I bought a slow cooker today ...

I think I'd let my budget do the "dictating", osso!

Hello all,
I can't remember if I posted this already or not. But I found a qick and easy way to make a fairly elegant turkey in the slow cooker.

This will sound strange but it's wonderful (my nephew made me send this recipe to his mother and when he visits I have to make it for him....it's so simple and easy it makes me feel lazy)

One 5-7 pound Turkey Breast
package of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix
One can of whole cranberries
one quarter C of orange juice

Mix the soup mix, whole cranberries and orange juice in a bowl then pour it over the (rinsed) Turkey Breast in the Slow Cooker. Set temp to low and check occassionally how it is coming along. The cranberries, onion soup and orange jice make a remarkable gravy, really savory. Once the Turkey is cooked thru (4 to 5 hours depending on your cooker) remove the Breast and thicken the sauce with your choice of cornstarch (my preference) or flour.

My husband doesn't like the taste of orange in meat, so sometimes I mix the onion soup mix with applesauce and white grape juice, This also works well if the cranberry idea turns you off.

The receipe can be found in a neat cook book called "Fix it and forget it" available on Amazon.

Gosh, that's certainly an unusual combination of goodies in there, glitter bag.

OK, when I get my act together (a very unusual sunny, blowy winter day here - gonna get those sheets washed & on the clothesline! ) I'm going to cook a recipe called "lamb shanks in an oriental braise". It's from a cookbook called Slow Food Bible, but instead of cooking it on the stove-top, I'm going to do it in the slow cooker - after browning the shanks, then the onions in a big pan first. I'll let you know how it turns out later. Much later!

It worked out really well! Very nice with mashed potatoes & some steamed green beens.

Here's the recipe, if anyone's interested. It's actually a slow-cooked oven recipe, but I made a few small adjustments for the slow cooker.:

Lamb shanks in an oriental braise

You'll need:

* 2 tablespoons plain flour
* salt & freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
* 4 lamb shanks, French trimmed (up to you, of course)
* 2 tablespoons peanut oil
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed
* 1 small fresh red chilli, deseeded, finely sliced
* 4 cups chicken stock
* 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
* 3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
* 1 tablespoon medium-hot chilli sauce
* 1 teaspoon hoisin sauce
* 2 star anise
* 1 cinnamon stick
(* creamy mashed potatoes to serve )

Then:

* (if you're doing it the oven way) Preheat oven to 180 C

* Mix together flour, salt, pepper & five spice powder. Pat the lamb dry then dust with seasoned flour. (I did this in a plastic bag - saved making a mess.)

* Heat oil in a flameproof casserole dish over medium heat. Add the shanks & saute for 6 - 7 minutes till brown all over, then set aside.

* Add onion, garlic & chilli to the casserole & cook, stirring, for a few minutes - till the onions start to soften.

* Add stock, vinegar, sauces & spices & stir, then return the lamb to the casserole. Bring to the boil Then place in pre-heated oven for 1 1/2 hours. When it is cooked the meat should be falling from the bone. Remove dish from the oven & transfer the shanks to a plate & keep warm.

* Strain the liquid into a small saucepan & cook over high heat for several minutes until thickened & reduced.

To serve:

Put a layer of creamy mash on each plate, top with lamb shank & pour sauce over.

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Adjusting to the slow cooker, I put the shanks into the slow cooker after browning in my big saute pan. Then poured the prepared liquid over them & cooked for something like 5 hours till the meat was falling off the bone. (You'll have to adjust the time to your own slow cooker - mine seems a bit "faster" than most recipes require.) Then made the sauce in the same way as the recipe. Easy!

Thanks for posting my chili recipe. I'm not sure what Shelby's packet contains...chili powder and cumin I suppose...but I'll find out.

BBQ pulled pork is a favorite here in the South and I thought it would be a perfect project for the slow cooker. Again, this is a bachelor recipe so small batches are the rule.

Most people use a pork shoulder or butt, but I went for the lean pork loin chops(bone in)...2 of them...about 1 pound total....slow cooked for 4 hours.
Then you drain half the liquid and add about a cup of your fave BBQ sauce...slow cook one more hour and serve on your favorite rolls.

Oh, and in Carolina they serve the pulled pork with a bit of cole slaw on top:

* 1 small head cabbage
* 1/4 cup cider vinegar
* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
* 1 teaspoon salt

I add finely chopped carrot

bon appetit

More, more, more of these "bachelor recipes", says she .... while still having 2 more lamb shanks to go! I mean, they were very nice, but .....

I know what you mean...I just can't stand leftovers anymore.

I made some pulled pork in the slow cooker a few days ago. I tweaked a recipe and it ended up unexpectedly delicious.

Pork butt roast
1/4 c Worchester sauce
recipe called for 1/2 c brown sugar (I cut it down to 1/4 c)
recipe called for a couple of cloves of garlic slivered and stuffed into the roast (I put in several slivered cloves)
recipe called for 1 c apple juice ( I replaced it with a can of whole cranberry sauce and 1/2 cup of pomegranate juice and a 1/4 c of red wine)

I stuffed the roast with garlic slivers and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight. Next morning I coated it with the Worchester sauce and brown sugar and let it sit out on the counter for an hour to take the chill off the meat before placing it in the slow cooker with the cranberry sauce, juice and red wine. Then cooked it on high for about 5 hours until the meat fell off the bone.

Pulled apart the pork and served it and the sauce over smashed potatoes.

Had enough pork left over for some sandwiches the next day.

http://able2know.org/topic/68503-5#post-2231098

one of the best lamb recipes out there (thanks again, tai chi)

sounds great b-net

I checked this one out, on ehBeth's recommendation, Tai.

And it does look good! I mean, for starter, all that garlic! Yes!!!!

I will definitely give this one a go ... but after I have recovered from many days of lamb shanks!

Guess who bought a baby slow cooker today, ehBeth? I saw it (on special!), thought of you & onions .... & something just made me buy it! I had no choice! So now I'm going to make a version of your "onion jam".

Any other ideas, folks, of other wonderful things I might make in this teensy weensy slow cooker?

OK, so I chopped up a number of brown onions finely, weeping a lot ... added some olive oil & Baslamic vinegar & let em rip for hours. Then the taste test: rather boring, I'm afraid.
So I've added the remains of a bottle of Italian sugo (not that much, really) & a sprinkle of chili flakes & a small pinch of salt .... Ah, much better!
Who knows what else will end up in there before I'm finished?

Onions certain take a long time to soften completely, don't they?

I've been thinking about what else I can cook in this teensy weensy little slow cooker. I think my next experiment might involve a red cabbage & apple concoction. Any other suggestions are most welcome!
Think small!

A few ideas: baked apple stuffed with rasins & a bit of sugar. Ever had baked apples done in the slow cooker? Yum!

.. perhaps a big stuffed pepper? Probably delicious cooked very slowly.

Some great ideas here - I'm a new slow cooker owner.

Deb offered me some chicken soup because I was sick. Decided to nip out and buy a cooker and make some. Bloody lovely - quite Asian-y - lots of ginger, garlic, star anise, peppercorns, fresh coriander (cilanto for Murricans) - and some assorted veggies and lumps of chicken.
You can just feel it doing you good (just in from voting - it's a horrible windy day here)

You'll never regret buying one, margo.

I'm looking forward to hearing about your adventures with it. I've had a wonderful time, myself.

Chicken and vegetable hot pot.

Yum.

This is one of your favourites, Caroline?