It's the annual "I got a slow cooker for Christmas, please come and share your best recipes/recipe book suggestions" thread

[BlatherskitedaboutChristmas]

MIL has bought be an enormous Crock Pot slow cooker. It looks lovely but I have no clue what to make in it. It's 5.7 litres but there's only me, DH, 5 yo DS and a very, very picky 3 yo DD.

Suggestions would be very welcome otherwise it's probably going to end up stashed in a cupboard and forgotten about and that would be sad.

[JamNan]

determinedmama
I don't know if you can do Dauphinoise in a slow cooker and I can't find a recipe. I did cook a Lancashire hotpot last week which had a crust of sliced potatoes and swede on top and it crisped up nicely. It must be doable.

[determinedma]

Can I do potato dauphinois in a slow cooker. Recipe please.

[WingDefence]

I am assuming this thread has died a death but just in case I'm not the only one still watching it, I made a beef curry today in my SC. It actually turned out more like a beef goulash because I didn't have any garam masala or standard curry powder and just used a combination of ground cumin, ground ginger, turmeric and chilli powder but it was still delicious.

I did it with 500g stewing beef, a green pepper, one large onion, three potatoes roughly sliced and a tub of passata. We had it with rice (DS had Greek yoghurt stirred into his as it was a bit spicy) and it was lovely. Not so good for my heartburn though as I'm 38wk+5 pregnant and it's going to repeat on me for hours now... where's the Gaviscon?!

[WingDefence]

Mmm that beef dish looks lovely. Beef going on the shopping list!

Medic, how much rice pud did you make and did you use a recipe?

[ItsAllTLAsToMe]

Hi all, I made this beef stifado recently in my new slow cooker, it was lovely. In case anyone wants to make it, I used 100ml instead of a slug .

[MedicPeso]

Hi everyone.

I used my new SC for the first time today (rice pudding ), and I can't wait to use it again. I think I'd like to make a Thai green chicken curry next.

This thread is fab, thanks!

[Stacks]

Marking my place. Slow cooker definitely useful with a new baby.

[louisianablue2000]

Doh! Realised that recipe link is the correct ingredient list but is cooked on the hob. I softened the onions, garlic and ginger, then added the spices and warmed through. Then everything (bar the spinach, coriander and coconut milk) is put in the slow cooker on low for 8h. Stir in the spinach, coriander and coconut milk, and put the slow cooker on high for half an hour to warm up. Serve with chapattis.

[louisianablue2000]

chicken, lentil and pumpkin curry recipe here. It's for a 4.5l slow cooker, mine is a 3.5l so I halved all quantities.

[WingDefence]

Thanks Jam - I'm also not a fan of kidney (although DH got DS eating a s&k pie the other day without telling him what was in it I think) and I shall give that recipe a go when I feel brave enough

[JamNan]

recipe for steak and kidney pud here. I don't like kidney so added mushrooms instead. I shoved in a big dollop of Lea & Perrins too. I cooked the meat first but you don't have to according to this recipe.

Sadly I burnt the granola and it's now out on the birdtable where the birds have turned their beaks up at it.

[WingDefence]

JamNan all those sound amazing. I've never steamed a pudding in my life because it sounds like such a faff but I'd love to hear how you did it.

kasbah I have no idea why it wouldn't have cooked but I'm sure a more experienced Mner will come along and offer advice

My gammon was fantastic. In fact, I preferred it to the ginger beer version I did upthread. We had it with mash and broccoli and DS cleaned his plate too. Will do it like that (honey & mustard) next time.

[kasbah72]

Hmmm, need help! I did a whole chicken yesterday, on a bed of chopped root veg and some stock. We had it on low for over 10 hours and it was still half raw!!
What did I do wrong?

[JamNan]

I made a steak and mushroom suet crust pudding in the slow cooker and it was DELICIOUS.

Another plus for the slow cooker is that you don't get lots of condensation like you would boiling it on the stovetop. The only thing you have to watch out for is to choose a pudding basin that fits your SC.

Also made nectarine compote for brekkie today with yoghurt and homemade granola.

[WingDefence]

And louisiana that sounds delicious - any chance you could share it?

[WingDefence]

Right, small gammon joint in SC on Low. I smeared it all over with honey and mustard powder a bit too much fell into the pot oops so hopefully that'll be good with mash and veg for tea tonight :)

[MimsyBorogroves]

Marking my place for when I get my SC.

[louisianablue2000]

My sister got me the Lakeland slow cooker recipe book for my birthday and I've done a few recipes from it including a gorgeous chicken, lentil and pumpkin curry which DH and I loved. Definitely going to try more curries.

[smoothieooo]

I made a Thai green curry in the slow cooker this morning so that DSs will have a hot meal after school.

Did the prep last night - diced the chicken and marinaded in Thai green paste, chopped a red pepper and trimmed some green beans and baby sweetcorn and this morning, all I had to do was brown the chicken, sauté the veg for a couple of mins, add a tin of coconut milk and set the slow cooker to low. Second time I've made it and the boys loved it, plus there was enough for lunch next day.

I only bought it 3 weeks ago but have used it a lot

[WingDefence]

Well it went down very well but there was only one thing slightly wrong - the cumberland sausages (not posh, just Sainsbury's) must have absorbed the tomatoey flavour and both DH and I thought they tasted exactly like the mini 'hot dog' style sausage you get in a tin of beans & sausages! (Which I am not that keen on tbh.)

So I think although it cooked beautifully, I'll either use bog standard sausages next time or, if I have nice sausages to use, I'll do the casserole in a more traditional way on the hob to keep the flavour of the sausages.

Oh and there was a fair bit of sauce/onions/peppers/beans left over so DH and I are are going to have that as soup :)

[DerbyNottsLeicsNightNanny]

Just marking place

[Blatherskite]

Ooh, tell me if it's good Wing, that sounds lovely

[WingDefence]

Hi all - not sure if this thread has died a death or not. I hope it means everyone else is using their SCs too? :)

I've got a sausage casserole going today. Browned the sausages then stuck in a tin of chopped toms, tin of baked beans, yellow pepper and large onion, both chopped not too finely, two sliced carrots as I seem to have loads, and a sachet of sausage casserole mix I had kicking around in the cupboard (that is normally made up with water and done on the hob) and 8 sausages. Smells lovely. I want to eat it now!

[WingDefence]

Massive success with the curry! The bones fell out of the meat - I hate cooking with drumsticks and thighs normally because of the bones but I'll definitely buy them in future for SC recipes because the chicken wasn't dry and of course they are cheaper.

DH and DS loved the recipe and it really was lovely. I have made curry from scratch with spices etc before but for 60p or whatever the cost of the sachet was, I think I'm converted

[WingDefence]

Thanks louis - that might be next week's project i.e. to do a soup in the SC.

I'm trying out my 'cheat' this morning - the SC sachet I bought. It's a curry one so I dumped a lb of chunky potatoes (which isn't as much as it sounds...), a diced red pepper, diced onion, some chicken thighs and drumsticks I had using up freezer space and the sachet mixed not with water but a tin of chopped toms. On Low for 8 hours and it should be ready by 5pm.

Trouble is, the house smells of curry already so goodness knows how I'm going to cope for the rest of the day (I work from home)!