Oh what a great idea Tulip! I don't even have a crock pot but I might get one to make lasagne! :D
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Oh what a great idea Tulip! I don't even have a crock pot but I might get one to make lasagne! :D
I never really cared for lentils too much either, until I started cooking Indian once and a while where to really make it authentic it is recommended to use lentils (dal) grown in India rather than the U.S. What a difference ! The asian lentils are so much sweeter, have more flavor, and are less mealy. I buy toor dal (yellow lentils) at an East West store in the town where I work. There are other dals that I get but these are my favorite. I make a perfumed spiced puree with these to dip flat breads in. The toor dal is so flavorful to me I started using them in my general pea soup recipe with ham bone stock. I'll never go back to the green or black western lentils again.Quote:
Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl
I use the crock pot alot too, mostly in the winter. I had a bad health scare about 10 years ago so now I try to remove as many artificial ingredients as possible from my food. That means preparing most things from scratch, including breads, rolls, soups, desserts etc. It really doesn't always have to take up alot of time. As for beans, I used dried black beans and cannenelli beans, provided I remember to soak them. But I have a pressure cooker for those times I simply can't wait to soak beans overnight and then cook them. You can get beans ready in 40 minutes that way. And of course though, you don't have to soak lentils.
Does it really make a difference where they're grown? I've bought channa and rajma (chickpeas and kidney beans) from the Indian grocery before and they didn't taste any different from what I'm used to. Indian-grown rajma are maybe a little smaller than American kidney beans, but I didn't notice a flavor difference.
Of course there are lots of varieties of beans that are traditional in Indian but not European, East Asian or American cooking, and vice versa - but I know there's US-grown moong and masoor dal anyhow. Those two are probably my favorite for puree-style dals and Indian soups.
Do you use the oily or dry toover dal?
Of legumes and flavor differences let me refine - I was speaking mostly of a kind of lentil I like and meant to emphasize that. I re-read it and it does sound like a general collective statement that all asian lentils seem to taste better.
That said, I do find that toor dal is much more flavorful and has a little bit more of a silkier texture than that of the green or brown lentils of the west. I was actually surprised at the difference when I discovered them. For me I find that these particular yellow split lentils are very different and I find I like them much better as far as lentils go. I buy the dry kind vs. oily.
But you do bring up a good distinction. I also use mung dal and urad dal and I don't find that much of a difference. Of the other legumes like the chickpeas or kidney beans I don't find that much of a difference either, but I don't mind the flavor or texture of what you can find U.S. grown so I'll just get the dried version of those.
Yeah, I've never had a crockpot before my kitchen renovation started. The lasagne is fantastic. I use a whole bag of fresh spinach in there (just layer it with the other stuff!)Quote:
Originally Posted by OakLeaf
Our slow cookers are probably the most used appliances in our house!
We do a lot of hiking and nothing beats coming home knowing that dinner is ready and smelling fabulous!
Use this website a lot and have found just about everything on it:
www.justslowcooking.com/index.html
I have a slow cooker hot apple cider recipe that I've been using for years. Actually have made it outside on a campfire and in a pot on the stove, but the best is in the slow cooker - again because the house smells soooooo good when you come back after a long cold (we live in Northern Ontario) winter day hiking or skiing.
1 quart cider or apple juice (I've used both)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. whole cloves
1 small cinnamon stick
1/8 tsp salt
Simmer over low heat at least 1 hour (better for 4 + hours)
Recipe can be tripled, quadrupled, etc.
Enjoy!
I'm going to make either black bean or lentil soup - I don't think we have any bacon, I might revamp the recipe. Anyone have any recipes using barley?
Here's a bunch to look over:Quote:
Originally Posted by surgtech1956
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...up&btnG=Search
Thanks, going to check them out.
My favorite crock pot recipe:
Chicken Adobo
1 small onion
8 cloves of garlic
3/4 cups of soy sauce
1/2 cup of vinegar
3 pounds bone in chicken legs and thighs
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over cooked rice.
This was a favorite dish of mine when we lived in the Philippines. This recipe is easy and delicious. Everyone we've made it for has loved it!
Just came across an interesting blog ... with enough crock pot recipes to keep everyone going for a long, long time! My favorite for the crock pot is roasting a whole turkey breast (in fact, I'm cooking one right now!). It always comes out juicy & freezing the sliced leftovers in single-serve packages means many, many sandwiches ... cheaper & healthier than deli meat. Here's the link:
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
(Apologies if someone already posed this link ... I didn't look through all of the past links.)
Great idea, thanks for sharing. Dontcha love the way the house smells when you come home from a long ride and some delicious food is waiting for you? :D
Thank you ladies for this thread!
I always thought of crockpots as thick, unhealthy, cornstarchy mushs.. My Ex's mom used to make horrendous concoctions in hers!!
But all of the recipes here inspired me, showing how healthy and yummy one can cook in a crock pot! I received a Macy's gift card for Christmas and today I was in Macy's looking for things to spend it on and I saw that the kitchen appliances(like everything else in the store!!) was on sale. I opted to buy the 5qt crockpot and I can not wait to test it out Sunday.
I go to work and don't get home until 7 most nights, if not 8:30 if I go to the gym after work and by the time I get hom the SO and I are just soo tired. I feel that the CrockPot is just what we need! Put it together in the AM and have it ready when we get home.
Thank you again to all of you wonderful women here on TE for sharing these great recipes and inspiring me to try something that I once had a negative conotation towards.
Lisa, do you peel the apples? Thanks
With crockpots you reap what you sow. If you load it with canned cream of mush soup and canned peas and canned spinach (like the recipes of the 1960-70's often called for)...then you get those famous crocpot 'mush casseroles". :D My favorite crock recipes are actually from new vegetarian crockpot books, even though I'm not a vegetarian. I like them because they emphasize fresh produce and concentrate on keeping the textures and tastes nice and distinct.Quote:
Originally Posted by ehirsch83
Yes, but I use one of those marvelous little old fashioned gizmo machines you suction-cup onto your counter and stick the apple on and turn a crank by hand while it rotates, peels and cores the apple in about 10 seconds. They still make them! It's one of those kind of great old machine inventions you have to really admire, sort of like a bicycle. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by surgtech1956
Just noticed that link Flash posted. Awesome! I'm finding I have to dig through for something that isn't too unhealthy and heavy but, I've found a few to put on my "to do" list.
I ventured to Myer this afternoon & picked up a slow cooker/crock pot thing plus a mini waffle maker :)
I look forward to using both & will keep an eye on this thread. I'd like to make my dear even happier with coolio new dishes :)
I'm going to resurrect this thread because I need to use my crock pot more.
I'm not a big soup person, and there's only so much beans I can eat so I really like tulip's use of the crock pot to make lasagne. I never thought of it, and considering they sell no-cook noodles now, it's so brilliantly simple.
Someone way back put a recipe with peanut butter. I recently made a pumpkin stew with peanut butter and it was so delish! I used all kinds of mix-n-match vegetables in the fridge along with left over summer squash, water with some bouillon, a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter, couple tablespoons of tomato paste and voila, a few hours later a lovely stew. At least it's thick so it doesn't feel like a soup to me.
Oh, and I'm also baking up a storm lately with bread, and made some nice buns.
Anyone here ever make bread without yeast, as in culture it with wild yeast from the air? Takes a while to do (a couple weeks?)
You can use regular noodles. No need to pay extra for no-cook noodles. In fact, you can use regular noodles, uncooked, for regular oven-baked lasagne, too.
The only thing that I have found is that if I leave my crockpot on high for the whole time, it gets a little burned on the bottom. I haven't made it in a while, but next time I will start it on high for 3 hours and then set it to low for the final 3 hours (or however long it takes, I go by how bubbly it gets).
Tulip I'm going to try that out tomorrow. Is there any trick to getting hard noodles to fit in a round crockpot?
This is a bit off topic, but I'm trying out a new use for my crockpot. It's really, really cold today, and my house has a vintage heating system. Even though it was under 50 F in my kitchen this morning, I'm out of bread and it's time to make some more. So I've turned to the crockpot. There's a couple inches of water in the bottom, then the bowl with my bread dough (sourdough, btw) perched on top, with the temperature turned to "warm." It's rising, slowly, but rising nonetheless....
You just have to break them to make them fit. I usually overlap them. I hope it works out for you! Around here it's a very good day for a hearty, hot meal of lasagne.Quote:
Originally Posted by WindingRoad
That is a great idea. When it's really cold, I usually have my woodstove burning and I tuck my bread dough behind it to rise (but not too close or it will just bake).Quote:
Originally Posted by skhill
Ooohhhhh...I LOVE crockpot lasagna!!! It comes out great everytime! I will have to make some soon. Last weekend, I made a great turkey chili in the crockpot. I've been using a lot of recipes from allrecipes.com. I like that all the recipes have tons of reviews and tips on using substitute ingredients or adding ingredients to enhance the dish even more. I like the site so much, that I got on their mailing list and get a new dish emailed to me everyday. The ones that I'm interested in trying, I add to my "recipe box" on the site.
Here's the recipe for my favorite turkey crock pot chili (just posted it on my blog). It's so good and pretty healthy too:
http://mudandmanolos.wordpress.com/2...-turkey-chili/
Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I've been finding some interesting recipes.
I make a roast in the crock pot and it turns out super yummy everytime!
1/2 bottle CHEAP merlot
1 smallish beef roast (doesn't matter which kind) trimmed of fat
1 packet of onion soup mix
Brown the outside of roast in a smidge of EVOO. Drop it in the crock pot, with the half bottle of wine, and pour the onion soup mix on top. Cook on low for 6-7 hours and voila! Comes out perfect every time!
kalua pork, courtesy of my friend rose in honolulu:
1 4 lb pork roast, rump or shoulder
2 tbs hawaiian sea salt
2 tbs liquid smoke
**bonus pre-step: brine the pork for a few hours in salt + liquid smoke mixture.**
- rub pork w/ salt + liquid smoke
- put pork in crock pot
- fill crock put w 1 inch of water
- cook on low for 3 hours
- turn the pork over
- cook on low for 4-5 hours
- shred the pork like crazy
- eat the ono kalua pork
- break your mouth. so. damn. good.
- repeat last 2 steps every day until it is gone
you can line the pot with banana leaves, or not. you can add cabbage towards the end, or not. you can eat it with white rice and soy sauce and sirrachha. you can use mesquite or hickory smoke. you can share it with your friends.
One crockpot recipe that my DH loves so I make it at least every other month or so is Black bean soup:
1 pound of chicken tenders (I throw them in frozen)
2 cans of rinsed black beans (although I use soaked ones)
2 cups of sliced mushrooms
1 can of chicken broth
1 tbls of cumin
2 -4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jar of chunky salsa (I use Hot)
Right before serving stir in either 1 cup of sour creme or I use nonfat plain Greek yogurt.
Garnish with cheddar cheese and a slice of avocado.
Your house will smell great while this is cooking and it freezes well too.
How did this work?Quote:
Originally Posted by skhill
Yum. Is Hawaiian sea salt substantially different from other sea salts?Quote:
Originally Posted by tangentgirl
My standard crock pot pulled pork recipe recipe is equally easy. I just place about a 4-5 pound pound piece of trimmed pork shoulder (or whatever cut you like) into the crock pot with a generous coating of pepper, onion and garlic salt and whatever other spices you might like. You can throw in some Liquid Smoke, Worchestshire or fresh garlic, too. To that, add enough root beer to almost cover the pork. Cook on low for about 6-7 hours. Turn it over halfway through cooking. Add more root beer if necessary.
After it's cooked, drain the remaining liquid from the crock and then shred the pork. Place shredded pork back into the Crock, add some (additional) Liquid Smoke and Worchestshire. Mix in your favorite BBQ sauce. Let it sit for another half hour to an hour before serving. I like to serve this with a vinegar-based slaw and sweet potatoe fries or baked beans. Yummy!
It worked! The risen dough ended up quite wet, and forming it into a loaf was a bit of a pain. But the flavor and texture are good, and it did rise.Quote:
Originally Posted by tangentgirl
Should have expected the dough to pick up some moisture from the warm water, and made it dryer to begin with. Next time...
I find that if you've got time on your side, dough will rise even in the fridge. there have been times I kneaded the dough and left in the fridge to keep until closer to the time only to be shocked at how it's grown.
I think I'll have to resurrect the bread baking thread, I'm so into bread baking right now.
Um...well...to tell the truth, I don't know. My friend's recipe said Hawaiian. I just used sea salt from the trader joe's, 'cause I couldn't find anything that said Hawaiian, and I didn't feel like going to another store to explore salt varieties. Prolly not.Quote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
OK, I just have to post this recipe here. I've made it a bunch of times and we just gobble it up every time. SUPER easy, too.
Crockpot Mexican Tortilla Soup
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts - frozen
10 oz enchilada sauce
16 oz chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
1 can corn
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 cup water
1 onion, chopped/diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
shredded cheese
tortilla chips
chopped cilantro
Ready for this? Throw the first 14 ingredients into the crock pot and cook on low for at least 7 hours. Chicken should be frozen. That's it!
An hour or so before serving, shred chicken with a fork. It should be super tender by now and almost falling apart anyway.
Top with shredded cheese, broken tortilla chips and fresh cilantro and serve.
I've heard that people top it with sliced avocado as well but in my mind, that's just ruining it. ;)
That sounds amazing, GLC! Thanks for posting it. I would definitely add the avocado, and serve it over rice. Yum.
Ooh yeah, over rice. I forgot that I used to do that! I've since dropped the rice in favor of more chips (I'm watching points!). :pQuote:
Originally Posted by tulip
I'm also thinking of tossing in some sliced, grilled zucchini before serving to up the veggie factor a bit too.
Sounds pretty good. The tomatoes: Is that a 28 oz or 14 oz can? I'm thinking of replacing the chicken with a roughly equivalent amount of leftover shredded roasted chicken, because the idea of putting raw meat in a crockpot just doesn't sit right with me.
The tomatoes are a 14 oz can. I have also used 2 10 oz rotel cans (with chilies) and left out the green chillies with good success, too. The 'hot' version gives the soup a really nice heat!Quote:
Originally Posted by Owlie
The original recipe calls for cooking and shredding the chicken separately. The first time I did it, I put it in with the other ingredients like the recipe said and the chicken was pure mush and really gross. The second time, I put it in about an hour before the end and it was better. Then I starting thinking that it was such a pain for me and my schedule. The soup was always at a good boil by the time I got home, so I figure it could cook the chicken itself. That's why I put it in there frozen - I don't want it defrosting until the liquid is already cooking. So far, it's worked wonderfully.
I should mention that my days are long, so when I make this, it's cooking for about 10 hours before I get to eat it.
Makes perfect sense, GLC. I figured I'd just add it in toward the end, since I'm not exactly overburdened with work at the moment. :rolleyes: Most of the workout my crockpot gets are with chili, so it'll nice to have something else to cook with it.