Slow-Cooker Caramelized Onions

Extended Shelf Life for: Onions

I'm wanting caramelized onions to play a major role in my pizza experiments, so I figured I should try out this slow-cooker trick I saw on Pinterest recently.  I'm not sure I love the outcome...but I'm also not sure that I hate it...and what I really mean is that I think stove-top caramelization is more flavorful, but it takes time and patience. This method is quick and when you're simply adding the onions to other dishes and/or covering them with cheese anyway...it might just be the perfect way to get a bunch of delicious caramelized onions.


Ingredients/Directions:

Fill the slow-cooker with onions. I had a 3-quart crock filled with about 3-4 sliced onions. Top with 2-3 Tbsp. Butter of Olive Oil. Set on low for 12-14 hours. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator, use as needed for sandwiches, salads, pizza, etc

For more awesome ways to use onions, check this out!

Crockpot Apple Butter

Extended Shelf Life for: Apples, Cutie

Unfortunately, I took no photos of this dish. However, if you want to see what it looks like at various stages, check out this recipe filled with step-by-step directions.

Essentially, you peel and core a few apples, toss in a tough of water, cinnamon, nutmeg, I added the skin of a tangerine and let it go to work in the slow-cooker for an entire day. Take out the orange peel, season with sugar to your liking, can or store in the fridge, wam-bam-thank-you-mam!

Ham and Beans

Extended Shelf Life for: Ham Bone

After the Christmas meal in Sturgis, I was the lucky winner to receive the ham bone! I was truly thrilled and new that we would be enjoying a simple, quick to assemble soup within a few days of the new year.

Since I primarily use dry beans these days I let about three cups of beans soak over night - I used a combination of kidney, pinto and even some lentils.

In the morning, I threw in a diced onion, the ham bone and additional water and left it on low for the day. Upon returning home I merely had to add some additional spices which I deemed necessary at the time (and currently can't recall) and a single can of tomato sauce just for funsies!

Curry Spinach and Potato Soup

Extended Shelf Life: Carrots, Potatoes, Tomatoes

The great thing about crockpots is it's quite easy to simply throw things in and let it go to work for the day. The unfortunate thing is...when you're more than a month behind on updating the good ole blog, it's a bit difficult to remember the exact process used.

Apologies.

Ingredients/Directions:

Wash and quarter a significant number of fingerling potatoes. Also chop 1-2 carrots, and some tomatoes. Throw into the crock pot. Season with curry powder, turmeric, coriander, salt, pepper, etc. For broth, use chicken broth and coconut milk until vegetables are submerged. Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-5 hours. During the last 30 minutes, add washed and chopped spinach until wilted. Serve over rice or with naan or simply as soup and enjoy!

Crockpot Chicken Lentil Chili

When preparing to move to the other side of the world, there seems to be a steady realization that there are food items which have been begging to enter the home-dweller's bellies.

And so I found myself accessing my 99 or so Kindle cookbooks (all free downloads...don't worry) to find a way to use up some major lentils.

This Chicken and Lentil Chili was top notch!

Directions/Ingredients:
Original Recipe thanks to The Everything Healthy Cooking for Parties by Linda Larsen.

Combine 2 chopped Onions, 5 minced Cloves of Garlic and 2 chopped Carrots in the bottom of 4-5 qt. Slow Cooker. Sprinkle with a seasoning mix of 3 Tbsp. Chili Powder, 1/2 tsp. Cumin, 1 tsp. Basil, Salt and Pepper.

Top with 1 1/2 cups Dry Lentils, 1/2 cup Brown Rice and 1 lb. Chicken Breasts. Pour 3 cups Diced Tomatoes (fresh or canned) over all. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup Tomato Paste with 1 cup of the Chicken Stock; stir until tomato paste dissolves. Add to crockpot along with additional 3 cups Chicken Stock and 3 cups Water.

Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours or until lentils and rice are tender and chicken is thoroughly cooked. Serve with sour cream (plain homemade yogurt) and salsa if desired.

Taco Soup

This soup received rave reviews. Actually, I keep forgetting to post the recipe, but one friend has reminded me via Facebook that she would like to make this recipe, or rather she'd like her husband to make this recipe, so I suppose I should get to posting the recipe ^^

Unfortunately, for those living in South Korea, all of the ingredients aren't that easy to come by such as ranch dressing packets or Mexican chili powder. However, I think the ranch seasoning can be left out and perhaps you can replace the Mexican chili powder with Korean chili powder or take a look at some of Korea's online grocery stores.

Anyway, on to the recipe.

Ingredients/Directions:

Adapted from the Fix-it and Forge-it-Cookbook

I use a slow-cooker otherwise called a crock-pot which we purchased at Costco to prepare this soup, however it can easily be made in a large pot on the stove and should take significantly less time. It is ready to eat when it's been thoroughly heated.

Into a large crockpot mix together 2 cups prepared Black Beans, 2 cups diced tomatoes (either canned or fresh - if you use fresh you may need to add water or chicken broth to the soup for the purpose of consistency), 1 diced Onion, 3-5 roasted and chopped Green Chilies, 1 can of Tomato Sauce, 1 can of Corn. Season the soup with 3-4 Tbsp. Mexican Chili Powder, 1/2 or whole package of dry Ranch Dressing seaoning (depending on what other uses you have for it/how difficult it is to get where you are currently located ^.~), a shake of Cumin, Cayenne Pepper (Tobasco Sauce would also work) Salt, Pepper, and 2-3 minced cloves of Garlic. Stir and add any liquid if necessary. Turn the slow-cooker to low and cook for 6-8 hours or heat on the stove-top for an hour or so. Serve with Cheese and Tortilla Chips!

Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin

 

This is amongst one of the first recipes I ever pinned on Pinterest, unfortunately it took me entirely too long to get around to preparing this insanely easy and delicious pork tenderloin. Fortunately, it made for a perfect Easter-away-from-home dinner.

Ingredients/Directions:
Pinned from Let's Dish Recipes

Season a 2 lb. (~1Kg) Pork Tenderloin with Oregano, Salt, Pepper and minced Garlic to taste (just a few shakes of each) and place in the slow cooker with 1/2 cup of Water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. In the last hour of cooking, combine on the stove-top 1/2 cup Brown Sugar, 1 Tbsp. Cornstarch, 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar, 1/2 cup Water and 2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce until thickened. Brush the pork loin with this mixture 2-3 times during the last hour of cooking and serve the loin with any left over sauce. Enjoy with rice and a fresh green salad and more importantly with good friends!

Menu: Roast Chicken and Pasta Salad

One of my favorite things to eat in South Korea is rotisserie chickens from the chicken truck. That's right, a truck (edit: many trucks), filled with a working rotisserie drive around and park throughout the city, offering freshly roasted chickens - better yet, you can get 3 small chickens for just 10$.

So the other night, the man went and got our three chickens which we ate with chopsticks while I boiled water and prepared some pasta. I then used the leftover dressing from this salad to dress the pasta, threw in some mushrooms and green onions and waited for the chickens to arrive.

Once the meal was finished, I set to work on making chicken broth in the slow-cooker.

Perfection!

Cheesy Slow-Cooker Potato Soup

I love potato soup. I love comfort food. I love the slow-cooker.

Ingredients/Directions:

Into a slowcooker throw: 8 cups peeled and diced potatoes (between 6 and 10 potatoes depending on size, Korean potatoes are generally quite small), one Onion chopped, 3-4 minced garlic cloves, equal parts water/broth and milk (you want the potatoes and onions to be covered, so the exact amount can be tricky to calculate). Cook on high for 5-6 hours.  Add to broth your choice of thickening agent (flour + water or more effective, cornstarch + water) and cook on low 3 hours.  During the last hour of cooking add additional milk if necessary for consistency and 1-2 cups grated cheddar (or your choice) of cheese and 2 Tbsp. dried Parsley, season with Salt and Pepper. During the last hour, cook up some bacon until crispy and slice some green onions to use as garnish, serve and devour.

Italian Pork and Potato Stew

The slow-cooker is absolutely wonderful. I can't imagine life without.

Ingredients/Directions:

Throw into a crock pot - 3-4 cubed Potatoes (peeled if you prefer), 1 chopped Carrot, 1 chopped Onion, 2 diced Tomatoes, 5 minced Garlics, one or two cups of Shredded Pork, 1/2 cup Tomato Paste, and a combination of Cold Chaser Tea, Water and/or Broth to cover all fresh ingredients, turn on low and cook for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5. Season with salt, pepper, basil, parsley, Italian seasoning blend and enjoy with fresh bread and friends!

Shredded Chicken: For a Month-ish

I'm quite certain this bit of chicken isn't meant to last a month because I opted for the slow-cooker once again. However, should I do this one or two more times I will in fact have plenty of chicken and chicken broth for the month!

The chicken entered the slow-cooker with a sprinkling of salt and pepper a touch of water for the pot and a few squeezes of lemon juice. At the end of the day, the chicken meat was eager to come of the bones and be shredded and store in the freezer, 1 cup at a time. Next day, the chicken bones happily entered the slow-cooker with a quartered carrot and onion and a bay leaf simply to be covered in water and made into a fabulous broth.

I love the slow-cooker. That's all.

Pulled Pork: For a Month

Rachel Ray does this massive dish in the oven. My oven is small. And...I prefer the slow cooker. You need a TON of pork roast - I'm sayin' like 8-10 lbs which is a lot. For the slow cooker, just cut it into chunks that fit into the slow-cooker, season with salt, lemon zest, minced garlic and pepper then cook on low 8-10 hours. Let cool slightly and shred it with two forks. Freeze in 1 cup portions should be between 10-15 cups of pork to be used with a number of dishes at a later date.

(If you aren't familiar with once-a-month-cooking, the concept is simple. Prepare food in large portions, freeze and use at a later date. Most once-a-month-cooking sites/recipes have you prepare quite a few dishes, Rachel Ray gives you five --in a recent magazine that is -- which you prepare, freeze and then use her simple recipes to jazz up one to three of the ingredients which are happily stored in the freezer. It'll make more sense as I begin my overlapped coursework with the Master's and start pulling foods out of the freezer for some uber-convenience cooking that's still 'fresh' and home-made. I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing).

Slow-cooker Pork and Lentil Soup

Monsoon season = LOTS of Rain (obviously)

Even though it's not particularly cold during Monsoon Season, the rain makes me crave soups and stews. And, when we opt for inviting friends over pre-Harry Potter, crock-pot soups are the best answer to ensure all mouths are adequately fed.

Using a recipe for Hamburger Lentil Soup from my handy-dandy Fix-It and Forget It Cookbook, I threw this together in a jiffy and came home to some fabulous smelling and tasting Pork and Lentil Soup.

Ingredients/Directions:

Brown 1lb. of ground or finely chopped Pork and 1 chopped onion in a skillet, drain off the fat. In slow cooker, combine Beef, Onions, 3 Carrots diced, 1 cup of mushrooms diced, 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, 1 cup of marinara sauce, 4 cups (or more) of water/broth, 2 cups dry lentils, 1 Tbsp. brown sugar and cook on low for 8-10 hours (high 4-6 hours). During the last hour or 30 minutes chop up some pumpkin kid or summer squash and throw into the mix. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Enjoy with good company and a glass of ButterBeer prior to watching Harry Potter (#7 pt. 2 - to be exact) for a screaming good time!

Slow-Cooker Guinness Beef and Mushroom Stew

In typical Melissa fashion, I did not follow a recipe nor measure ingredients as I dumped them into the crock-pot. I did however, glean a lot of inspiration from already produced recipes such as this Beef in Guinnes with Fluffy Dumplings and this Beef, Guinness and Mushroom Pie. Taking a look at the ingredients and portions of these two dishes followed by a look at my refrigerator and energy, I whipped up the following for our St. Patrick's Day Iron Chef 'Competition' where each dish made was required to use Guinness as an ingredient.

Ingredients/Directions:

The heart of this soup is the broth, in order to make the soup land in14 bowls of hungry English teachers, I went heavy on broth: 2 bottles of Guinnes, 2 cups Chicken Broth, (can substitue beef broth) 1 cup Water, 1-2 Tbsp. Soy (can substitute Worcestershire) 1 Tbsp. Hot Sauce, Dash of Cinnamon, Salt, Pepper and Thyme. Add to the broth sauted Mushrooms and Onions (2-3 cups). Toss 1 or 2 lbs. of Beef in 1-2Tbsp. Flour, Dash of Salt and Pepper, sear in oiled fry pan. Add to broth. Cook in slow-cooker 8-10 hours on low and serve up alongside any number of dishes which include the magic ingredient of Guinness! Enjoy! (Additionally, small potatoes and carrots would make this a much heartier dish to serve up or adding more beef, I went extremely heavy on this broth - which was fabulous - but it would be stellar, for a smaller gathering, to add some veg and meat and thicken it up)

Slow Cooker Chicken Broth

Once upon a time I penned this blog post. But had not photo to showcase the making of Chicken Broth, so here I am again to remind myself and any readers who may stumble upon this space that making Chicken Broth is oh-so-easy, especially if you have a slow cooker!

1. Prepare a whole roaster chicken or two (or purchase from a local grocer) - Enjoy. Save Carcass. Make Broth
2. Throw carcass into slow cooker, add on carrot quartered, one onion quartered (optional, stick cloves into quartered onion), salt and pepper.
3. Cover with water or follow my lead: 3 cups Oolong tea plus additional water until bird and veggies are covered.
4. Cook on high 4-5 hours.
5. Cool. Spoon broth into freezer safe containers, I do mine by two cup incriments. Enjoy with various soups and sauces!

ROKin Clam Chowder

After making a pot full of Clam Noodle Soup, there was still a wealthy supply of clams in my refrigerator. Wanting some advice and recipe inspiration for using up the 'leftovers' I conducted a bit of research with a dear friend, Google and was soon inspired to whip up a Clam Chowder. I referenced a Boston clam chowder recipe and made a number of substitues based on what was in our fridge, our wallet and Korean grocery stores, hence the name: ROKin -- as in the Republic of Korea-in -- Clam Chowder. (In essence, there's nothing particularly Korean about the dish other than where it was made and where the ingredients came from)
Ingredients:

As many clams as you can manage (I had approximately 1 cup)
1 Onion, diced and sauted in butter
1/2 carrot, diced
2 cups Sweet Potatoes, skinned and diced
2 cups Chicken Broth
2-3 cups Green Tea
Salt, Pepper, Parsley to taste
Butter + Flour for Roux
Milk (3-5 cups)
1-2 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese

Additional Flour or Cornstarch for Thickening

Directions:

Throw sweet potatoes, sauted onion and carrots into slow cooker, add broth and tea, salt and pepper. Cook on high 2-3 hours. In sauce pan or skillet melt 1/2 cup butter add four until thick and brown-ish, (at 3-4 hour mark) stir into soup. Thirty minutes or an hour prior to serving add milk, cheese, additional thickening agent if needed and clams - heat through. Serve up with bread of choice and enjoy with good friends (even someone from the East Coast, they'll be satisfied with the chow-da) while discussing recent travels and adorable pets.

B.E.P Chili

More accurately this should be referred to as Black-Eyed Bean soup, but I hold The Black Eyed Peas close to my heart so they can have their claim on this chili. When organizing or hosting an event for numerous guests I have a tendency to prepare a soup or a chili - they are easy to do in bulk and ensure that each guest has their belly sufficiently filled regardless of what other food fare may be present. So it was on Christmas that BEP Chili served as a hearty part of the main dish, although chicken was also available so that could more accurately be described as the main dish - regardless, here is the recipe I used for Christmas 2010 in Daejeon, South Korea.

Ingredients:

1 Onion, chopped

1 Carrot, chopped

1 Red or Green Pepper, chopped

1 Garlic clove, minced

4 tsp. Chili Powder

1 tsp. Ground Cumin

4 Tomatoes + 2 Chilies, roasted and chopped

3 cups cooked Black Eyed Beans

3/4 cups Orange Juice

3/4 cups Water or Broth

Cornstarch or Flour to thicken

Salt, Pepper and other spices to taste

Chesse for topping

Directions:

Throw all ingredients into slow-cooker except water, cornstarch/flour and cheese. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours. Add flour or cornstarch (dissolved in water) 30 minutes prior to serving. Enjoy with cheese on top, mashed potatoes and chicken on the side and a group of dear friends who serve well as your family-away-from-family while living in a foreign land.

Carne Guisado

I really miss Mexican flavors. I'm always, always searching for a way to have a bit of that experience here in South Korea. I followed the basic premise of an allrecipes.com recipe - lacking only a few things: the quantity of beef called for, the quantity of chili powder called for, and red bell peppers (although each of the items can be found in South Korea, they simply were absent from my kitchen the morning of piecing this crock-pot meal together).

It's particularly delcious served with a Cheese Quesadilla or re-vamped and used for burritos and ramen dishes, but those instructions will come later - for now, check out the base recipe at allrecipes.com.

Slow-Cooker Scalloped Potatoes

Our Thanksgiving meal was already to be complete with mashed sweet potatoes, so I opted for scalloped potatoes when we hosted our co-teachers. I did a few parts of this dish exceptionally well where as other parts were kind of a fail...but, the dish still received rave reviews! I'll post the recipe as it should have been prepared.

To begin, I opted to make cream of mushroom soup from scratch, an attempt to use up some mushrooms I had on hand (I'm not sure if cream of mushroom soup is available in Korea, but I think the answer is yes). Anyway, here's a good recipe for Cream of Mushroom soup should you decide to go all out.

The potato recipe comes from my new favorite book "Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook" received from friends whom I love dearly.

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp. Cream of Tartar (or Baking Powder)

1 cup Water

8-10 Potatoes, thinly sliced

Half Onion, chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 cup grated Cheese

10 oz. Cream of Mushroom soup

Paprika

Directions:

Dissolve cream of tartar in water toss with potatoes, drain (I missed this part, so had a semi-soupy dish of potatoes). Place half of potatoes in the slow cooker, sprinkle with onions, salt, pepper and cheese. Repeat with remaining potatoes and cheese. Spoon soup over the top, cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or high for 4 hours. Enjoy with Korean co-teachers, sitting on the floor around a small little table, piled with food or any hungry soul in your community of friends and family.

Slow-Cooker Apple Crisp

Extended Shelf Life for: Lemons (seriously, in the fridge for more than a month, maybe close to two)

As part of an all-out Fall-Apple celebration early in November, I finally tried out the one dish I've been planning since late September - a slow cooker Apple Crisp. The main idea for the recipe came from this Slow Cooker Apple Crisp Recipe on Allrecipes.com with a few substitutions as were necessary for my Korean life.

Ingredients/Directions:

6-8 cups thinly sliced Apples (I also threw in an Asian Pear because it was here)
2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

Toss together apples and lemon juice.

To apples add --

1/3 cup Sugar
Healthy Shake of Cinnamon
A bit of Flour (unless you have cornstarch)

(When I was preparing this dish most recently, I had to cut my apples in the morning, refridgerate them, mix the dry ingredients together separately adding them after work right before turning the slowcooker on to begin cooking the meal. An easy step to take if the timing isn't quite on your side).

Separately Mix together --

1 cup Flour
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup White Sugar
Cinnamon
Salt
1/2 cup Butter

For a little crunch add Walnuts OR
                  Oat Clusters from any oaty breakfast cereal available at a grocer near you!

Into the crock pot base throw the apples with sugar and cinnamon, pour buttery-crunchy-sugary-flour mix on top, turn slow cooker to high for 2 hours or low for 4 hours. With 30 minutes left, check to see how it's cookin' mix things up if it seems fit, rest lid on slow-cooker so that top of crisp my begin to crisp without allowing excess heat to escape. Enjoy with a small paper cup of Apple Cider, more than 10 friends and small or large scoop of Walnut Ice Cream on top (or vanilla if you're back in the states) -- perfect way to encourage some fall joy into an otherwise ordinary night.