Slow Cooker Cooking: It Warms the Soul

My fans have let me know how much they enjoy crockpot cooking, so I love including slow cooker recipes on the website and in my cookbooks. Slow cookers allow busy families the chance to come home to long-simmered soups, sauces, stews and other comforting meals that warm the soul.

The trick to developing or converting recipes for slow cookers is to correctly estimate the liquid needed. Figure that about 2 cups of liquid will be evaporated during the cooking process over six to eight hours, so plan accordingly.

For instance, if you want to make chicken soup or minestrone soup in the slow cooker, just add 2 extra cups of water to your recipe and it should work out well. Don’t add pasta or rice until the end (15 minutes before serving for pasta, 30 minutes before serving for white rice, 40 minutes before serving for brown rice).

Chili works particularly well in the slow cooker. Most chili recipes have long cooking times and won’t need much adjustment, but if the cooking time calls for only one or two hours of heat, add those two extra cups of water and let it simmer all day.

Because of the long cooking times, lean towards using tougher cuts of meat and heartier fish for best results. Lamb shanks hold up well to 10 hours of braising as do short ribs. Pork shoulder and rump roast become very tender after stewing for hours. Don’t be afraid to make fish in your slow cooker. In my latest cookbook, Anti-Aging Dishes from Around the World, I have a slow cooker recipe for my American Stew, which I make with bison or grass-fed beef. It’s the perfect comfort food and it’s easy to make. It’s also available now in the recipe section.

My Homemade Sardines (see recipe below) cook for about 6 hours and can be made with mackerel, smelt, herring, or even trout. The recipe follows. If you use tender cuts of meat like chicken, use bigger pieces (the whole bird is best) so that the meat doesn’t turn to mush. I created my Crockpot Chicken with Annatto recipe just for my crockpot-loving fans. See the recipe below.

Dried beans and root vegetables are ideal for slow cookers. Black-eyed peas cooked for hours with ham hocks and water become very tender and very tasty. Dried navy or cannellini beans are wonderful after being simmered with water, rosemary, garlic and onions. Hard root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, potatoes, turnips, onions, and beets can handle being cooked for six or eight hours. If you want to add more tender veggies like spinach, kale, or bell peppers, put them into the pot 20-30 minutes before the end of your cooking time. Tomatoes are very versatile and can be cooked for the whole run or thrown in near the end. Sundried tomatoes and other dried fruits can endure hours of cooking and add sweetness to your most comforting foods.

Crockpot Chicken with Annatto

The chicken is fall-apart tender after cooking slowly for hours. To add color, flavor, and vitamin E, I use some of my Annatto Water. I also add chorizo deBilbao sausage to spice things up, and plantains for a bit of sweetness. Most people don’t peel cooked or canned garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas), but I find they are much more delicious when their outer skin is removed. I serve this chicken with rice and fried plantains. 

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, 2-4 lbs.
1 Tbsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup safflower oil
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cups diced tomatoes
1 cup thinly sliced chorizo de Bilbao
1/2 cup Annatto Water recipe
1 cup cooked or canned garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas), peeled
2 cups quartered potatoes (from about 4 medium-sized potatoes)
4 plantains, peeled and halved
1/4 cup julienned scallions
3 cups rough-chopped Napa cabbage (from about 1/2 head)
3 cups rough-chopped green cabbage (from about 1/2 head)

Procedure

1. Rinse the whole chicken and pat dry. Rub with salt and pepper.
   2. Place chicken in crock pot and cook on medium heat for 4-6 hours or until juices run clear and the bones pull apart easily.
   3. In a separate pan, sauté garlic and onion in oil for 3-5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes.
   4. Add chorizo and Annatto Water to the sauté pan and boil for 5 minutes.
   5. Add the chorizo mixture to the crock pot along with the garbanzo beans, potatoes, and plantains. Cook on low in crock pot for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
   6. Add the scallions and cabbages and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until the cabbage is tender.

Serves 4-6

Annatto Water

Ingredients

1/2 cup annatto seeds (whole, not ground)
1/2 cup warm water

Procedure

1. Add seeds to warm water and let soak for 5 minutes.
   2. Work seeds with your hands for a couple of minutes until water turns orange.
   3. Strain the seeds out. Water will last in refrigerator for up to a week.

Yields 1/2 cup

Easy Crockpot Apple Butter

Don’t be fooled by the title, this is a completely dairy-free recipe! With seasonal apples, naturally sweet dates and warming spices this recipe will not only taste delicious on a slice of toast but also make your kitchen smell divine!

Ingredients

5 pounds of apples, peeled and chopped
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4-5 Medjool dates, pitted
2 Tbs. water or orange juice
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Instructions
1. In a large bowl, toss chopped apples with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and vanilla extract until well combined. Pour spiced apples into crockpot.
2. Add medjool dates, vanilla extract and water to a blender. Secure lid and blend on high until pureed, scraping down the sides or adding more liquid 1 teaspoon at a time as needed to blend.
3. Pour date puree over apples in the crockpot, stir to combine, and sprinkle with sea salt. Secure lid over crock pot, set heat to high and cook for 1 hour.
4. Decrease heat to low, stirring apples once, and cook 8-10 hours or overnight until thickened. Uncover and cook an additional 1 hour.
5. Turn off heat and let apple butter cool. Scoop into airtight containers and store up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer.

Homemade Sardines

Sardines are any type of small fish like mackerel or smelt or herring that have been preserved in oil or packed in sauce. Sardines are a good source of protein, iron, zinc, vitamin D, and calcium (if you eat the bones). I like to make my own at home because it’s not very difficult and the result is wonderful. This cooking process can be applied to larger fish like trout very well. Just cut the bigger fish into pieces. The sweet-pickle juice adds a beautiful complexity to these homemade sardines. The olive oil provides the protection of polyphenols. I like to smash the sardines up and eat them on Saltine crackers.

Ingredients

Brine of ¼ cup salt dissolved in 2 cups water
2-3 lbs. of mackerel, herring, or smelt, cleaned with heads removed (skin on, bones in)
¾ cup olive oil
¾ cup water
¾ cup vinegar from a jar of sweet pickles
3 bay leaves
2 Tbsp. peppercorns

Procedure

1. Add the fish to the brine and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
   2.  Remove the fish from the brine and add to a crockpot with the olive oil and all remaining ingredients. Be sure the fish is completely covered with liquid. Add more water if necessary.
   3.  Simmer on low heat for 3-6 hours (depending on the size of the fish) or until the fish is very soft, even the bones.

Serves 2-4