Join the Slow Cooker Odyssey with Carrington Fox

After a bit of begging, pleading, and subtle bribery I finally convinced my family to try the Posole recipe in last week. And oh man was their minds blown. Eyebrows were raised about homing. Doubts were expressed about topping any soup with cabbage and radishes. But boy was it good. I tossed in chopitle in adobo for a voter version of posole rojo. It was a delicious soup that hit all my families taste buds and surprisingly just right for the cold and sore throat that has my voice off somewhere else. You were so right about it being like chicken soup because the combination of spices and textures are hitting all “that feels so good” buttons despite feeling horrible. Thank you for sharing this recipe. It’s definitely a do-over.

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I am thawing the pork right now. Can’t wait to make this.

Turns out I had chunks of frozen pork butt, cans of green chiles, onions, quinoa, and frozen turkey stock. I had to go to the supermarket for tomatillos. I processed fresh tomatillos into tomatillo slurry. I did not brown the pork,it was still only half thawed when I stuck it in the pot. So, I added some kitchen bouquet to make up for not browning. (this little cheat is one that no one will ever suspect, unless they see the bottle.) We will be having this with unsalted tortilla chips, so the sodium will be well under the limit. I can’t wait for supper.

So glad to know I’m not the last woman on earth without a slow cooker.

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I just got an Instant Pot!!! Anyone else have one?

After running the recommended test after it arrived yesterday, I hard-cooked some eggs. Had two of them for breakfast this morning. Just like they say, they peeled beautifully! Didn’t lose any of the white!

I also like to make bone broth. That’s going to be my other big use for it. 2 hours, instead of all day on the stove or 24 hours in a crockpot.

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dI have always had a pressure cooker. My current cooker is electric, and I love her. Her name is R2D2. She is called to duty on an almost daily basis, whether to cook the potatoes (6 min on high) or the red lentils (4 min), or the pork chop suey (15 min). I found her at a flea market for $3! That is the equivalent of Free. I love my step-up to an electric cooker, after a lifetime with a stovetop model. It takes charge, and calls you when it is done. Brilliant!

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This is really pretty! I have never seen sweet potatoes this color.

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I had HEARD of them, so when I was shopping for sweet potatoes and saw the purple ones I just had to get them :slight_smile:

I never had a pressure cooker before! Not even in childhood. My husband said his mom & grandma used to cook with one all the time, but I never saw either of them use one after I joined the family. My mom didn’t learn to cook until after she got married so I guess it wasn’t on her radar, or she was scared of the kind available when she got married :smiley:

I got myself one for a New Year’s gift, so I’m just starting out. My biggest learning to date has been when someone says it cooks a pot roast in 30 minutes, that doesn’t include time for getting to pressure, releasing pressure, getting back up to pressure after adding the potatoes, etc. Great chicken stock. Also made chili with dried beans, everything added together. Wonderful. I look forward to hearing more.

I don’t care for recipes that have me stopping and starting my pressure cooker. For instance: If I am making chop suey, I will usually cook the rice separately in the rice cooker. It is done at the same time as the pressure cooker entree. Just because you COULD cook it all in one pot doesn’t mean you have to. I like every appliance to do the thing it does best, and is easiest for me.

I made chili tonight. First actual meal I made in my Instant Pot. Usually I add canned pinto beans. I like that I can use dried beans! I always have the dried beans on hand but not canned… always before I would have to plan ahead to get the beans in order to have chili. And it tasted just like my normal chili. :smiley:

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I haven’t tried rice in it. I might in the summer when I don’t like to turn the oven on, which is how I cook rice. Thanks!

Sounds wonderful! I could not manage without my crock pot.

Hi,
Love my new Cuisinart 3-in-1 Multicooker! Poaching fish in the cooker is amazing!
The sweet potato soup recipe was a hit, so thanks for the easy start. :blush:

Having fun with America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook. The spiced tomato soup recipe thickened with bread is awesome.

There’s nothing better than knitting while the aroma of soup fills the air!
Knit on!

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I’ve made a crustless pumpkin pie in my crockpot before. So really it was a pumpkin custard, but so good!

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This custard plan sounds genius. I suspect it could dazzle a dinner table. Thank you. I am on it!

I’m a little late to the party, but I’ve got a pretty good tip: After you get all the food out, set it to soak with a dryer sheet in it. The dryer sheet helps the food release from the ceramic, & you can give it a light scrub with it, too. I’ve found the older &/or cheaper crocks tend to need at least 2 soaks/washes. I use dryer sheets from the dollar store, because I don’t use any on my clothes (the smells are too overwhelming)
*edited to add- dry roasted corned beef in the slow cooker is AMAZING! ‘A Year of Slow Cooking’ has a honey dijon recipe that will knock your socks off! I’ve found that it really needs the full ten hour cook though

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I’ve used my slow cooker regularly (never for cake though - will have to try that next time we have a cake-related occasion!). What I like best is converting complicated roast/braising recipes into simple one-pot meals.

For example, tonight’s dinner features a local grass-fed cut of beef and a recipe from the Good Meat book by Deborah Krasner (amazing reference and recipes). However, like most recipes of this type, the instructions would have me dirtying up multiple pots and pans - marinate this, brown that, reduce sauce, cook the vegetables separately, blah, blah, blah. My method: flop the meat, broth, wine, veggies and spices into the slow cooker, set on high, and walk away. Flip the meat over after about 90 minutes, then continue cooking until done, removing the lid as needed to let the sauce thicken. Less prep, less standing over the stove, and a lot less cleanup.

This simplifying of recipes feeds into the self care thing too. Do not feel guilty or worried that you’re going to have a sub-par dinner by simplifying the cooking method. You do not need to spend 3 hours preparing and then cleaning up after dinner when you could spend 30 minutes and get the same result.

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I am with Sarah Scully in the ‘keep it simple’ school. I have stopped browning meat that is going in the crockpot. To replace the caramel one gets from browning, I add a couple teaspoons of gravy master or kitchen magic. This is an effective replacement for the meat fond you get from browning., and no browning pan to clean. None of my ‘customers’ has ever been able to tell whether the meat was browned or not.
I am here tonight reviewing the ingredients for the posole, as I found tomatilllos again. And there are some country spareribs in the freezer. Crockpot will be busy tomorrow.

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