add extra ingredients or check meat towards the end.

Tbasset quote Still a bit worried about doing a whole chicken in it but am going to attempt it this weekend. I understand that I should brown it first. This sounds really trickey to brown a whole chicken in a frying pan!! Oh well - give it a go

I've cooked a few whole chickens in the slow cooker now and never browned them. I just put half a cup of water in the bottom and left the frozen chicken in for 12 hours and the meat was so tender it fell off the bones and then I lifted out the chicken and left the remains to solidify in the slow cooker, spooned off the fat and then froze the jelly stock and used that chicken stock in my next usage of the slow cooker, sausage casserole.

I hope you continue to enjoy adapting and improving recipes in your slow cooker