Crock-Pots can be used for nearly any food.
Set it and forget it. The slogan chimes with the convenience that a Crock-Pot allows a home chef, but it leaves out the merits of flavor that the Crock-Pot creates when foods are slow cooked together in the same vessel. Meats become tender, vegetables become savory and sauces become more complex.
Meats
Large pieces of meat, such as pork ribs, beef roast, guinea hens or whole chickens can be roasted using Crock-Pots. Cover the meat with broth, wine or tomato puree and cook in the Crock-Pot for five to six hours. Fish can be cooked the same way, but reduce the cook time to two hours on a low setting.
Chili
Chili can be made with ground beef, pork, or shredded chicken or turkey. Begin by sauteing the meat, one diced onion and one diced red pepper in a skillet and cook until the meat is browned. Add this mixture to the Crock-Pot along with pinto, black or kidney beans, chili powder, two cloves of garlic, one can of crushed tomatoes, 2 cups of frozen corn and freshly cracked black pepper to the Crock-Pot. Simmer for up to four hours and serve each bowl of chili topped with sour cream, shredded cheese and fresh coriander. For vegetarian chili, leave out the meat or substitute with textured vegetable protein, which is a vegetable-based ground beef alternative.
Stew
Start by searing your favorite meat in a skillet. Add the meat to a Crock-Pot that has been lined with hearty vegetables, such as carrots, potatoes, onions, fennel or mushrooms. To create a sauce, pour 1 qt. of broth into the Crock-Pot and complement it with ingredients such as tomato paste, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper. To adapt the recipe to make beef Bourguignon, start with cubes of beef and add a burgundy wine to the sauce before putting the pot on the heat.
Rice
Measure two parts water for each part rice and cook on low heat for two and a half hours. Once the rice is finished cooking, turn off the heat. A sealed Crock-Pot can keep rice warm for up to three hours. For more flavorful rice, add herb butter to the recipe or replace half of the water with your favorite broth. This method also works to create full meals. If you use the same slow cooker to cook meat, fish, seafood and vegetables along with the rice.
Soup
Add the soup ingredients to the slow cooker first, then add water only to cover. If thinner soup is desired, add more liquid at the end of the cooking process. Dairy, such as milk or cream, is likely to break down during an extended time in the Crock-Pot and should only be added to the soup 15 minutes 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
Tags: along with, ground beef, slow cooker, that Crock-Pot, your favorite
