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I don't really like cooking. So, instead of cooking many times, I like to do a big batch of food in my slow cooker. However, I only really know one recipe that tastes like anything: a Moroccan style dish, consisting of ~a kilo of chuck steak, sweet potato, carrots, and onion plus stock cubes, raisins, dried apricots, cinnamon and turmeric, then chick peas added at the end plus orange lentils cooked in the slow-cooker juice + Thai fish sauce. All the other stuff I've tried has just been bland. That's been chuck steak, carrots, celery, onion, parsnip, swede, stock cubes and orange lentils cooked in the juice + fish sauce. It doesn't really taste like much, though. It seems to me like the sweet potato, dried apricot, and raisins are the major factors in making my stew actually taste like anything at all. So, any ideas for other slow-cooker recipes that aren't bland?
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Sep 30, 2017 13:56
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 17:50 |
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Slow cookers have a mixed reputation here. They're very handy if you want to start something in morning before going to work and be able to eat in the evening with very little effort. If you're going to be home, however, you will generally get better results with a dutch oven. The reason for this is moisture - a slow cooker will retain any liquids that are extracted from your foods, but not release them - it doesn't get hot enough. Your oven (with a dutch oven instead of the slow cooker) will. It will also cook faster (roughly twice as fast, depending on what temp you set your oven to) - however because you need to leave your oven on, it's generally only viable if you're going to be home. That said, there are a few techniques that can improve your slow cooker results:
Add any starchy veggies or solid (read: lots of water) veggies partway through rather than in the beginning. They'll retain their texture better this way, you'll wind up with a less soupy result, and overall an improved dish. Use fresh herbs! Thyme and rosemary can both work well, as will bay leaves. Mix up the liquids you add - and don't add too much. Remember, anything in there that releases liquid will simply be adding liquid to the overall dish. Try adding a dark beer instead of some or all of your stock cubes or bouillon. Wine also works, but can more easily overpower the rest of the flavors - if you use wine, add just some and use bouillon for the rest. If you DO wind up with too much liquid, one option is to ladle some into a sauce pan and reduce it. This will concentrate the flavors and you can either add it back in or reduce it further, add herbs or spices and use it as a sauce. I've worked from home forever - as a result, I cannot remember the last time I used my slow cooker. I'm not even sure where it is, honestly, so I can't really offer any recipes. If you're doing this on the weekends while at home and have a dutch oven, try cooking in that instead - your cook time will be halved and you'll generally get better results, with no additional cleanup or fuss. Otherwise, give those suggestions a try. Edit: Alternatively, here's the previous crock pot thread: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3769621 Shooting Blanks fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Sep 30, 2017 |
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Sep 30, 2017 22:39
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