It's Slow-Cooker Time


 
Joan said:
Rich, THANK YOU!!!!!! Printed and filed in "Make Soon" folder. Especially really like the wing recipe. I love balsamic vinegar!!!!
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I have a bunch of newer recipes, 223 slow cooker recipes and 196 soup recipes on my computer that I haven't tried yet. As time permits, I'll post some more. I just went through all my categories of recipes in my PC, all 2949 of them just to see how many I really had.
 
OK Rich, you started this. Don't blame me. :giggle:

I just counted. I now have 244 binders, ranging from 1" to 4", full of recipes. I have no idea how many recipes and no I am not going to count them. lol. And probably just as many cookbooks and no I am not counting them. lol.
 
Okay....You win! All mine are Word Documents and each file has a total of the number of items in that file. It also allows me to list them by name, and date and I can also search by ingredient. By searching by name or ingredient it will search in all the files, so it makes easy to find a specific recipe.
 
:giggle: I wouldn't say "I won". You seem to have it much easier to find anything than I do.

When I first started out with this "hobby", I would make a copy of a recipe for most of the ingredients and file that copy in it's own binder. Like now I have 2 binders full to search for a recipe if I wanted to use GINGER, for example. lol (of course I really don't mind since I love cooking with ginger:giggle:).
 
OK, back to slow-cooking. Found this recipe that DH made some time ago. Hmm, wonder why he gave it an EXCELLANT!!! rating? :giggle:

Greek Stuffed Meatballs

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup seasoned fine dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped pimiento stuffed green olives
1/4 cup finely chopped black olives
1/4 cup snipped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. ground lamb
6 oz. Kasseri or feta cheese, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 recipe Tomato Sauce (posted at bottom)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Place first 8 ingredients in a large bowl. Add beef and lamb and mix well.
2. For each meatball, shape some of the meat mixture into a ball around a cheese cube, being sure to completely enclose cheese. Arrange meatballs in a single layer in a 15x10x1" baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Drain off fat.
3. Transfer meatballs to a 4 to 5 qt. slow cooker. Pour Tomato Sauce over meatballs; gently toss to coat.
4. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 3 to 4 hours or on high heat setting for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Serve immediately or keep warm, covered, on warm or low heat setting for up to 2 hours. Makes 42 servings.

Tomato Sauce: In a medium saucepan heat 1 TB of olive oil over medium heat. Add 1/2 cup chopped onion (1 med.) add 1 clove garlic, minced; cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in 1 8oz. can tomato sauce; 1/4 cup dry red wine or beef broth; 1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed; and 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon. Heat through.

Source: Slow Cooker Favorites Vol. 3
 
Here's another balsamic recipe you might like.

Balsamic Pork Tenderloin Recipe​



Ingredients

1 2-3 pound boneless pork tenderloin
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce or coconut aminos
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic chopped

Instructions

Place pork tenderloin into the insert of your slow cooker. In a 2-cup measuring cup, mix together all remaining ingredients. Pour over pork and set the timer for your slow cooker. (6-8 hours on Low)
Once pork tenderloin has cooked, remove from slow cooker with tongs into a serving dish. Break apart lightly with two forks and then ladle about ¼ – ½ cup of gravy over pork tenderloin.

Store remaining gravy in an airtight container in the refrigerator for another use.
 
Brian Thomas said:
Oh has anyone used the slow cooker option on their Instant Pot? I've read pretty mixed reviews on that option and haven't used it. My thought is: Have you ever seen a slow-cooker with a metal liner?
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More, the highest setting on my IP Viva, takes forever to cook. Even longer than low on most slow cookers. I use the sous vide program and set the temperature to 205 F instead. I'm at ~4K feet, so that's a simmer.
 
I've used my IP for a slow cooker a few times and it did okay. The biggest drawback is it's not big enough for some of the things I wanted to do.
Amazon had a black Friday sale on a digital slow cooker with a timer and auto warm option for 50% off so I grabbed one of those. My 30 year old crock pot is starting to run hot even on the low setting, so the new one will replace it.
 
They were outstanding. Not a real recipe really. I season generously with S&P, brown them well in a little olive oil. Just enough to keep them from sticking initially. Once they come out I leave the fat in the pan, drop in onion, carrots, and celery. Brown that off a little. Now deglaze with a little liquid of choice. Wine, beer, in this case I used about 1/4 cup chicken stock and a half tsp of Better than Boullioun. Put the ribs back in on top of the veg, stick in a moderate oven (290 IIRC) and don't touch them for 3 or 4 hours. Meat comes out soft and tender, veg is tasty and gravy nice on mashed taters or drop biscuits. Excellent EZ meal.
 
LMichaels said:
They were outstanding. Not a real recipe really. I season generously with S&P, brown them well in a little olive oil. Just enough to keep them from sticking initially. Once they come out I leave the fat in the pan, drop in onion, carrots, and celery. Brown that off a little. Now deglaze with a little liquid of choice. Wine, beer, in this case I used about 1/4 cup chicken stock and a half tsp of Better than Boullioun. Put the ribs back in on top of the veg, stick in a moderate oven (290 IIRC) and don't touch them for 3 or 4 hours. Meat comes out soft and tender, veg is tasty and gravy nice on mashed taters or drop biscuits. Excellent EZ meal.
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Thanks, Larry. Making that tonight.
 
Joan said:
View attachment 12055

DH likes the idea of using a slow cooker also. He has tonights dinner started already and now he can spend as much time as he needs out in the garage working on the generator for the house. And now the house is starting to smell good. Here is the recipe for tonights dinner. Of course I will let you know what we think of it. (maybe tonight or tomorrow morning, lol)

Slow-Cooker Balsamic Short Ribs

6 bone-in beef short ribs (about 3 1/4 lbs.)
3/4 tsp. salt, divided
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
2 TB. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, sliced
2 TB. tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
2 TB. cornstarch
1/4 cup water
Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

1. Sprinkle ribs with 1/2 tsp. salt and pepper. Heat 1 TB. oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the ribs and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to a 6 qt. or larger slow cooker.
2. Add the remaining 1 TB. oil and onion to the pan; cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, garlic and thyme; cook stirring, for 1 minute. Add vinegar and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until the liquid is mostly reduced, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker and add broth. Cover and cook on High for 4 hrs. or Low for 8 hrs.
3. Transfer the ribs to a serving platter. Transfer the liquid to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Whisk cornstarch and water in a small bowl and add to the boiling liquid. Cook, whisking, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/4 tsp. salt. Serve the ribs with the gravy and sprinkled with parsley, if desired.

Source: "Eating Well" mag. - Nov. 2018
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We have not used our Slow-Cooker for quite a while. So, checked out the recipes we made in the slow cooker, and found a few to go in the "Make Soon" folder. Of course this had to be the first one. 🥰
 
Joan said:
We have not used our Slow-Cooker for quite a while. So, checked out the recipes we made in the slow cooker, and found a few to go in the "Make Soon" folder. Of course this had to be the first one. 🥰
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In my mind I can smell this cooking. (y):love:
 
Here is one we like. The only change I made was to use bone in chicken thighs.

Chicken with Apple Chardonnay Gravy
​
Ingredients
6 chicken leg quarters
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 large sweet apples, peeled and cut into wedges
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 cup chardonnay
1 envelope brown gravy mix
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon each minced fresh oregano, rosemary and thyme
Hot mashed potatoes

Directions

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Place half of the chicken in a 5-qt. slow cooker. In a bowl, combine the apples, onion and celery; spoon half of the mixture over chicken. Repeat layers.
In the same bowl, whisk wine, gravy mix, garlic and herbs until blended; pour over top. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken is tender.
Remove chicken to a serving platter; keep warm. Cool apple mixture slightly; skim fat. In a blender, cover and process apple mixture in batches until smooth. Transfer to a saucepan and heat through over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Serve with chicken and mashed potatoes.
 
Last night, for dinner, we had "Salsa Guava Pot Roast Tacos. DH liked the idea of using the slow cooker and not having to worry about dinner all day. lol He first made them 5 years ago and forgot how good they were. This time he gave them between a Very Good and a Delicious rating. 🥰
 
What is the difference between a slow cooker, insta-pot & a crock pot?
We have a crock pot that I take out during the winter to make carnitas or spaghetti sauce. It has 2 settings - low & high; we learned the hard way years ago that you DO NOT cook a meal on low.
 
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