What’s in Your Crock-Pot??? The 2014 Thread

[Snow In Summer]

I LOVE cooking in my Crock-Pot!!! I love creative recipes that think out of the box and I’m totally open to hearing it all!!! This past weekend I experimented with a new recipe I found online. I have to say it was truly outstanding and one of the best meals I ever made to date!!! It fell off the bone, browned (without putting it in the stove) and the taste was beyond comprehension not to mention the house smelted great for 2 days straight. lol It has since become a permanent sleeve in my cookbook. So my question to all of you is this … what is your Best Crock-Pot recipe that you would like to share with us all this New Year?

This is where I found the original recipe from but I altered it a lot!!!
http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-super-garlic-chicken-legs-179050

My Alterations:

I changes drumsticks to chicken thighs as they were on sale that week at Wally World, next time 2 chicken breast
I took the skin off all of chicken thighs (I avoid unnecessary fat whenever I can)
I de-skinned the garlic cloves, so I could puree them into a gravy sauce. I added flour & chicken stock it was delicious!!!
I coated the pieces with extra virgin oil and then hand sprinkled the spices on top (they do separate especially the salt)
I reduced the time from 8 hours on low to 5 hours on high. (I slept in!) Cooking this for 4 ½ on high I think would be fine also
I added a two to three splashes of basil on top too
I used Campbell’s Stock First (excellent)

What I Would Change:

The amount of garlic cloves and this all depends on what type of garlic you are using. If your using the 4 pack white netted garlic cloves from China using 20 cloves is perfectly fine. But I used the big honking local based garlic cloves that were twice the size (but I like them as they are fresher and taste better) but l was burping garlic for two days straight afterwards lol … so if you are using large locally fresh grown garlic reduce it to maybe 10-15 cloves and enjoy!!!

[Darth Penguin]

A Year of Slow Cooking is my go-to blog for really tasty crockpot recipes..

[Snow In Summer]

Good one Darth! This is my Favorite along the same lines ...

http://www.food.com/recipe/ice-cubes-420398

[Chantel]

I made cabbage rolls for the first time, using my crock pot.

Doubled this recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cabbage-rolls-ii/ and it very barely fit in my 6 qt.

What I would change: Double the sauce. I used 2 total cans of Hunt's, the tall ones 680 ml I think ones. Also add extra of the sauce flavorings (sugar, wort sauce, etc, everything but S&P). I think I quadrupled the listed amount. My mom never makes cabbage rolls because she can't get the flavors right, but somehow I did!

Also would make smaller rolls and cut off the hardest part of the cabbage leaf, the stem bit. Took an otherwise delicate dish and made it kinda chewy.

ETA: If you're boiling your cabbage using a big pot, stab a shish kebab skewer into the core. You can then very easily move it, put it in and out of the pot and hold it without burning yourself! And best, no splashes of boiling water when it goes in and out of the pot.


Also made this:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Just-Li...arch&event10=1

A clone of Wendy's chili. I would definitely make again, left it for a day and a bit in the crock pot, the longer it goes the better it is.

Cooked the beef and onions and stuff first, as directed, then let it go in the crockpot. Really can't screw this up. I even proportioned my tomatoes to my sauce more to my liking and it was fine. Don't have Ro*Tel here so I used a jalapeno that I seeded and diced finely and it added just a little heat. Used PC chili seasoning.

Do NOT used dried pinto beans. Follow the recipe and use canned. Canned ones were friggin impossible to find (found them after at Target) but I soaked my beans for 2 days and then cooked my chili for another day and a half and the things only finally started to soften to an edible consistency at that point. Do your sanity a favor and do not used dried beans unless you presoak yours for a week and freeze them or something.

[Kitty77]

Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oats, will be ready for for breakfast today.

1 c. Steel Cut Oats (only this type)
4 c. water
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. dried fruits ( can use raisins, cranberry, cherry, coconut or currants, etc.)

Grease crock pot, add all ingredients, stir, cook on low for about 7 or 8 hours.
Make a double batch and Reheat the leftovers in the microwave for another breakfast.

[Zonny]

Also made this:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Just-Li...arch&event10=1

A clone of Wendy's chili. I would definitely make again, left it for a day and a bit in the crock pot, the longer it goes the better it is.

Cooked the beef and onions and stuff first, as directed, then let it go in the crockpot. Really can't screw this up. I even proportioned my tomatoes to my sauce more to my liking and it was fine. Don't have Ro*Tel here so I used a jalapeno that I seeded and diced finely and it added just a little heat. Used PC chili seasoning.

Do NOT used dried pinto beans. Follow the recipe and use canned. Canned ones were friggin impossible to find (found them after at Target) but I soaked my beans for 2 days and then cooked my chili for another day and a half and the things only finally started to soften to an edible consistency at that point. Do your sanity a favor and do not used dried beans unless you presoak yours for a week and freeze them or something.

That's kind of odd with the beans! I've never done pinto beans, but I've done black beans and white navy beans - soak overnight, then crockpot all the next day on low, works fine.

[FrugalKris]

Loving this thread! I need to start using mine more! just a simple question (cause i'm more or less a crockpot newbie) If i start my crockpot just before leaving in the morning - any worries about it burning/issues - I get a little nervous about leaving appliances on while out at work! Sometimes won't be home until 10-12 hrs after starting it... Thanks for the tips!

[MrsSunshine]

FrugalKris.. you could leave it over night on your counter instead.. that way if you smell something funny.. your still home.. then once your up turn it off. and by the time your ready to leave home you can either put the insert in the fridge or just put the 'leftovers' in the fridge in a container.


Chantel.. someone else suggested I cooked my cabbage roll meat ahead of time before rolling it.. did you do this.. or follow the recipe exactly.

[Snow In Summer]

This is an interesting tidbit from Wikipedia about beans in slow cookers. I think I'll be sticking to canned beans from now on!!! lol

Hazards

Raw kidney beans, and to a lesser extent some other beans (such as broad/fava beans), contain the toxin phytohaemagglutinin, which is destroyed by boiling, but not by the lower temperatures of a slow cooker, so dry beans must be boiled at 100 °C/212 °F for 30 minutes prior to slow cooking, or alternatively soaked in water overnight, discarding the water and then boiled for at least 10 minutes. Even a few beans can be toxic, and beans can be as much as five times more toxic if cooked at 80 °C (175 °F) than if eaten raw, so adequate pre-boiling is vital. Cases of poisoning by slow-cooked beans have been published in the UK; poisoning has occurred in the USA but has not been formally reported. This risk can be avoided entirely by using canned cooked beans, adding them towards the end of the recipe's cooking time.

[Snow In Summer]

Loving this thread! I need to start using mine more! just a simple question (cause i'm more or less a crockpot newbie) If i start my crockpot just before leaving in the morning - any worries about it burning/issues - I get a little nervous about leaving appliances on while out at work! Sometimes won't be home until 10-12 hrs after starting it... Thanks for the tips!

FrugalKris I live alone and work VERY long hours too! I usually make a recipe or two on the weekends and then either freeze them or make dishes for the week ready to be reheated in the mircowave. There's nothing better than a home cooked meal ready in 5 minutes when you've finished your day.

[roseofblack25]

^^ I've always used canned beans in my crockpot as I find dry ones never get soft enough for my liking.

[walkonby]

hiya Snow!! I wish I could add to your great new thread, but I am more or less crock-potted out. I used one here and there over the years, but I like being more hands on when I cook. That waiting thing is great when you are out the whole day, but for us it was never that big of a need. I am still going to lurk here though for any new recipes ok??

[Zonny]

Loving this thread! I need to start using mine more! just a simple question (cause i'm more or less a crockpot newbie) If i start my crockpot just before leaving in the morning - any worries about it burning/issues - I get a little nervous about leaving appliances on while out at work! Sometimes won't be home until 10-12 hrs after starting it... Thanks for the tips!

I leave mine to cook on top of my stove while I'm not there (stove is off of course!).

As for burning, depends on what you're cooking. I find that chicken (especially breasts) dry out if you leave them on all day. Other chicken pieces sometimes just fall apart and you get soup. I regularly cook a combination of chicken thighs (no skin), black beans (already cooked), salsa and taco seasoning, and those I do for only about six hours max on low (I'm gone for 10 hours a day). So I sometimes do that recipe overnight (put on late, get up early to turn it off) or when I'm around. I've never had anything burn in mine, just overcook, but I think it also depends on your crockpot. Mine just doesn't get that hot.

Potato soup does fine for 10 hours on low. So do the beans. I've made 'refried' beans in the crockpot too, came out just fine, soft enough to mash up and put in my version of enchiladas.

As for the toxins in beans, if you Google anything you put in your crockpot, you're sure to find at least one link about how it's going to kill you. Some folks think they will get food poisoning if they put frozen meat into the thing, but in my experience, not so, I've never gotten anyone sick.

[Chantel]

Wow great tidbit about the dried beans. Like I said, never again! As if I needed another reason.

Chantel.. someone else suggested I cooked my cabbage roll meat ahead of time before rolling it.. did you do this.. or follow the recipe exactly.

I left it raw. TBH I wouldn't cook it first. I think it would make it drier than I'd like it to be and harder to work with. Cabbage rolls are hard enough to get together with a lump of meat and rice that sticks together, I can't imagine how annoying it'd be to do it with filling that didn't stay together.

If you're worried about cooking the meat through and drying everything out in trying to, don't be. The extra sauce really comes in handy here, to keep it all moist and the end result is a little 'egg' of (well-cooked) meat, which I think is one of the best things about cabbage rolls. You wouldn't get anywhere near the same consistency with cooked crumbled meat unless you rolled them tight enough to bounce a quarter off of them.

[torontogal12]

OMG I love this! I just bought a crockpot but have no idea how to use it lol