Glad you all enjoyed The Roast Chicken recipe. To me that’s some serious comfort food 
Gonna try Pony Grandma’s split-pea soup next week… already have the peas!
[QUOTE=Fractious Fox;5269170]
Thanks!
Yeah, I know the recipes on the website are free, but my dad isn’t likely to EVER visit that website, even if it makes sense to do so.
Not Your Mother’s Crock Pot was one of the books I liked. Thanks![/QUOTE]
Instead of getting him a book, what about creating one with recipes you find online? I have a 3 ring binder with page protectors and categories for different things we’ve tried or plan to, and toss whatever didn’t make the cut. Most pages have notes about modifications I’ve made or who in the family really like/hated it. You could do something more fancy as a gift (maybe a scrap book or photo album?) and continue to add things you think he’d like in the future.
Eatingwell.com has a lot of easy, tasty, healthy recipes and I’ve been able to tweak many of them for the crock pot. In fact, I see very similar recipes on 365 so she must be doing the same thing.
Last week I made a super easy and delicious roast.
4 pound beef sirloin tip (I couldn’t find that so I used whatever was on sale and not marbled with fat)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper
1 teaspoon crushed, dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried mint
Recipe said to spread the mustard on first but I mixed everything together, smeared it on and added an extra pinch of the dry ingredients on top. Fat side should be up if there is one.
I’ve made this in the oven several times but I’m going to try it in the crock pot today.
[QUOTE=ChocoMare;5269838]
Glad you all enjoyed The Roast Chicken recipe. To me that’s some serious comfort food :D[/QUOTE]
Hey – thanks a bunch for posting it. I couldn’t remember who did.
[QUOTE=CrazyGuineaPigLady;5270013]
Instead of getting him a book, what about creating one with recipes you find online? I have a 3 ring binder with page protectors and categories for different things we’ve tried or plan to, and toss whatever didn’t make the cut[/QUOTE]
Ditto this! I do the same thing. It’s cheaper, you end up with a better and more personalized cookbook, and the page protectors keep things splatter-proof.
CrazyGuineaPig and Jn4Jenny, thanks for the suggestion! That would be a great idea. I think I’m going to do it, or at least a version of it. I think I might get him the cookbook which explains the basics, and then a binder that he can add recipes I email to him (I live far away) to.
I just want him to be healthy, and I really think that doing something that points him in this direction is a good call, and will compliment his other gifts nicely. He’s already outdone me on gifts though… I’m pretty sure he is giving me the Charles Owen Ultralite vest, woo! Go Dad! I’m 27, but he still likes to feel like he’s watching out for me. 
Along this line, veal/barley soup. Comforting, simple, uncomplicated but rich tasting, goes with a loaf of rustic bread and butter. Just the thing to come home to. You’d be surprised at the flavor, lighter than beef barely soup, more ‘french’
cubed veal
1/4 cup butter or olive oil
kitchen magic
vegetable stock (Knorr cubes)
onions sliced up for soup
1 cup sherry
IMPORTANT Herb: Wild Bay Myrtle leaves, dried for the winter. See PS at the bottom.
Alternate Herb: Rosemary
cube the veal and roll it in a bit of gravy master or kitchen magic, not alot, just a bit
saute the veal in one quarter cup of butter to brown it a bit; use olive oil instead if you like
throw it into the pot with the onions, water, sherry, dried bay myrtle leaves (crushed or ground in spice grinder) and cubes of vegetable boullion. use one cube of knorr boullion per 2 cups water. You can pretty much fill up the crock pot with water including the sherry. Add several handfulls of dried barley. Maybe three, two might be better. Barley really expands, and you want this to be soup, not a “rice-type” of dish.
High for 3 hours, medium for 5 hours
Avoid the temptation to add garlic; this is a hearty while delicate soup which is quickly overwhelmed with with garlic or any more herbs than the oinion, savory herb, and sherry.
Also avoid using chicken or beef boullion. Those flavors are too strong, and overwhelm the flavors the soup will create on its own with the few more simple ingredients here.
Avoid using cooking sherry - this is very salty and unsuitable for this meal. Often an inexpensive but heary sherry is wonderful. Yes, you can try a tawny port, but not a red.
Add a bit of fresh sherry to the soup to finish off, when you get home, if you want, but not necessary. If fresh sherry is not added, pour a glass to accompany the meal.
Dish up in a favorite soup bowl, and hunch over the steaming bowl with a spoon in one hand and a hunk of crusty bread and butter in the other, a tumbler of sherry at the ready, reading COTH in the warm kitchen with the dog thumping his tail under the table. This way, you can see, well, you can notice, the kids and husband tumble through the door as they come in, and wave your arm in the general direction of the soup and bread, without having to get up or take your eyes off the horse threads.
Remember that alcohol is cooked off during the process, so there isn’t anything in appropriate for the children, just a hint of the flavor.
PS - In late august, bay myrtle, or wax myrtle as some know it, is fragrant and full of oils - look up the plant online or in a book - crush the leaves beginning in late summer and wait until you find the savory aroma irrisistable. Pick thick stems of it and hang it in the kitchen for several weeks. Use this for suffings, soups, roasts, anything savory. The leaves and stems have a “juniper” flavor, not as bitter as the itialian type of bay leaf, much more New England in character. Really wonderful to have, and often found in many parts of the country along the edges of fields or open places, with beech, witch hazel, birch sapling, cedars, blueberry. The bay myrtle, or wax myrtlel will be the first bush on the edge of the cleared space. This is the same myrtle as Wax myrtle, which has been used for bayberry candles. The berries for the candles can be collected at the same time. Don’w wait until a near-frost night comes, once it gets cold at night, the oils in the leaves dry up and the flavor is gone, and you ahve to wait until next year to get some. The oils aren’t rich in the plant until end of summer. Keep checking during the summer to see.
If you have people in and out of the house through out the day like I do (DH’s employees), I sometimes pop in a gallon of cider w/cinnamon sticks in the crock pot. MMMMM…mulled cider!
Nice one, Shine.
Not edible, but I keep a pot of water with orange peels, cinamon stick, cloves, and wax myrtle leaves, berries, or sticks, simmering on the stove. Just to cover the smell of wet dog, and riding boots, you see. Allows me to say yes if the landlord wants to stop in to fix the window or something.
I make BBQ crockpot meatballs -they’re really easy.
Take a bag of frozen pre-made meatballs, I like the italian kind but you can use regular. Put in like 1-1.5c ketchup. Like 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, a bit of worcestershire sauce, 2 tbs melted butter, slice a vidalia onion and put it in there, salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste. Pour a can of beer over the whole thing. I usually use natty light, but any yard beer works. I wouldn’t use dark beer though. Low for 8 hours, and I serve over egg noodles or hoagie rolls or whatever I have on hand. I love to make this at night for early tailgates, take it in the crock pot sleeve with the lid on and it stays warm for quite some time.
The other thing I do, not in the crock pot, but I make chicken casserole and put it in at like 200 (350 for 45 mins if you’re not at the barn) with foil on top the whole time I’m gone. Take about 2 lbs of pulled chicken (the easiest thing to do is use leftovers or get a rotisserie chicken from the store). Mix 1 can cream of chicken soup and 1 16oz sour cream, salt and pepper to taste. Pour over chicken and mix around. Melt a stick of butter, crush a sleeve of crackers - usually saltines but Ritz are yummy if you want the added fat - mix the 2 and top the casserole. When you get home, jack the oven up to 450 and put it under the hot element without the tin foil to brown the top. This can be really yummy low-fat too if you use low-fat sour cream and low-fat soup. But don’t use fat-free sour cream… gives it a tang that is unpleasant. You can add steamed veggies to this before cooking too. I usually serve it over rice. The greatest thing is you can make it in advance, freeze it, and then pop it in for a few hours on low heat and it’s ready just like the crock pot.
Or over egg noodles - yum.
I’ve been looking for something to serve for a little Christmas get-together and this sounds like it would be really good with side salads. Thanks - gonna give this a try!
For those of you who like sweet & sour recipes - I searched high and low for a recipe that had easily obtainable ingredients and found this. You can add mushrooms, any color bell peppers and any oriental additions to this base according to your taste:
4 Tbsp. Butter, melted
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 cloves garlic (I buy already minced in a jar)
Salt/Pepper to taste
Dash Cayenne Pepper
1.5 cups chicken broth
1 can pineapple tidbits (undrained)
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1 thin sliced bell pepper (any color)
4 oz. thin spaghetti (broken into bite size pieces)
Combine first 9 ingredients, bring to a boil on stove, add spaghetti and boil just until slightly softened. Transfer to a crockpot, add pineapple, peppers & onion. Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours until onions are translucent and peppers are very tender. Makes 6 svgs.
I don’t have a lot of time for lunch as I’m in the barn daily, all day long. I come in, microwave a serving of the sweet & sour soup, add a cheese biscuit also heated in microwave, and it’s ready in just a minute. With the excessive cold we’ve had here in GA the last week, this has really warmed me up considerably (and made me sleepy ;)).
I never got around to making the Turkish chicken yesterday but I did give one of those slow cooker packets in the spice aisle a try for chicken noodle soup. My husband thought it was from Panera or the deli so I guess I’ll be picking up more. :lol:
Didn’t someone earlier ask how to make ribs less greasy?
I use a rub (also from the spice aisle), stick them in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, flip and cook for another 20. In the meantime I turn the crockpot on high, throw in half a small bottle of BBQ sauce and some water (maybe 1/2 cup), stir and add enough water to the rest of the bottle that it can be shaken and poured easily. Once the ribs are “browned” I transfer them to the crockpot, dump the rest of the BBQ sauce on top and turn it to low for 4-6 hours.
Diluting the sauce with water seems to be the key and there’s definitely no loss of flavor.
Making Freebird’s Boston Butt as we speak
Got stuff to make one of the taco soups too
ham bean and sausage soup
here is one from my recipe box for those wanting ones without a “cream of…” soup.
3 cans of beans I used one each of black beans, black eyed peas and pintos
6 cups of water
1/2 cup diced ham or 1 ham hock
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1/4 c diced onion
1/2 c diced carrots
1 clove crushed garlic (or 1/8 tsp dry)
1 bay leaf
3/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp marjoram
1 Tb Worchstershire sauce
1/2 tsp basil
1 jar of tomato pasta sauce
1 link of sausage/out of casing in small chunks: you can adjust what kind to taste (how spicy you like it)…ranging from sweet Italian to hot Italian to andoullie sausage for those that like real kick!
Toss all in Crockpot/simmer on low 8 hours. Hubby didn’t think he would like pasta sauce in his bean and ham soup peering in the pot…but decided he was wrong. I humorously reminded him when I made it tonight (to 2 bowls up for dinner) that I HAD made it before and he liked it the last time too!
Today I’m making Slow Cooker Texas Pulled Pork, recipe from allrecipies.com…great to come home to after spending cold hours at the barn!!!
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Pepper Steak:
2 lbs. beef steak, cut into 2" cubes (or strips)
garlic powder to taste
3 tablespoons veg. oil
1 beef bouillon cube
1/4 c. hot water
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 large bell peppers rough chopped (or strips)
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, w/ juice
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 teas. white sugar
1 teas. salt
Sprinkle beef w/ garlic powder the brown in oil - transfer to crock pot
Mix bullion cube in hot water, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved. Pour mixture over meat. Stir in onion, peppers, tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar and salt.
Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4.
This can basically be used with any cut of beef. I like to use a green and red pepper for variation I also tend to add more onion and peppers but this is the general recipe.
Great over rice!
Hey all… I got a new one I tried on Friday. YUMMO!
CROCK POT FRENCH DIP
–4 pounds rump roast
–1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
–1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
–1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
–6 French rolls
–2 Tablespoons butter
Trim excess fat from the rump roast, and place in a slow cooker. Add the beef broth, onion soup and beer. Cook on Low setting for 7 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Split French rolls, and spread with butter. Bake 10 minutes, or until heated through.
Slice the meat on the diagonal, and place on the rolls. Serve the sauce in individual bowls for dipping.
I’ve made chicken in the crock pot twice since this thread started and today it’s pinto beans (1 lb dried beans, ham hock, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp garlic powser, water). DH will make corn bread in the cast iron skillet later to go with the beans
The chicken with rosemary and thyme is great to put into chicken salad with mayo, pepper, sweet relish, cranberry ‘Craisins’ and walnuts. (Recipe reverse engineered from some fancy deli place where I paid $7 for a sandwich and said, we can make this cheaper…)
I’ll have to talk DH out of the green chile pork recipe he does in the crockpot, but after all the cheese and corn tortillas that get added it does not go in the ‘good for you’ column.
and somtimes there is good ole nuttin’ fancy:
last night I did corned beef. All that went in the the am is the corned beef, water and spice pack that comes with it. No extra stuff needed for a tender corned beed. Served w/ sauerkraut and 'taters that I threw in the the oven on the way out to feed the horses. Leftovers only need rye bread swiss cheese and russian dressing to make reubens the next night. Russian dressing is getting really hard to find though…can either subsitute 1000 Island or make in 2 seconds from scratch. The from scratch is best made ahead though so the flavors can meld…so do it when you throw the beef in the CP in the am!!
1/2 cup mayo
1.5 tsp onion
1/2 tsp horseradish
1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp parsley
1.5 TB chili sauce
1.5 tsp ketchup
in a pinch (like last night!) when I didn’t have chili sauce I subsituted pickle relish and it came out fine
