What's in Your Crock Pot

[carvedog]

A brisket caught my eye this weekend and cooked it up in the crock pot

Rubbed the brisket with a spice rub and seared it on the grill over high heat for a nice crust. Took it off the grill and coated it generously with brown sugar and mustard. Rendered some bacon and sweated mirepoix in the bacon fat, deglazed with some beer and added all of it to the crock pot. Set it to low for 9 hours. Removed the brisket, strained out the mirepoix and reduced the leftover juices. Served it with some horseradish taters.

Reading this I actually salivated. Like almost dripped onto my keyboard and had to slurp it back in. Not to be gross, sorry if I was.
Damn that sounds good.

[present tense]

crockpot is empty right now, but tomorrow will have some stewing steak, taters, onions, carrots, mushrooms, peas, beans, corn, beef stock, spices to taste, stewed tomatoes, and whatever else i can round up from the pantry. looking forward to some fresh crockpot vegetable soup.

[GBB]

Just made conundrum's pork chimi recipe and it was DELICIOUS!

Thanks mang!

[Theodore]

Empty and clean now... yesterday it had some month old nacho crap in it. After soaking it for that long, it kinda had a chocolately smell to it.

[G]

Just wanna say that this recipe ROCKS! I think this may be my new all time favorite yummy food.

I threw in some coriander leaf and a handful of cashew nuts (for the last couple hours of cooking). Fucking delicious!

I do a yummy Peanut stew... veggie if you want it or add a bunch of browned chicken bits:

1 can black beans (drained)
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can coconut milk
1 cup peanut butter
some chopped up green peppers
some chopped up carrots
some chopped up onions
couple-a-cloves of galric
cyanne pepper (1-2 tsp)
1 tsp cinnemin
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp chilli pepper
1 package chicken broth / boulion cube or some such

I think thats it, sick it in the pot, turn it on and go skiing.

be sure there is enough liquid to cover everything... usually not a problem with the coconut milk... but add water if you need to.

have a yummy ski season!!

[skiguide]

keepin' it simple today. tossed in crushed & diced tomatoes, plain canned tomato sauce & paste, garlic, oregano, basil, chopped onions & green peppers, will toss in mushrooms later, along with the homemade meatballs I made last night.

[vinzclortho]

I am using my crock pot for the first time today!! I'm really excited and nervous at this point. It's 11:00 am here on the east coast and I just threw in the following (no recipe, no measurements...just relying on years of cooking experience and sheer stupidity)

2 1/2 pound pot roast cut up into smaller pieces
diced carrots
sliced onion
sliced celery
diced stewed tomatos (plus the juice from the can they came in)
chicken broth
cabernet sauvignon
3 cloves of garlic
I have leeks soaking to get rid of the dirt then they go in
salt and pepper


I threw all that in all mixed up which left about 1/2" or so to the top

threw 'er on low and figuring I'll check throughout the day with a final "eat time" of around 7:00 pm or so.


any tips or advice on what I"m doing here?

yay crock pots!

[Tippster]

You forgot the Bay Leaves.

Next time brown the meat first.

[vinzclortho]

You forgot the Bay Leaves.

Next time brown the meat first.

my leg is still broken so shopping is left up to my friend Kristen. Bay leaves next time.

She did buy fresh rosemary and thyme but the little booklet that came with the crock pot said to put fresh herbs in near the end of cooking as the flavor will diminish if cooked too long.

brown the meat first....hadn't thought of that Tipp. I guess I could yank the meat out of the crock pot and brown it up right now (50 minutes in). will that help?

thanks Tipp, choodemang.

[Yeti]

Eh, I'd say brown it next time. Idea is to sear the outside to caramelize some of the sugars and seal in the juicy goodness. Now that it's been soaking, I'd say stick with your plan.

I agree that many herbs are best put in at the end of the cooking, but for some (e.g. bay leaves) you want a long simmer time to extract the flavor.

[Grange]

I've got a beef arm roast thawing in the fridge that will be going in the crock pot with 2 bay leaves, one small/medium onion, two cloves of garlic, touch of salt, and cracked pepper tomorrow morning. Carrots will be tossed in about 45 minutes before I pull it out for dinner.

[Tippster]

No liquid?

[Dantheman]

Idea is to sear the outside to caramelize some of the sugars and seal in the juicy goodness.

No.

It's a common misconception, but trust me, searing does nothing to "seal in juices". 100% false.

What searing does do is caramelize sugars and starches and break down proteins via the Maillard Reaction, which creates mouth watering flavor due to Umami.

[P_McPoser]

Didn't read any of the thread.

My wife made a heavenly concoction involving Chili, chopped up hotdogs, cheese soup, and nacho cheese.

It was awesome, I still have some at work.

Today she is cooking something with steak strips and mushroom soup.

[P_McPoser]

Ok, here's the hot dog thing recipe. I know this sounds white trash, but FKNA was it good.
1 pound weiners
2 15 oz cans chili
1 onion finely chopped
1 10 oz can cheddar cheese soup
1 10 oz can fiesta nacho cheese soup
1 7 oz can chopped drained green chillies
Mix all but the weiners over heat enough to mix well, then put in pot and Cook on low on 1.5 to 2 hours.


Eat with toritlla or corn chips, or a fork.
Fucking FANTASTIC

[vinzclortho]

wow.

where has the Crock Pot BEEN all my life?!?!? Dinner last night was amazing. A couple friends stopped by during the day just to say hello and each one said they were immediately hit by a wall of deliciousness that they smelled upon entering my apartment. So they all are going to buy Crock Pots.

Now the only problem is I am afraid that I am turning to Gollum and the insanely delicious food I have made and will make in the future with the Crock Pot is The Precious.

We wants it.

We needs it.

Filthy everyone else wants to takes it from us.

It's our's it is.

Musn't share the precious num nums with anyone.


I'm hoping that this will pass and some day I will willingly and happily share my Crock Potty goodness with friends and family but right now I'm deep in a world of selfishly chowing the deliciousness I have made.

[mock vomit]

...due to Umami.

Well... YOUR mami wears combat boots!

No.

It's a common misconception, but trust me, searing does nothing to "seal in juices". 100% false.

What searing does do is caramelize sugars and starches and break down proteins via the Maillard Reaction, which creates mouth watering flavor due to Umami.

Anyway, first I have to admit I'm moving back from a mostly atheist position towards an agnostic one regards the "seals in juices" argument... But I've always felt a big part of the goodness from "caramelizing" beef is what is left on the pan bottom. When you are doing pot roast (cross thread promo - pot roasts need luv too) it's easy since the whole thing stays cooking in the same pot, but when crock potting I'd assume/recommend you'd also want to deglaze the fry pan with some liquid and scrape that pan stuck goodness into the crock pot... just a thought.

...Now the only problem is I am afraid that I am turning to Gollum and the insanely delicious food I have made and will make in the future with the Crock Pot is The Precious.

We wants it.

We needs it.

Filthy everyone else wants to takes it from us.

It's our's it is.

Musn't share the precious num nums with anyone...

LOL

[vinzclortho]

Okay next question....I have a bunch of venison steaks that I'm thawing out. I've never cooked venison before. My friend said I need to soak them in milk for 24 hours for some reason. I have no idea what I'm doing but they seem like the next likely candidates for my crock pot.

Anything special I need to know about cooking venison in a crock pot?

Do I need to do this milk soak first for some reason?

Do I need to follow Tippster's advice and brown the meat first?

Recipes?

[Grange]

No liquid?

I'll either put in a little water or beef broth. Just enough to keep it from burning. I have to wait until tomorrow as the meat wasn't completely thawed this morning.

[MakersTeleMark]

Okay next question....I have a bunch of venison steaks that I'm thawing out. I've never cooked venison before. My friend said I need to soak them in milk for 24 hours for some reason. I have no idea what I'm doing but they seem like the next likely candidates for my crock pot.

Anything special I need to know about cooking venison in a crock pot?

Do I need to do this milk soak first for some reason?

Do I need to follow Tippster's advice and brown the meat first?

Recipes?

I'd just cube it and throw it in the crock with a can or two of Guinness, a bay leaf, s&P, an onion, and some beef bullion and maybe a tomato or two- you can add some other veggies later- potatoes, parsnips, carrots. I eat a ton of venison and I've never once soaked it in milk.

[rideit]

Not exactly in a crock-pot, but I just made 60 pounds of brisket, slow roasted at 325 for four hours...yum....

[sconniestyle]

Okay next question....I have a bunch of venison steaks that I'm thawing out. I've never cooked venison before. My friend said I need to soak them in milk for 24 hours for some reason. I have no idea what I'm doing but they seem like the next likely candidates for my crock pot.

Anything special I need to know about cooking venison in a crock pot?

Do I need to do this milk soak first for some reason?

Do I need to follow Tippster's advice and brown the meat first?

Recipes?

i've never soaked venison in milk either. why did he say to do this?

easy venison recepie:

it's easies if you have a thick steak, but good no matter what it looks like
cut up venison into "chunks" (you are going to wrap them in bacon, so big enough for bacon to cover the circumfrence)
marinate venison in soy sauce
wrap in bacon
grill
eat

super easy, eh?

[vinzclortho]

I think the idea behind the "venison in milk" thing was to keep it from being chewy or stringy or something.

I ended up making a pretty tasty venison chili although the meat was sorta "mealy". Like when an apple gets mealy. I can't stand that...though this was tasty I wasn't that into the texture of the meat. Is venison usually like that?

I think my next project is a brisket which I'll cook tomorrow maybe.



just heard this while watching the simpsons:
"Burt Reynolds apologized to the Pope and agreed to replace the windshield."
"Burt Reynolds; class act."

[GiBo]

No.

It's a common misconception, but trust me, searing does nothing to "seal in juices". 100% false.

What searing does do is caramelize sugars and starches and break down proteins via the Maillard Reaction, which creates mouth watering flavor due to Umami.

As far as "seal in juices", I agree if you're crocking it, it's submersed in hot liquid for hours, so I'm not sure you're keeping in any juices by searing- although I do it anyway. But when you're grilling, starting your meat at high heat to sear it and then cooking it lower to finish it off sure seems to hold the juicies in better.

[vinzclortho]

I am boldly going where I have never gone before. Unlike Capt. Picard (better officer than Kirk, less space crotch diseases) I am nervous but optimistic!

Dry Rub:
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 bay leaf, crushed

4 pounds beef brisket, trimmed
1 1/2 cups beef stock

plus two sliced onions

just threw 'er in the crockpot, 9:08 AM EST.


I'll let cha know how it goes. I am aware of the irony of "dry rub" cooking in a crock pot with beef stock but I figure what the hell...it's all in there and in 8or 9 hours it will all be delicious beefy goodness.