In my slow cooker today...

lbt_2

Hi Nessie

I start off with a really really thick sauce - probably the consistency of yoghurt and when the extra liquid adds itself it ends up as a lovely thick sauce.

I start by gently frying some onions, adding as much flour as I think I can get away with, then add stock. Don't worry if there are a few lumps - they cook out and no one knows!!!

See, even the worst cook can produce something amazing in a slow cooker

Some people add cornflour paste for the last hour.

Let us know how you get on.

queen_of_string

today was duck legs in left over mulled wine, whihc i then crisped up in the oven that was on for baking while i redueced the sauce to stickiness. very very nice, DS cleaned his plate.

Right now there's some whoopsied stewing beef in the rest of the mulled wine with some carrots and onions. Going to do it over night then let it rest tomorrow and reheat it for tea, I think the flavours develop better that way sometimes.

Cat_Addict

Hi Nessie - I do one of two things.

Either I leave it runny for the bulk of the cooking to make sure my root veg soften properly and then near the end I make a cornflour and milk paste, stir it in and let it cook in until thickened. You need a fair bit of cornflour - three tsp easily because its a big pot of stew.

The other thing I do is put pearl barley in at the start - no need to thicken then as it adds its own starch.

hipomad

i had a fish casserole with poached eggs all cooked in sc. i did overcook the fish and eggs slightly but it was delish. will def be doing that again.

elizabunny

Ok so tomorrow I've decide to do a ham hock in the slo-cooker, never done this before either. I've seen somewhere in the thread that people have cooked their hams in Ginger Ale. So as there' s half a bottle of this in the kitchen, I shall put this in as well, along with some nice roughly chopped veggies -not sure yet what they will be. I'll let you know how it turns out. Oooh forgot to say, I'm going to soak my ham hock overnight in cold water first.

champys

We had beef in ale today - delicious! I put a few cut-up carrots and some peeled whole shallots at the bottom, also a diced turnip or two which I found lurking in the bottom of the fridge. Beef on top, and all covered with a bottle of DH's homebrew. I finally added 2 slices of bread, spread with Dijon mustard and cut into cubes (is a Belgian trick I believe), some thyme and a bay leaf. It came out perfect, we had it with Remoska-baked potatoes and a salad. Glad I made a double quantity - the other half is in the freezer!

mdhughes03

We had a lovely Chilli made qith quorn today (I'm on weightwatchers now and you get much bigger portions with quorn mince than meat lol) Made a full pack into four portions so can use for lunch tomorrow. The flavour when cooked in the SC is vastly improved from just chucking the quorn ina pan, even OH was impressed!

Your fish casserole sounds lovely Hipomad-would you mind sharing the recipe?

I too have a leftover half bottle of ginger ale-I wonder if I could combine this with chicken or pork to make some kind of chinesey chicken thing? ANy ideas guys and gals?

hipomad

fish casserole
carrots-cut into small batons
cellery-thinly sliced
salad potatoes-thinly sliced
leeks- " "
1 garlic clove-chopped
dried mustard-1/2 to1 tsp according to taste.
fresh curly leaf parsley- 3 handfuls chopped.
fish- i use smoked haddock. as much as you need
eggs-as many as you want
butter-few dabs
milk.
cheese-handfull of grated. mature cheddar.
pour in milk just barely covering veg and and a couple of dabs of butter and sprinkle in a handfull of fresh chopped curly parsley.
My sc seems to cook a lot quicker than my old one even on a low heat but this recipe does cook fairly quickly due to veg being cut small.
i put on a high set for 30mins then turn to low for 1-1/2hrs. enough for the potatoes just to soften slightly.
get the poached eggs ready while waiting.
to do this get a ramekin or something similar and
some cling film. place enough cling film in the ramekin to overhang the side plus extra for holding egg in place.(once you have done one you will find it so easy) crack one egg in to hole and pull up the cf and twist untill all sealed in.do as many as you want.
place fish on top of veg,a couple of dabs of butter and half handful of parsley,then place egg bags on top. cook until fish is cooked.anything from 30mins up depending on what size fish you use.remove fish and eggs when cooked and add the cheese and rest of parsley, quick stir until cheese melts and thickens sauce.
wow, it didnt seem that much mucking about when i made it.honestly its not.and it really is worth it.

pink_princess

Thanks hipomad that sounds lovely im going to try that next week.:T

brokenwings

wednesday nights dinner is in my sc today ready for fridge and freezer ( looks like it will make at least 8 portions)

oxtail ( browned) and the left over juices/fat from pan
parsnip, carrot, onion, potato, garlic
guinness, stock
pearl barley
tomato puree