reciepe suggestions?

[Sarlon]

ok guys I'm in a dinner bind again for my gaming group. Last time I got some GREAT suggestions and want to test the waters again.

Looking for easy crockpot reciepes to feed about 6 to 8 large hungry people.

[lupo pazzesco]

Here is where I ask what KINDS of food you want. Soups? Stews? Dips? Roasts?

I'm all about the crockpot, and have been told my spinach dip is better than Friday's, but it'd be nice to know what kinds of dishes you're looking for

[Sarlon]

soups, stews, not so much roasts as that is what I normally tend to do. Its been cold and yicky here lately, and I wanted to do something warm and hearty...if that makes sense.

[lupo pazzesco]

perfect sense. lemme dig, I'll post a few recipes, I'm particularly fond of.

Er...quick question. Are you against alcohol in your cooking? I tend to toss wine in with my stews and dishes in the crockpot. Adds a much richer flavor.

[Kittish]

Kitchen Sink Soup/Stew:

This isn't so much of a recipe as it is throw everything in the pot and let it simmer for a while.

Start with 1 to 4 pounds of meat (I usually use a combination of beef, pork, and sausage). Quickly sear the meat over high heat to brown it and dump into the crockpot. While the pan you browned the meat in is still VERY hot, dump a cup or two of stock or water (or wine if you'll be using that- thanks for the reminder, Lupo!) into the pan to deglaze it, then dump that liquid into the crockpot.

Cut some carrots, potatoes, and celery into chunks, dump into the crockpot. Chop up an onion and some garlic and dump them in. If you can get tomatoes that taste decent, chop up a few of those and toss em in. I like using roma tomatoes for cooking, even grocery store ones usually have at least some flavor to them, unlike the big tasteless slicing tomatoes. Zucchini can work well, just make sure the ones you use aren't too big (the middle will sog out really bad and the seeds are annoying if the zuccini is too big). Green beans, corn, any other veggies you like can be tossed in. I prefer using fresh veggies, but if they're not available frozen works well also.

Add a cup or so of rice. Add a cup or so of lentils. If you have time, soak a cup or so of beans the day before and add those.

Add water or stock to cover everything plus another inch or two. Bring to a boil (crockpot on high) then switch it to low and let it go for a... while. At this point add any herbs or spices. I like adding wakame that's been broken into small pieces (instead of salt), fresh ground black pepper, basil, oregano, dried roasted red peppers (mild ones) chopped up fine, a little bit of rosemary and sage. Some red wine or cooking sherry will add richness (thanks again Lupo!). A couple of dashes of chili powder or ground red pepper if you want to add a bit of zing. Onion flakes (they taste distinctly different from fresh onion).

After a couple of hours start sampling and adjusting the seasonings to your taste. This recipe works better if you can let it simmer all day. It works BEST if you can make it a day or two before hand and let it simmer when you're home and stick it in the fridge when you're not.

If you want to thicken it from a soup to more of a stew like texture, you can dissolve some cornstarch in cold water and add that in, or use flour (careful with flour tho, easy to get lumps) or use xanthan gum (a seaweed derived thickener- careful with this one, it doesn't take a lot to thicken and if you use too much your dish will take on a sort of slimy texture).

A word of warning- this soup is all too likely to outgrow whatever pot you start it in. I almost always wound up with two large pots of soup doing this until I got a nice big stockpot to make it in. It freezes well if you have leftovers.

[Kiwi]

Chili!!!!!

clicky!

[draggar]

3 pounds of kielbasa
24 ounce jar of grape jelly
36 ounces of ketchup (or BBQ sauce for a spicy version)


Put the ketchup / BBQ sauce and the jelly in the crock - turn onto medium heat and stir until it is all melted together into a "glaze" like liquid.

While it is heating up - cut the kielbasa into 1-2 inch thick pieces - add when the glaze is done. Stir to make sure all the kielbasa has the sauce on it - heat until the kielbasa is hot.

You can usually have this done in less than 45 minutes.

[edible_hat]

When it gets cold I make soup...

-put 1 liter of stock and 1 liter of water in a stockpot
-finely chop whatever vegetables and meat you want in there (cook the meat first, unless it's something like Spam)
-add more water to cover the solids
-add seasonings, a couple of instant soup mixes, etc.
-boil it until you think it's done (at least an hour)

[Eric the Grey]

Depending on your, and your gaming groups sensitivities, you can have the recipe I'm making for Easter Sunday:

Highlight if you dare. Seriously, if you have soft feelings for furry animals being cooked and eaten, don't look.

RABBIT STEW
3 Rabbits cut into pieces
1 c Flour
1/4 c Olive oil
1/2 c Onions, chopped
2 Garlic clove, minced
1/4 c Wine, sherry, dry
1 c Chicken broth
1 c Game marinade, strained
1 t Thyme
1 t Sage
1 t Cayenne pepper
1/4 c Parsley, minced
Salt & pepper to taste

Dust pieces in flour and shake off excess. Brown in olive oil on all sides in a large black iron pot (My prejudice). Remove and keep warm. Add onions and garlic to same oil; cook until clear, not brown. Drain off excess oil and replace rabbit. Pour on sherry. Add broth and strained marinade. Bring to boil then reduce heat to simmer, covered, for 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

I made this last year and it went over very well; well enough to be requested as an encore this year.


Eric the Grey

[BookstoreEscapee]

soups, stews, not so much roasts as that is what I normally tend to do. Its been cold and yicky here lately, and I wanted to do something warm and hearty...if that makes sense.

Sounds like beef stew weather...

I haven't had a good beef stew in forever...

[Sarlon]

Eric...your a EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL MAN!!!!!111!1!!!

~is now offically craving rabbit, and lamb~

[lupo pazzesco]

I know I sent these to Sarlon already, but figured I'd share them here, too...


Provencal beef stew (about 6 servings, 1-1.5 cups each) Doubling it should make a lot of stew

olive oil (about 2 tsp)
1 boneless chuck roast (about 1-2 lbs) cubed (about 1 inch cubes)
kosher salt
cracked black pepper
flour
2-3 onions, cut into wedges
about 8 crushed garlic cloves
1/4-1/3 cup dry red wine
1 can beef broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
3 cups sliced zucchini
3 cups sliced carrots

Heat oil in a large skillet, medium high heat. Sprinkle with half the salk and pepper. dredge in the flour and add the beef to the pan. Saute until brown on all sides, 1-2 minutes. Place the beef in the crockpot.

Add the onions and garlic to the pan, saute for about 5 minutes. Add the wine, and scrape the pan to loosen the brown bits. Place the mixture in the slow cooker

Add the broth, tomato paste, bay leaves, thyme and tomatoes to the crockpot. Top with the zucchini and carrots. Cover and cook on low 8 hours, or until the beef is tender. season with a little more salt and pepper. discard bay leaves and thyme, and serve.




Chicken thighs in a tomato sauce with olives. (Not a stew, per se, but very hearty, and tasty with some nice, crusty bread.) Makes about 6 servings, 2 chicken thighs each, covered in a little sauce.

12 chicken thighs, skinned
kosher salt
cracked black pepper
olive oil (about 1-2 tsp)
1.5 tbsp minced garlic
1/4-1/3 cup dry white wine
3 tbsp tomato paste
2-3 tsp crushed red pepper
2 cans diced tomatoes, drained
1/4-1/3 cup sliced kalamata olives
fresh parsley

sprinkle chicken with about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet and add chicken to pan. cook about 2 minutes on each side until browned. Place chicken in slow cooker

Add garlic to pan and saute 30 seconds, stirring the whole time. Add wine, and scrape pan to loosen the browned bits. Place mixtre in slow cooker.

add tomato paste, red pepper and tomates. Cover and cook on high, 4 hours. Season with a little more salt and pepper, olives and parsley.





chicken enchilada soup. (This is REALLY good with some baked corn tortilla strips, and garnished with some cheese) and this actually has measurements, since it's a recipe given to me! (serves about 8 standard bowls of soup, not huge servings, but decent sized.)

1 lb shredded cooked chicken
1 (15 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
1 (10 oz) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 oz) can chopped green chilies
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 can chicken broth
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 oz) pkg frozen corn
7 corn tortillas
vegetable oil

Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles,
and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and
season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in
corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or
on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup. Garnish with a sprinkle of cheese (I go with cheddar or colby jack) and maybe avacado or a splash of lime juice.

[LingualMonkey]

Apricot Chicken Barbecue

Needed:
1 crockpot
2-3 pounds boneless chicken bits
1 jar apricot jelly
1 bottle barbecue sauce
As much garlic as you can handle
buns

Thaw chicken. Dump bottle of barbecue sauce into crockpot. Add apricot jelly. Add garlic. Stir. Add chicken.

Set crockpot on low for 4-5 hours. Remove chicken. Stab tender, cooked chicken with a fork. Use a knife to shred tender, cooked chicken. Put shredded, tender, cooked chicken back in crockpot.

Serve on buns.

[Akasa]

Italian beef(as told to me by the little italian lady and then modified to the croc pot)

First you take a roast and poke lots of holes in it, then you put garlic in the holes.(I usually quarter cloves lengthwise.) Then you put even more garlic in the holes.

Sear the meat.

Cut up an onion and add it to the pot. Add a cup of wine.
Turn on the croc pot and let it cook all day.

It should be tender and is good as sandwiches on rolls. Slice it up, add some onion and some "juice." Maybe a slice of provolone cheese.

[Akasa]

BBQ chicken

Take ketchup and a bottle of maple syrup and make a paste. Cover the chicken breasts w/ the paste. Put into the croc pot. Cover w/ a can of coke. Cook till tender.

(Some of the best BBQ I've ever had. Honestly.)