Showing posts with label slow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slow. Show all posts
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Halloween Slow Cooker Recipes
Happy Halloween! Put your slow cooker to good use this weekend to keep all the goblins in your life happy and well-fed.
Witchs Brew. Green, slimy, sweet, and sour. The star anise look like tiny little spiders--fun!
Caramel Apples. YUM. I made these for the first time on my daughters 7th birthday. Now shes 10, and her LITTLE sister is 7. Im not okay with this.
Autumn Sausage Casserole. A bowl full of fall. Great dinner to fill the belly before heading out for the night.
Chocolate and Marshmallow Fondue. Skip the waxy supermarket Halloween candy and make the good stuff.
Jamaican Pumpkin Soup. A rich, velvety, creamy soup-- restaurant quality and super delicious. You decide the amount of cream to add at the table.
Mulled Wine. Warm up after a chilly night out with a hot mug of mulled wine. The perfect by-the-fire adult drink.
Pizza Soup. The kids have requested this for dinner this Halloween--liquid pizza. If you normally order pizza delivery before heading out, make this instead to satisfy your pepperoni craving.
Pumpkin Spice Latte. The one and only!
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds in the Slow Cooker. Yes, you can roast pumpkin seeds in the crockpot. But that doesnt mean you should. Its kind of a pain.
Orange Glazed Beets. Food that bleeds! Fantastic for Halloween--- if youre a beet fan, youll like these an awful lot. If you arent a beet fan, you probably never will be. Thats okay. Im not either.
Stewed Tomatoes. They look like baby animal hearts, which is great for a spooky dinner, but taste A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. ---even if you arent a big tomato fan.
Have a wonderful Halloween weekend, and enjoy your trick-or-treating! Viva la Crocktober!
Monday, April 6, 2015
Slow Cooker Little Smokies Appetizer Recipe s
Its a 2 for 1 day! I made two different types of Little Smokies a little bit ago to see which ones the kids liked better. I made one batch the super easy way that our family has made for parties numerous times, and I made a slightly-more-difficult (and sophisticated? can Little Smokies ever be considered sophisticated?) version to do a blind taste test.
The results? It was a tie. It was me and Adam and the two girls and it was a complete split down the middle. One kid and one adult on each side.
Oh! and since I made them both a few weeks ago and am evidently getting really really old, I have no idea which finish picture goes with which stack of ingredients.
grr.
So! I think we should let the internet decide...
1) which photo do you think goes with which smokies? and 2) if you do make these, which do you and your family prefer?
:-)
Grape Jelly and Chili Sauce Little Smokies
The Ingredients
serves 8
1 pound Little Smokies sausage
1 (12-ounce) bottle chili sauce (housed by the ketchup)
1 (18-ounce) jar grape jelly
The Directions.
Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Put the smokies into the slow cooker, and pour in the sauces. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, or high for 2 or until the smokies are heated through. Serve out of the crock with toothpicks.
Big Barbecue Little Smokies
The Ingredients
serves 8
1 pound Little Smokies sausage
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon gluten free Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup barbecue sauce (check for gluten!)
The Directions.
Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Dump it all in! Stir well and cook on low for 4 hours, or high for about 2. Make sure the smokies are hot throughout and serve out of the crock with toothpicks.
alrighty then! My verdict is mixed, so let me know yours when you have the opportunity.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Slow Cooker Roasted Wasabi Almonds Recipe
Sometimes you feel like a nut...
sometimes you dont want an ordinary one...
Hmm. It doesnt really have the same ring now, does it?
oh well. I was at a farmers market over the summer and got handed a cellophane bag full of roasted almonds sprinkled with wasabi powder.
It I was a normal person, I would have eaten the nuts, enjoyed them, and moved on. Instead, I immediately thought: oooh. I need to make these in the crockpot.
so I did!
The Ingredients.
serves 10
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat free are gluten free)
1 pound raw almonds
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons wasabi powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
The Directions.
Use a 2-quart slow cooker (you can use a big one, but stay close by and stir often to ward off possible burning). In a bowl, whisk together the egg white, water, and soy sauce until its foamy. Toss the almonds in this mixture until they are wet. Set aside.
In a zippered plastic bag, combine the wasabi powder, kosher salt, and cornstarch. Drain any additional liquid from the almonds, and then dump the wet almonds into your zippered bag. Close well and shake until the almonds are nicely coated.
Pour these coated almonds into your slow cooker and cover. Cook on low for 2 to 4 hours, or until toasty (the almonds will brown a bit and youll definitely smell them. They will NOT be crunchy, but dont worry, they will be later!)
Spread out a layer of foil or parchment paper onto the countertop and dump out the nuts. Let the almonds dry completely before munching. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
The Verdict.
I love how nuts roast so beautifully in the cooker---dont worry if some are more brown than others---thats what makes them homemade! The flavor of the wasabi is subtle, and not spicy at all. The kids gobbled up their portions and I needed to take them away before they ate the ones I wanted to give away. If youd prefer a stronger (spicier) flavor, you can sprinkle additional wasabi on top of your roasted nuts.
I was certain wasabi powder was going to cost a million dollars (or something close to it) but I was happily surprised to find it for $3.99 in the Asian cooking aisle of our normal grocery store. If you have trouble finding it, try a specialty market or order it off the internet (I love shopping in my jammies!).
Friday, March 27, 2015
Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon Recipe
This is an easy copy-cat (or sort of copy-cat) of Julia Childs famous Beef Bourguignon. I cut the butter completely, and simplified the spices, but the flavor is all there.
And, I have STILL not seen the Julie and Julia movie. I was all set to go with a group of friends, but then got another wave of all-day-I dont-know-why-they-call-it-morning-sickness and found myself glued to the couch on our planned night out. And then school started, and soccer started, and PTA started, and life got a bit complicated.
I will see it, though. I promise.
The Ingredients.
serves 6
3 pounds beef roast, or beef stew meat (I used a chuck roast I had in the freezer)
6 slices bacon--no need to cook (I used turkey)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced in rings
1 cup carrots (chopped or baby, your choice)
4 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1 tablespoon herbs de provence (heres a recipe to make your own)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste (not pictured, oops!)
2 cups red wine (you can use non-alcoholic if you wish)
The Directions.
Use a 6 quart slow cooker. In the bottom of your stoneware, smear around the olive oil. Then lay down 3 slices of bacon. Add sliced onion and garlic. Put the meat into the pot on top of the onion and garlic, and sprinkle on dried spices and herbs. Toss the meat to distribute the spices to all sides. Add tomato paste. Lay the other 3 slices of bacon on top of the meat, and throw in the carrots. Pour wine over the whole thing.
Cover and let cook on low for 8-9 hours, high for 4-5, or until meat has reached desired tenderness. If you are using a roast, you may want to flip the meat about an hour before serving so more liquid is absorbed into the meat. You can also cut the meat into chunks and return to the pot, if you would like more moisture to absorb.
Serve with whipped mashed potatoes, and a ladle full of crock juices.
mmm.
The Verdict.
We all really liked this a lot. The kids werent crazy about the carrots, because they took on the wine flavor and were a bit tart, but Adam and I loved them like that. The meat had lots of flavor, and I was quite pleased with the amount of juice left in the slow cooker---it made an excellent gravy. I didnt try to thicken it up on the stove top with cornstarch or flour, but if you enjoy making gravy, Id imagine it would be wonderful.
This is a company-worthy meal.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Slow Cooker Recipe for Pork Sirloin Roast with Spicy Peanut Sauce
 |
| A craving for peanut butter led to this recipe for Slow Cooker Pork Sirloin Roast with Spicy Peanut Sauce. |
(When I realized I had completely ignored National Peanut Butter Day, I decided to feature this Slow Cooker Pork Sirloin Roast with Spicy Peanut Sauce for A Month of Daily Phase One Recipes, and we can just enjoy our peanut butter fixation a day later. Yum, peanut butter! Just don't eat nuts for a snack on the day you make this if you're seriously doing Phase One.)
It's true that I never liked peanut butter sandwiches when I was a kid (and still don't) but I love recipes using peanut butter, especially if the recipe has a spicy Asian twist to it. A few weeks ago I had a pork sirloin roast I wanted to cook, I had a lot of work to do so I thought about using the slow cooker, and I was craving peanut butter. That combination of circumstances led to this recipe for Slow Cooker Pork Sirloin Roast with Spicy Peanut Sauce. I enjoyed a couple of slices of the roast pork for dinner, and the next day I diced up some of the leftover meat and ate it inside lettuce leaves, and I thought it was great both ways.
It's true that I never liked peanut butter sandwiches when I was a kid (and still don't) but I love recipes using peanut butter, especially if the recipe has a spicy Asian twist to it. A few weeks ago I had a pork sirloin roast I wanted to cook, I had a lot of work to do so I thought about using the slow cooker, and I was craving peanut butter. That combination of circumstances led to this recipe for Slow Cooker Pork Sirloin Roast with Spicy Peanut Sauce. I enjoyed a couple of slices of the roast pork for dinner, and the next day I diced up some of the leftover meat and ate it inside lettuce leaves, and I thought it was great both ways.
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