Slooooooooooow Cooker

[Morrigoon]

So now that I have a "real" slow cooker (eg: not the little $4 Walmart version but a serious 5.5-quart actual Crock Pot), I need recipes!

What I'm looking for though, are not necessarily the fancy things with a million ingredients. I'm looking mostly for basic methods and ways slow cookers are used. So that thing you cook where you don't measure anything but just sort of from memory toss a few things in and it always comes out great? That's what I'm looking for. I know at least a few of you out there have things you consider "super easy" where the "recipe" is something along the lines of "dump this and this together into the pot and turn it on".

Of course, if you're a Crock Pot enthusiast and have something great you're dying to share, no one's going to slap you silly with a large trout for posting it here

Let's hear it slow cookers! What do I simply HAVE to try?

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

What do I simply HAVE to try?

Stew. Call Susan for recipe (if you PM her, you may not get an answer until 2009)

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

I'm a big fan of Swedish Meatballs.

(Waits for Kevy to comment)

[Ghoulish Delight]

Pot Roast. Some combination of sauteed veggies, some sort of flavorful liquid (broths and wines work well), some sort of fatty, flavorful cut (I like chuck for a roast), low heat, lots of time. Voila.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

Okay, so I swung by the (Stater Bros.) meat counter today and asked the meat guy's advice on what kind of roast to cook in the crock pot. He told me chuck roast.

So... what shall I do with it, kids?

pssst...

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Pot Roast. Some combination of sauteed veggies, some sort of flavorful liquid (broths and wines work well), some sort of fatty, flavorful cut (I like chuck for a roast), low heat, lots of time. Voila.

A bit more detail....

Season the roast (salt, pepper, maybe some cumin), brown it in a very hot pan on all sides (just so the outside is brown). Put the meat aside and in the same pan, sautee some veggies (finely chopped carrots and onions and some garlic works well). While the pan is hot, add the liquid. I like using Merlot. Beef broth can work. Even a can of chopped tomatoes (if you do this, add some sugar). Add enough liquid that it'll cover a little more than half of the roast when it's in the crock. Stir it up to get all the good flavors off of the pan.

Throw the meat and the liquid into the crock pot, set it on a very low setting, and walk away for a few hours. Wouldn't hurt to turn the meat over about half way through.

[Not Afraid]

Chili.

Meat, kidney beans, tomatoes, onions, other shyt. yum.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

So now that I have a "real" slow cooker (eg: not the little $4 Walmart version but a serious 5.5-quart actual Crock Pot), I need recipes!

I second that! A crock pot was tops on my wife's Christmas list so we are now a crock pot family. Personally, I say if you can't cook bacon in it what's the point?

[Disneyphile]

Pot roast and two cans of cream of mushroom soup (plus any desired seasonings like garlic, etc.)

During the last half hour, add some corn starch to make the soup into gravy.

Serve with potatoes.

[JWBear]

Spaghetti sauce

[Kevy Baby]

Babies