General Chat

Well,I've been using my new toy quite a lot.Done a few soups,cooked the meat for the steak pie,which they all said was great.I dont eat beef but it looked tender.

Bought a packet of mix for slow cookers,chicken curry,will make that tomorrow....I don't eat curry either though lol.
I'll do my pork mince in a pot while the curry cooks in SC.

Marion

No reason why you shouldn't use vegetable stock for veg options. as long as the liquid covers the veg etc.

LADY CUTIE

can i use veg stock instead for an totally vegitarian option

Thank you Ronald and Kay :-D :-D

..........going to make Chilli Con Carne tomorrow then going out for a few hours.....be like having an inhouse chef....well sort of ;-)

Mau xx

nnnnnn

Bumped for Mau

I made something very like that recipe today.

As ever, I chucked in what I had, including a tin of chopped tomatoes, three green Oxos and a bottle of cider. There was some barley and lentils as well and a load of veg.

I call it a mess of pottage. Well, a mess anyway.

Hello :-D Have been reading thread for a while Ann. Went to Morrison's to buy bread today.......and came home with a slow cooker,a ham bone and split peas...guess what I'm doing in the morning? :-)

Thank you Julia :-D

Looks like I'm in for a long read tonight then lol.

I'm liking what I've heard so far.

Marion

Nudged for MarioninScotland.

Julia in Derbyshire

If you are short of time or find peeling and chopping veg a chore or painful, I bought some veg ready chopped for soups (I know I was feeling lazy and actually they worked well added to a stew in the slow cooker yesterday) in T***o.

Vegetable Broth ..serves 4-6
1 medium sized carrot,
1 leak ,
1 medium sized onion,
1 small parsnip,
1 small turnip,
2 sticks celery,
25g (1oz )margarine,
75ml (11/2 pint chicken or beef stock
15ml (1 tablesp) barley , washed.
5ml (1 tsp) salt.

Pre heat slow cooker -20 mins ,
1/ Peel & dice carrot, turnip& parsnip .
Wash and chop celery, peel and chop onion, trim and slice leak .
2/ Melt margarine in a large pan , gently fry prepared veg for 10 mins .
3/ Add stock , barley and salt, Bring to the boil.
4/ Pour into slow cooker and cook for 3-4 hrs or until the barley is soft .
5/ Sprinkle with chopped parsley to serve .
Hazelx

Thanks Ann,& Barbra&Bob & Liz they are from the recipe book that i got with the slow cooker ,
there are other recipes , if you would like me to put on later
i'm of out to the shops just now :-D
Hazelx

AH! thanks for that,Liz,
I must admit that when I setup the pot I always use some 'errbs in the water, kind of marinades itself overnight!!

Bob

Bobtanian, I googled and found this, easier than me trying to describe it myself. I first encountered bouquet garni in cookery lessons at school, aged 11.

Nice recipes, Hazel, thanks.

Lizx

The bouquet garni ([bu.k? ga?.ni], French for "garnished bouquet") is a bundle of herbs usually tied together with string and mainly used to prepare soup, stock, and various stews. The bouquet is cooked with the other ingredients, but is removed prior to consumption.

There is no generic recipe for bouquet garni, but most recipes include parsley, thyme and bay leaf. Depending on the recipe, the bouquet garni may include basil, burnet, chervil, rosemary, peppercorns, savory and tarragon. Sometimes vegetables such as carrot, celery (leaves or stem), celeriac, leek, onion and parsley root are also included in the bouquet.

Sometimes, the bouquet is not bound with string, and its ingredients are filled into a small sachet, a net, or even a tea strainer instead. Traditionally, the aromatics are bound within leek leaves, though a coffee filter and butcher twine can be used instead.

I often setup one of those timer socket thingy's to fire up my slo cooker around 6:30-7am so everything starts from cold.....no problems with it not being ready for a midday, 1pm-ish meal

that christmas pud sounds like something even I could have a go of......thanks Hazel......

Ps.......................!shhhh! wots bouquet garni?

Thanks again for the recipes Hazel.

Never thought of doing Christmas Pud (must admit, I normally buy mine)

Might be tempted to have a go.

Christmas Pudding ( serves 6-8 )
75 g (3oz ) soft white breadcrumbs
100g (4oz) shredded suet .
75g (3oz) self rasing flour .
100g ( 4oz ) soft brown sugar
150g ( 6 oz) sultanas .
150g (6oz) currants.
100g (4oz ) rasins
50g ( 2oz) mixed peel
25g ( 1oz ) glace cherries , chopped .
25g ( 1oz) chopped nuts .
pinch salt, pinch nutmeg , large pinch of mixed spice .
1 small lemon .
2 eggs
6x 15ml (1tablesp) milk or barly wine .

preheat cooker -20 mins .
1/Grease a 1 litre (2pint ) pudding basin .
2/ Mix all the fruit & dry ingredients together .
3/ Stir in grated rind & juice of lemon .
4/ Beat eggs with milk and stir into ingredients .
5/ Mix thoroughly , turn into basin & cover with foil . Place in slow cooker .
6/ Add boiling water to come half way up the sides of the basin .
7/ Cook for 6-8 hrs . Allowing to cool and store iuntil required .
8/ Before serving cook for a further 2-3 hrs .
Low setting is not suitable for this recipe .
Hazelx

Coq au vin serves 4-6

4-6 chicken joints,
100g (4oz) bacon ,chopped.
100g (4oz ) mushrooms .
8-12 small onions .
25g ( 1oz)butter.25g (1 oz) flour .salt & pepper.
375 ml (3/4 pint red wine .i bouquet garni
turkey could be subsituted for chicken if you want .

Pre heat slow cooker -20 mins
1/ Melt butter in a large pan.
2/ Fry bacon then add mushrooms & onions fry for 5-10 mins lift out and drain .
3/Add chicken joints & cook for 10 mins until golden , remove & drain .
4/ Stir flour into the butterremaining in pan & cook for 3-4 mins , gradually add wine & bring to the boil, simmer until a smooth sauce .
5/Place chicken, veg, bacon, bouquet garni & sauce in slow cooker .
6/ Cover & cook for 3-4 hrs .
Discard bouquet garni before serving .
Hazelx