Crock pot ideas/Recipie

[Kimmyt]

Lisa, do you make stock from the bones for your soups?

I have a leg of lamb that is leftover, some scraps on it but mostly bone and I am contemplating making Scotch broth with it. I've never made a stock, though... can I put any amount of water in? It's a smallish leg bone, but I was going to buy some bouillion in case the stock came out weak.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hi,
No, i don't use the bones for anything. Call me lazy. I put the chicken pickings (mostly meat, a little roasted skin bits too) in a pot with several cups water to start my soup. I did buy some pre-made organic vegetable stock and sometimes I use that 1/2 and 1/2 with water if I want a really rich soup, but mostly I find my soups rich enough if I add plenty of veggies and whatever meat I choose or not. Seasoning works well for me rather than making and storing stocks.

I often use the crock-pot tip of quickly browning stuff like meat, onions, garlic, or peppers in a pan before dumping it into the pot...this REALLY adds a great flavor and is well worth the extra few minutes in my opinion. It makes a huge flavor improvement.

The other day I made ham hocks & beans. First I trimmed the skin and outside fat off the hocks...then browned the ham hocks in olive oil in a skillet. The taste of the browned hocks is very different from just simmered hocks. Then I took them out and browned some onions and fresh garlic. All that then got dumped in to crockpot along with 2 LARGE cans baked beans, a big squirt each of molasses, ketchup, and bbq sauce, also 1/2 cup brown sugar and some pepper. I put it on low for 7 hours and it was INCREDIBLY yummy, and the hocks melted in your mouth.