General Chat

Hazel - mine's one of the £10 Tesco slow cookers - they're £15 now!

Mine was a £1 from a boot sale. best £1 i ever spent.

I also got my bread maker for £2.

Have alot of them coming up on freecycle as well

There went up quick in tesco. i think asda were doing them as well at the prise. But even at £15 still a good buy.

Hazelx

Yes Ann.start off on low, then high......for a couple of hours then turn it back down when veg goes in
well diced veg cooks ok from frozen, usually leave it till a couple of hours before its due to be finished before dropping the veg in....I like the veg NOT mushy.......overall cooking time about 6 hours..

dumplings, I make in batches and freeze them...........about 20 mm - 25 mm dia.about 10 go in a stew

ours was £10 from tesco last year...
Bob

Made a gorgeous rice pudding in mine yesterday, going to try a bread and butter pudding next week.

Boracic lint at the moment so am trying to use up all of my store cupboard ingrediants.

Usually use it just for stews and casseroles etc but now going for old fashioned puddings.

I put my veges in with the meat at the start- layering it and then give it a stir later on. The only think I do later in the last hour or so is thicken the casserole or maybe add a scone mixture on top like dumplings.

It makes macaroni cheese and lasagne really well.

It can also be great to take to parties - everyone arrives with something that has to go in the oven and the oven is too full so take along the slow cooker or crockpot and plug it in to keep warm till supper time and it is a serving dish as well.

Persey

I have steam bags so I put the chopped veg in one and pop it in the microwave for one and a half mins, then transfer to the slow cooker, works every time with very little effort. a nice way to do a ham is if it is salty either soak overnight or boil in water for a few mins, I did a unsmoked one, so just put it in, added unsweetened apple juice about halfway up the ham, set the cooker on high for an hour then on low it took about 8 hours in all, although you could put it in over night, we like it later cold with salad or chips.... it is so good.....

Jean x

Many thanks for advice and recipes. Keep coming please:-) BCXX

Can someone post a recipe for beef stew and dumplings (step by step please) would love to cook one for Ed when he gets home but he only likes plain cooking and oxo is a big no for him.
Thanks in advance.

Brought mine in Asda for £14.99

I have mine on this morning - chicken a la casa
2 chicken breasts
chopped bacon
chicken cupa soup
crushed garlic
chopped onions and mushrooms
salt and ground black pepper
Might add chicken oxo cube at end when I thicken
also do beef in red wine using stewing steak - just chuck in whatever is around mushrooms, onions etc. and as much red wine to cover meat
also turns out lovely
also beef in ale - replace wine with a bottle of beer - I usually make a pie with this.
From the above you will realise I am a chucker - chuck this and that together - always seems to work - well up until now it has.
Happy cooking
Love Mary xx

I haven't tried this one as I usually do as Susan and throw it in but it looks good.
Bergundy beef stew with horseradish dumplings
Serves 4 (obviously half ingredients for two, if you only have a small cooker this will be too much it is for a standard size cooker)
cooking time 8.5 - 10 hours

2 tbsps Olive oil
1.5 lb braising beef fat trimmed off and cubed
i large chopped onion
2-3 garlic cloves chopped
2tbsps plain flour
half pint bergundy red wine (I guess any will do)
half pint beef stock
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 bay leaves
5oz baby carrots halved
8oz leeks trimmed cleaned and thinly sliced
salt & pepper


Dumplings
5oz SR flour
3oz shredded suet
2tsp creamed horseradish
3tblsp chopped chives
5-7 tbsps water
salt & pepper.

Pre hear slow cooker if necessary (see manufacturers instructions) (I don't).
Heat oil in frying pan, add beef a few cubes at a time until all pieces have been added.brown, add onion and fry for 5 mins stirring.

Stir in garlic & flour then gradually mix in the wine and stock. Add tomato puree & bay leaves and season. bring to boil then transfer mixture to the slow cooker. Cover with lid and cook on low for 7-9 hours.

Stir the stew then add the carrots and cook on high for 30 - 45 mins. Meanwhile make the dumplings. Mix the flour, suet , horseradish, chives, salt and pepper in a bowl, stir in enough of the water to make a soft but nor sticky dough. With floured hands shape into 8 balls

Stir leeks into stew then add dumplings, replace lid and cook for another 30 - 45 mins until dumplings are light and fluffy.

Remember to remove bay leaves before serving.



I guess you could play around with ingredients a bit, leaving out garlic and/or bay leaves if you don't like them or not available. If I were doing it I would add mushrooms and maybe tinned tomatoes (half can) But you will evolve your own recipes as you go along. If you don't like wine in cooking I would increase the stock a bit and add a tine of chopped tomatoes. (But then it would not be bergundy stew of course Lol!!!!!

Any ideas for cooking a small joint of beef in the slow cooker.
Without very much gravy. Any other veg will do.
Sue B (as there is another Sue on here.)

How big is the joint Sue

We do a pork joint about two or tree pounds in weight, just a tiny bit of water so it will stay moist , doit on high for 1/2 hour then low for six or seven hrs, you can seal it in a frying pan beforehand if you want, we dont bother though,.....same with beef....

Jean x

Chicken too, Just Jean. Used a slow cooker a lot when we were running a market stall, prepared the previous evening, put on when we went out at 6.30, and nice and quick to serve when we got home at 6pm. Added bonus was that the kitchen was warm!

Great recipes and tips., thank you:-) Have bought the Argos (cheapest) slow cooker as it got great reviews....am about to turn into a domestic goddess!! eeeeekkkkk!!!! lol BCXX

Made a lovely Leek & Bacon pudding yesterday in mine.

Wash and slice 1 or 2 leeks into rings(about 1/2 cm thick)
Cut 6 slices of bacon into pieces.
Fry both gently for about 5 - 10 mins until leeks soften. Season and leave to cool a little.
Meanwhile make some suet pastry-
1 lb self raising flour
8 oz shredded suet
salt & pepper
approx 3/4 pt water to bind.

Grease a 2 pt pudding basin & line with 2/3 to 3/4 of the suet pastry.
Fill with leek and bacon mixture & add 2 tablespoons of water. Make a lid with the remaining pastry & seal well. Tie a tin foil lid over the top.
Put basin in slow cooker and pour warm water round about 1/2 way up basin. Cook on low for about 7 and a 1/2 hours.

I bought my first slow cooker(then called a crockpot)in 1978.It was a Prestige and a really big circumference pot that I loved.It lasted for years until it got a crack in the base.I always put root veg,e.g.carrots, raw on the base of the pot before putting the seared meat on top.I wouldn't be without it and for things such as brisket of beef and braising steak is wonderful.I have the recipe book still and will put some recipes on here tomorrow.

Brenda x

http://www.slowcookerrecipes.org.uk/

I have one buried somewhere at my own house, but I seem to remember breaking the lid in half, it was a brown earthenware type one so if anyone has a spare lid hanging about......

I think I will get o.h. to look at the ones in argos, we might be going there tomorrow or Tuesday as the ice seems to be melting away now and it's rainy so not so cold. If we get it before the weather gets bad again we can get some meat in and lots of veg and have some nice warming casseroles etc.

Lizx

I make great mushy peas in mine,,Just a packet of Batchelors dried peas .saoked for the required time and then thrown in with not much water.
Its also geat for keeping your mulled wine mulling,,,!!