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Thread: Slow Cooker Recipe Ideas

  1. #51
    Wife reckons these books are her go to books

    Slow Cooking: Easy Slow Cooker Recipes https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/00072882..._ungZDb2HDZYFM

    More Slow Cooker Recipes https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/00073255..._0pgZDbX79D7FV

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  2. #52
    Quote Originally Posted by bootneck View Post
    Last Black Friday the Mrs bought an instant pot which seems to be a mix between a slow cooker and a pressure cooker she loves it and I must admit some of the food she’s made with it has been amazing especially the meat which just seems to fall apart. I haven’t used it myself yet but I’m assured it’s as simple as a slow cooker only faster if you want it to be
    Started following this thread as I also have an Instant Pot. The pressure cooker and the slow cooker are two different modes, it doesn't have some way to do both at once although you can easily switch from say pressure cooking to then slow cooking without removing the lid, but I'm not aware of any recipe calling for that.

    The main difference between an IP and any other slow cooker or casserole is that it has exceptionally low vapour leakage, so whatever liquid you put in at the start will not boil off (and may significantly increase in volume depending on what else you put in there). I find this tends to make a lot of traditional slow cooker recipes come out with far too much liquid, especially if it's a stew that includes the exact amount of thickener for the expected amount of liquid. In some cases you can adjust the recipe by adding less liquid, but sometimes that results in not enough liquid for the cooking process itself. So while the IP is great, that aspect can be annoying. I've had quite a few things come out badly, although usually that only happens when my plans change and I increase the cooking time. While very long slow cooking at low temperature can work well, it's also certainly possible to over-cook things.

    I've tried making bolognese in the IP a couple of times, which is something I am generally pretty good at making on a traditional cooker, since it was the first thing I learned to cook. I make my own variation based on the Accademia Italiana della Cucina recipe and Delia Smith's recipe (which is the best I've found, even if it's not quite the "classic" version). I normally leave it to reduce overnight in the oven, which gives amazing results. Trying to do the same thing in the IP just doesn't work because it doesn't reduce and it tends to end up gritty (overcooked).

    All that said, someone mentioned the holy grail notion of just chucking a bunch of leftovers in the slow cooker in the morning and coming home to a decent meal in the evening with minimal prep. That certainly is possible with the IP. Once you get to know the approximate ratios that work, you can certainly get away with this. I've done it successfully a few times. Other attempts have gone badly, usually when I've tried to use a meat that wasn't robust enough for all-day cooking. It's worth keeping notes about what works and what doesn't, experimenting when you don't mind it going a bit wrong and otherwise sticking to something you know is going to work. Just don't complicate things by trying to add ingredients with different cooking times that otherwise need to be added at the end. You can also save time by not browning meats: it most cases the only difference it makes is cosmetic.

    There are quite a lot of dedicated IP recipes out there so it's definitely best to start with those rather than trying to adjust others until you get used to it.

  3. #53
    Master Maysie's Avatar
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    Just a simple 'tip' rather than a recipe and my apologies if this is teaching Granny to suck eggs...

    Cheaper cuts of meat tend to work much better in the slow cookers as they suit the longer/slower cooking. The harder working cuts are generally the tastier cuts of meat too, so it is a win (cost) win (flavour).

    Osso Bucco is amazing (I do mine with rose veal shin - if you can find it).
    Ox Tail is also meltingly gorgeous when cooked long and slow.
    Shoulder of mutton madras.
    Beef/pigs cheeks.

    Save yourselves some cash and pack in some flavour!

  4. #54
    Master woodacre1983's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maysie View Post
    Just a simple 'tip' rather than a recipe and my apologies if this is teaching Granny to suck eggs...

    Cheaper cuts of meat tend to work much better in the slow cookers as they suit the longer/slower cooking. The harder working cuts are generally the tastier cuts of meat too, so it is a win (cost) win (flavour).

    Osso Bucco is amazing (I do mine with rose veal shin - if you can find it).
    Ox Tail is also meltingly gorgeous when cooked long and slow.
    Shoulder of mutton madras.
    Beef/pigs cheeks.

    Save yourselves some cash and pack in some flavour!
    Thanks for that. I’ve always gone for things like stewing steak for the stews etc. May look into huge cheaper cuts. I like the idea of ox tail. What others you recommend?


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  5. #55
    Master Maysie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by woodacre1983 View Post
    Thanks for that. I’ve always gone for things like stewing steak for the stews etc. May look into huge cheaper cuts. I like the idea of ox tail. What others you recommend?


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    To be fair, the above list are my 'go to' cuts for slow cooking, including stewing/braising steak as you mention. You will need a decent butcher to get hold of some of the cuts I suggested, but they shouldn't be too hard to find if the butcher is any good.

    Others which I use are:
    Lamb shanks
    Pork shoulder
    Pork Belly
    Beef Brisket
    Beef Skirt (lamb skirt is nice but can be VERY fatty)
    Chuck steak (often sold as stewing steak anyway). Makes a superb chilli con carne!

    I should caveat that I use the bottom oven in an AGA, not a slow cooker, but the slow cooking principle is pretty much the same.

    The way I cook and buy meat changed radically about 15 years ago when I read the Hugh Fearnley Whitingstall 'MEAT' book cover to cover. It was a real light-bulb moment and I now buy much better quality (ie non-supermarket, locally reared) cheaper cuts of meat, but less often to balance out the cost increase and have learnt to treat them with the respect they deserve to get the best out of them (which is generally brown them off hard and fast, then cook them low and slow). The book is a few years old now, but well worth owning if you are unsure of your meat cuts and what to do with them. If you are interested in/care about that sort of thing, it will likely change the way think of meat for the better.

    Low and Slow is the way to go!
    Last edited by Maysie; 15th November 2019 at 11:58.

  6. #56
    Master Franco's Avatar
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    I am quite keen on the slow-cooked Minestrone Soup, an italian classic.

    The beauty of this soup, apart from the taste, is that it stores beatifully in the freezer.

    I freeze aliquots , and in the morning take it out and leave on the bench to be heated in the evening.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/s...nestrone_24914

    The recipe above is quite similar to mine, except that:

    1- I do not use lardons, but Heck 95% sausage
    2- use Borlotti beans instead of cannellini. taken from a can and added 10 minutes before the end, afer thorough washes.
    3- Do not use chopped tomatoes, but normal plum peeled tomatoes, cleaned of the green bit and chopped by myself.
    4- Instead of “spring greens’ I use Kale, finely chopped.
    5- Parmesan is totally optional, usually you serve it at the table and only somebody will sprinkle it.
    6- I do not use pasta, and if I really need to - will add cooked short formats (like farfalle or similar) after the end and before serving. I do not add if needs freezing
    7- VERY IMPORTANT: do not add salt, ever. Only some at the end, with some tabasco, to taste prior to serving.

  7. #57
    Master Franco's Avatar
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    A tuscan recipe which requires very long cooking, and perfectly suitable to a slow cooker is the "Peposo".

    It requires a cheap but tasty cut of beef, the "spalla di manzo", equivalent here to top blade steak (or flat iron steak).

    put in the pot: approx 800 g meat, cut in large chunks. Four cloves of garlic (needed)
    250 ml of red wine, 3 tablespoon of peppercorns, one pinch od salt, two bay leaves, some thyme.
    My grandma also used two small potatoes with one clove in each, and a glass of chicken stock. Now people uses potato starch if at the end the stew is still too runny.

    Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook 6-8 h at low temperature, or until the meat is very tender.
    At the end, finish cooking without lid, until the beef is tender and falls apart. Take the beef out , serve with some mashed potatoes and all the juices after they have been reduced and sieved.

    Of course, red wine shuld be drunk with it.

  8. #58
    Master woodacre1983's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Franco View Post
    A tuscan recipe which requires very long cooking, and perfectly suitable to a slow cooker is the "Peposo".

    It requires a cheap but tasty cut of beef, the "spalla di manzo", equivalent here to top blade steak (or flat iron steak).

    put in the pot: approx 800 g meat, cut in large chunks. Four cloves of garlic (needed)
    250 ml of red wine, 3 tablespoon of peppercorns, one pinch od salt, two bay leaves, some thyme.
    My grandma also used two small potatoes with one clove in each, and a glass of chicken stock. Now people uses potato starch if at the end the stew is still too runny.

    Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook 6-8 h at low temperature, or until the meat is very tender.
    At the end, finish cooking without lid, until the beef is tender and falls apart. Take the beef out , serve with some mashed potatoes and all the juices after they have been reduced and sieved.

    Of course, red wine shuld be drunk with it.
    That sounds amazing!


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  9. #59
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    This is what it would look like:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qmt...ature=youtu.be

    and is easy to cook !

  10. #60
    Quote Originally Posted by Franco View Post
    That does look good, I'm going to have to try that one. I like that video too, generally to-the-point, no 20 minutes of "my hubby loves waffles and I really like my new kitchen clock and so does my dog for some reason" per 5-minutes of cooking as is often the case with recipe channels/blogs.

    Also loved the line "The food gods love that kind of stuff. And that'll help, that they look favourably upon this dish.". I'll have to check out the rest of his channel.

  11. #61
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    Suggest you try the Tuscan Onion sup on that channel, is fairly similar to the real one (Carabaccia). Great for the winter.

  12. #62
    I cooked venison goulash the other day, using smoked sweet paprika. After initially browning the meat in a casserole dish I then stuck it in the bottom oven of the Aga for a few hours.

    Succulent doesn't describe the result, but then venison is a meat that generally takes well to slow cooking.

    https://www.highlandgame.com/recipes/venison-goulash-2

    Someone also pointed me towards this recipe for neck of venison, which apparently cooks wonderfully well in the slow cooker. Neck of venison is not a popular cut, so it is cheaper than cubed stew meat, haunch or (naturally) fillet. I'll report back once I've given it a try....

    https://www.foxvalleyfoodie.com/beer...-venison-neck/

  13. #63
    Master MakeColdplayHistory's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mijyou View Post
    Wife reckons these books are her go to books
    Slow Cooking: Easy Slow Cooker Recipes https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/00072882..._ungZDb2HDZYFM
    More Slow Cooker Recipes https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/00073255..._0pgZDbX79D7FV
    Thanks - I picked up the first one from Amazon for pennies and have cooked a couple of the recipes (Thai green chicken curry and Kleftiko) both of which worked well.

  14. #64
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    One recipe I use when on the keto diet (low carb) is a simple eastern European style pork and sauerkraut stew. Take 500g diced shoulder of pork, brown in a bit of oil over high heat. MUST brown the meat as it adds flavour. Then add a drained 600g jar of sauerkraut (rinsed) plus around 500ml pork stock (or veg stock is fine). Add 2 whole large red chillies and a few bay leaves. Add around 2 heaped teaspoons of unsmoked, unsweetened paprika (I find the Spanish stuff is best for quality). Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (ideally towards end of cooking).

    Simmer for around 2 hours until most of stock has evaporated (if it looks dried out before then add a bit of water). When pork is tender remove bay leaves and serve with a dollop of sour cream on top, some wholegrain mustard on the side and some more paprika sprinkled on top. Recipe is so simple you think no way is half a kilo of sauerkraut making anything taste nice but it is lovely.

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