Good slow cooker recipes - need five per week as too busy to cook in evenings....

[mahonia7]

Anyone? I have more time and energy in the mornings and with all the kids things in the evening I think the only solution is lots of slow cooked meals...

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if you do a search theres loads of slow cooker recipe threads with good ideas. says she who has recently bought one and loves it.

Chilli con Carne (this is from the Morphy Richards book)

2tbsp vegetable oil
2 large onions chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped
500g minced beef
400g can of tomatoes chopped
1.5 tsp chilli powder
1.5 tbsp flour
1.5 tsp brown sugar
4 tbsp tomato puree
425g can of red kidney beans drained

1. Fry onions, garlic and pepper in a pan until soft.

2. Add minced beef and fry until lightly browned.

3. Blend together chilli powder, flour, brown sugar and tomato puree to make a chilli paste.

4. Stir in tomatoes and chilli paste.

5. Transfer all ingredients to the crock pot and place pot in slow cooker base. Place lid on slow cooker. Cook for approximately 3-7 hours.

6. One hour before serving add the kidney beans.

Start with a layer of onions and chopped garlic, a layer of tomatoes, a layer of stewing steak and top with a layer of potatoes. Repeat as necessary (depends how big your slow cooker/family is!).

Search the archives - there are loads of recipes already here.

My fave is beef and beans and barley

Stewing beef, onion, carrot, jar passata, can borlotti beans, lots water 1 hr before eating add a handful or two of pearl barley. All in one meal.

Beef Stew (this is just my own cobbled together)

400-500g stewing steak
seasoned flour
1 onion
2 carrots
2 tbsp olive oil
3/4 pint hot beef stock
tin tomatoes
mushrooms
potatoes

toss cubed meat in flour, shake to remove surplus
prepare veg
fry onions and carrots for around 5 mins then lift out
brown meat and lift out
bung everything in slow cooker.

To make a thicker sauce, you can mix a tbsp of cornflour in a cup with a little cold water then pour into the slow cooker, stir well (about an hour before serving).

What slow cooker do you have?

Are they the ones that explode? Or is that pressure cookers (that's sounding more likely - are they the same thing? I'm a fuckwit!).

Chicken Casserole

3-4 chicken breasts chopped up into bitesized chunks
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
chunks of potato
mushrooms
3 carrots
1/2 pint chicken stock
white wine (around a glass worth)
cornflour to thicken if desired

fry onions and carrots for about 5 mins and lift out
fry chicken until just browned then lift out
bung everything in slow cooker except cornflour

about an hour before serving, mix a tbsp cornflour with a little water then pour into slow cooker, stir well.

Oh, meant to say, in the beef stew I usually add a glass of red wine in as well.

hunker: it's the pressure cookers that explode

I thought as much

How much is a good slow cooker?

I have the largest Morphy Richards (cos I like making double quantity and freezing loads!)

The 6.5L I have is about £25.

The 3.5L is only £17.

About to get a BIG one (6 litres I think) from Argos for about £25 as can then make a huge quantity and freeze half

I should say, it's not really a time saver - more a time re-distributor (you have to find time in the morning to prepare instead). BUT you do get lovely tender meat in it as a result.

OH... chicken casserole and beef casserole are both 6-8 hours - forgot to say!

I rather think I'll get one! Thank you!

It's worth getting the larger one if you have the space to store it, I have to say.

The Morphy Richards one (I'm sure they all do, though come to think of it) comes with a pretty good recipe book as well.

I keep meaning to do a rice pudding in there...

Curry

Tin onions (Totally brill if you've never used them before)
Mushrooms
Savoy cabbage
Chicken pieces
Curry paste - as strong or as mild as you like. 2 large tablespoons
Hot water

Cook in slowcooker for about 12 hours
About one hour before serving add double cream
Yum
I serve mine with naan breads one day and rice the next
enjoy!

Should add it's even better the second day
Could cook overnight and then re heat at night time for dinner

Mine is a small one that will fit in my fridge so I actually redistribute effort to when I really do have time - in the evening when kids are in bed. Put all ingredients in (as long as you cover the veg with liquid it doesn't mind being chopped in advance) and then in the am all I have to do is put the pot into teh machine and turn it on.

That's a good tip, prufrock. Damn, wishing I had the smaller one now

Thinking about it though, is yours not a ceramic one? I thought you had to avoid extremes of temperature to avoid cracking the ceramic crockpot? Or does it heat up so slow to avoid that problem?

Do you give it an extra hour or so to cook as a result?

Rice pudding in slow cooker is WONDERFUL!!!

Erm - don't know. It's not cracked yet. If you are worried maybe take it out of fridge first thing, then turn it on when back from school? And I tend to just leave it all day anyway - let's face it, your never going to get crispness from a slocooker are you?

You can heat your christmas puds in there too!
Saves thinking about something else on Christmas day