Tag: recipe

My Top 5: Slow Cooker Recipe Books for Christmas

If you’re looking to buy someone a Slow Cooker Recipe Book for Christmas, these are my all time favourite 5.  I have quite a collection of Slow Cooker Recipe books but I always find myself going back to these ones again and again.

Slow Cooker Recipe Books

1)      Ultimate Slow Cooker Book Over 100 simple, delicious recipes by Sara Lewis

2)      200 Slow Cooker Recipes by Sara Lewis

3)      200 More Slow Cooker Recipes by Sara Lewis

You’ll notice the first 3 are by the same author Sara Lewis, I would recommend absolutely any book written by her.  I’ve rarely had a duff recipe and she’s given me the confidence to go beyond Stews!

There is a little overlap between the first two, but if you’re buying a gift the first one is much nicer looking but has half the number of recipes.

4)      DK The Slow Cook Book by Heather Whinney

The reason I love this book is because for each recipe there is a slow cooker method and the traditional method.  So, if I forget to put food on in the morning, there is still time to rustle up dinner.  I also love the fact that it has a Recipe Chooser at the beginning of the book, choose the type of meal Vegetarian, Chicken, Pork etc and it lists, with pictures a selection of meals.

And finally,

5)      Soups for your Slow Cooker by Diana Peacock

We’ve tried quite a few recipes out of this book; Chinese Pork and Noodle, Mixed Fish and Vegetable and Chargrilled Red Pepper and Tomato.  What we found is that many of the recipes are more substantial than soups and are meal in themselves.

Happy Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

Slow Cooker Sunday: Mixed Fish and Vegetable Soup

Fish Soup

We’re very good at eating at least one portion of fish a week.  However, there are many benefits for having it twice a week.  This week we’ve had Fish soup at the beginning of the week and have a Fish Pie penciled in for Friday.

Slow Cooker Sunday: Mixed Fish and Vegetable Soup

Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Fish
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 3 hours
Total time: 3 hours 20 mins
Serves: 4
Three Fish and Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
  • 1 TBSP of vegetable oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 6 florets of broccoli, but into bite sized pieces
  • 3oog of
  • mixed white fish
  • cut into small pieces (we used hake, haddock and cod)
  • 1.3 litres of fish stock
  • 1 tsp of dried parsley
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 100g of frozen peas
  • 50g of fresh beans cut into 2cm pieces
  • 175 ml of dry white wine
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan.   Sauté the onions, celery, carrots and broccoli for 15-20 min.  Transfer to the slow cooker.
  2. Add the fish, stock and parsley.  Season with a bit of salt and pepper.
  3. Cover and cook on high for2.5-3 hours.  Add the peas, beans and wine halfway through the cooking time.
  4. Ladle into large soups bowls and serve with crusty bread
3.1.09

 

Disclosure:  Our Fish was compliments of DelishFish

 Now it’s over to you to share what you’ve had bubbling away in your slow cooker.  For a full list of recipes shared over the week pop over to our Pinterest Board.  Thanks for joining in.



Slow Cooker Chili with Chocolate

Slow Cooker ChiliI was given a bit of a challenge for tonight.  Thanks to the folks at Booths, I have been put up against Sally Whittle in a cooking competition to see who can produce the nicest meal that incorporates some of Saint Emillion Grand Cru Red Wine.  If you know us both you can see the funny side of this, we are great mums but not known for our domestic abilities.

At first this seemed like a very unfair challenge as I do a bit of slow cooking and I was under the impression that Sally couldn’t cook, but it now looks as though she can, but doesn’t purely down to being ridiculously busy.  She’s taken up the challenge with gusto, there are not many people in this world more competitive than I am but she is……according to her she is an AWESOME cook.  She’s also incredibly modest.

I’m not sure how to break this to her, but I didn’t find time to cook myself today and I have issues with sharing my wine with food.  But I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching laughing at her rolling up her sleeves and getting stuck in with zeal and I must admit I’ve been egging her on knowing I hadn’t cooked myself.  Yes, I am evil.  I was at work today so hubby did the cooking but it was one of my recipes, I literally laid everything out for him, including all the spices but I promise to enjoy a glass of red with it.

Does this mean I have to forfeit?

Pictures to follow

Slow Cooker Chili with Chocolate

Recipe Type: Slow Cooker Chili with Chocolate
Cuisine: Main
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
The temperature has dropped dramatically today and it only makes sense to have some chilli.  This recipe is full of aromatic spices, plus the secret ingredient of chocolate, which sounds odd but gives it a velvety texture.
Ingredients
  • 1 TBSP sunflower oil
  • 500g minced beef
  • 1 onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 400g chopped tomatoes
  • 410g kidney beans, rinsed
  • 2 TBSP dark muscovado sugar
  • 300ml Beef Stock
  • 25g Dark Chocolate
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Sour cream to serve
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the mince with the onion.  Add the garlic, spices and bay leaf and cook for another minute.  Mix in the tinned tomatoes, beans, sugar, stock, chocolate and season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
  2. Transfer it all to the slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
  3. Serve on a bed of basmati rice with a dollop of sour cream

Meal Planning Monday: 3 Dec 2012

Meal PlanningI hope you’ve all had a great weekend.  Sadly, ours isn’t finished yet as our daughter has the day off.  The Teachers have an Occasional Day.  If you’re wondering what one of those are, according to friends, it’s not an inset day dedicated to professional development but a day to do a bit of Christmas Shopping!!!  I have to say as a working mum I find it a bit frustrating but they do work hard.

On a positive, I managed to get the shopping in yesterday so I don’t have to do it this morning.

This week we will be having, all Slow Cooked of course:

Meatless Monday:   Chargrilled Red Pepper and Tomato Soup – any excuse to legitimately burn food.

Tuesday:  Lazy Cabbage Rolls

Wednesday:  Pork and Potato Hot Pot

Thursday:  Lebanese Meatballs – if I can remember to buy some minced lamb as Morrison’s was out.

Fish Friday:  Smoked Mackerel Kedgeree

Have a great week!

Slow Cooker Sunday: Converting Conventional Recipes to use in a Slow Cooker

Prior to having a Slow Cooker I really wasn’t confident in the kitchen.  Whenever I cooked it was like a meticulous science experiment, following recipes word for word and if I didn’t have an ingredient all hell would break loose as I wouldn’t know what to use instead.

However, the more and more I have used my slow cooker the more confident I’ve become.  I now feel comfortable converting some of my conventional recipes to use in slow cooker.  So, I thought I’d share some of my tips with you.

Below is a list of cooking times.  The good thing about slow cooking is that it is forgiving and if you leave it in for an extra hour or two it’s not a problem and sometimes leads to a better result (e.g melt in your mouth meat).

1)  If a recipe calls for liquid you’ll need to reduce the amount you use as the liquid will not evaporate whilst cooking.  I tend to reduce the amount of liquid by 125-250ml.  It’s always better to have less liquid and add more if needed, than having too much resulting in a watery dish.

2) However, if you are cooking rice, beans, or pasta, don’t reduce the liquid called for. You generally need twice as much liquid as product to cook these ingredients.

3) Conversely, if the recipe doesn’t call for any liquid I’d encourage you to add approx 125ml of stock, type depending on the dish.  If in doubt use vegetable stock.

4) Not all people agree but I always brown meet prior to putting in the slow cooker as this reduces the amount of fat swimming around the top.

5) If you’re adding tender vegetables such as Mange Tout, Broccoli or Peas, I tend to add them about 30 minutes before the end of cooking time or then end up overcooked.

6) If the recipe calls for lentils or beans, I tend to par boil for about 10 minutes or alternatively use tinned ones.

7) I know it’s hard to resist, but try not to take the lid off too often as all of the heat escapes and the slow cooker will have to get back up to temperature.  The beauty of slow cooking is that you don’t need to continually stir the contents.

Do you have any tips you’d like to share?  If so please do leave a comment. For more recipe inspiration click here.

Slow Cooker Sunday is all about sharing our favourite recipes.  Don’t forget they don’t have to be done in a Slow Cookers as long as its been slow cooked.