Slow cooker - what's the first thing I should try?

Pollycat

MSE_James said:

Thank you all - @goldfinches you sum it up well - I'm just feeling rather tentative at the moment and I'm looking for something with relatively few ingredients that I can throw in and chalk up as an early success to give myself confidence to try more complicated recipes.

@Wraithlady  - it's a 3.5 litre Morphy Richards.

Try diced beef with onions, carrots and sliced potatoes (I add halved brussel sprouts if I have any in) and stock.

cornishchick

Pollycat said:

MSE_James said:

Thank you all - @goldfinches you sum it up well - I'm just feeling rather tentative at the moment and I'm looking for something with relatively few ingredients that I can throw in and chalk up as an early success to give myself confidence to try more complicated recipes.

@Wraithlady  - it's a 3.5 litre Morphy Richards.

Try diced beef with onions, carrots and sliced potatoes (I add halved brussel sprouts if I have any in) and stock.

I've just put something very similar in my small SC, more carrots than beef lol as I have a few that needed eating up. I will make some dumplings for later and serve it with steamed cabbage. 

Slinky

Do you have a stick blender?

Lentil and bacon soup - 1 diced onion, 2 sliced carrots, tin of chopped tomatoes, 4 chopped slices of bacon, a chicken stock cube, 7oz/200g of red lentils, pint and a half of hot water. Make sure you stir it well at the start so the lentils aren't all stuck together. Cook for about 4 hours, blend with the stick blender, top up with a bit more hot water, if too thick for your liking. Easy peasy.

Katiehound

Curses wrote a reply and it cancelled out!! will now be brief...

I have a 1.6l cooker (bargain _ £13 from Curry's)
A friend says always put on high at the start and whilst preparing- this cuts cooking time
Sauté veg & meat first so they go in hot

Boiled ham
Small joint (£3.50 ish)
Soak overnight to remove salt
Cook in own brand coco cola (heated first)with peppercorns (& star anise if you like aniseed)
delicious hot or cold. Great for sandwiches or with salad

Delia's Red cabbage
 have learned that only 500g shredded cabbage, 250g chopped onions & 250g chopped apple will fit in!
Cider apple vinegar or red wine vinegar with (leftover!) coco cola. Spices & sugar & liquid measures as recipe
Stir every 2 hours as cabbage cooks down into the liquid.
Great veg. Can be served hot or cold, keeps a while in fridge & freezes well.

If you cook chicken choose thighs with skin & bone as they don't dry out. meat falls off bone (cheaper cut too)
I'm cooking chicken today with onions, carrots, a chicken stock pot, lemon juice, lemon zest & sprigs of rosemary. I don't like spicy. Also works well with tinned tomatoes, tom. concentrate, balsamic vinegar, mixed herbs, stock cube.

GaleSF63

To be really simple - a bought Sausage or Chicken Casserole sauce mix,  some vegetables and sausages!

Pollycat

Katiehound said:

Curses wrote a reply and it cancelled out!! will now be brief...

I have a 1.6l cooker (bargain _ £13 from Curry's)
A friend says always put on high at the start and whilst preparing- this cuts cooking time
Sauté veg & meat first so they go in hot

Boiled ham
Small joint (£3.50 ish)
Soak overnight to remove salt
Cook in own brand coco cola (heated first)with peppercorns (& star anise if you like aniseed)
delicious hot or cold. Great for sandwiches or with salad

Delia's Red cabbage
 have learned that only 500g shredded cabbage, 250g chopped onions & 250g chopped apple will fit in!
Cider apple vinegar or red wine vinegar with (leftover!) coco cola. Spices & sugar & liquid measures as recipe
Stir every 2 hours as cabbage cooks down into the liquid.
Great veg. Can be served hot or cold, keeps a while in fridge & freezes well.

If you cook chicken choose thighs with skin & bone as they don't dry out. meat falls off bone (cheaper cut too)
I'm cooking chicken today with onions, carrots, a chicken stock pot, lemon juice, lemon zest & sprigs of rosemary. I don't like spicy. Also works well with tinned tomatoes, tom. concentrate, balsamic vinegar, mixed herbs, stock cube.

I have been using a slow cooker for almost 50 years  a Prestige Crock pot which is sadly no longer wish me.
I have never sauted meat & veg before puting in the slow cooker.
All my meat & veg goes in raw.

joedenise

Pollycat said:

Katiehound said:

Curses wrote a reply and it cancelled out!! will now be brief...

I have a 1.6l cooker (bargain _ £13 from Curry's)
A friend says always put on high at the start and whilst preparing- this cuts cooking time
Sauté veg & meat first so they go in hot

Boiled ham
Small joint (£3.50 ish)
Soak overnight to remove salt
Cook in own brand coco cola (heated first)with peppercorns (& star anise if you like aniseed)
delicious hot or cold. Great for sandwiches or with salad

Delia's Red cabbage
 have learned that only 500g shredded cabbage, 250g chopped onions & 250g chopped apple will fit in!
Cider apple vinegar or red wine vinegar with (leftover!) coco cola. Spices & sugar & liquid measures as recipe
Stir every 2 hours as cabbage cooks down into the liquid.
Great veg. Can be served hot or cold, keeps a while in fridge & freezes well.

If you cook chicken choose thighs with skin & bone as they don't dry out. meat falls off bone (cheaper cut too)
I'm cooking chicken today with onions, carrots, a chicken stock pot, lemon juice, lemon zest & sprigs of rosemary. I don't like spicy. Also works well with tinned tomatoes, tom. concentrate, balsamic vinegar, mixed herbs, stock cube.

I have been using a slow cooker for almost 50 years  a Prestige Crock pot which is sadly no longer wish me.
I have never sauted meat & veg before puting in the slow cooker.
All my meat & veg goes in raw.

Mine too.  Absolutely pointless browning meat and veg before putting in the SC.

Made a savoury mince and bean thing today in the SC - threw in the last of a bag of beef mince, 2 tins of mixed beans, large chopped onion, a chopped pepper, a very large carrot, the last of some mushrooms, a few halved cherry tomatoes, tin of tomatoes and some stock made with 2 beef Oxos and a Red Wine stockpot.  Cooked for 8 hours on low.  There will be plenty to go in the freezer in the morning once it's cooled down properly.

The one thing I would say is don't add too much liquid as it doesn't evaporate like a pan on the hob.

greyteam1959

Top tip.
Buy some slow cooker bags.
Saves the hassle of scrubbing the slow cooker after use.

cornishchick

greyteam1959 said:

Top tip.
Buy some slow cooker bags.
Saves the hassle of scrubbing the slow cooker after use.

never had to scrub mine .. just add hot water and put it back on high while I eat lol self cleaning almost 

Lumiona

Yesterday I did sausage pasta casserole and today was pulled pork. Love my slow cooker, such an easy dinner.