Slow Cooking with Beans

Slow Cooking with Beans

Many people overlook the fact that beans are a wonderful source of protein. They come in all shapes and sizes. Best of all, they fill you up without adding a lot of fat and calories to a meal. Cooking beans in the slow cooker is a great idea and is very easy to do.

What do you know about beans? Most people avoid eating them in mixed company for obvious reasons, but they are a food that is good for you. Beans provide needed protein to our diet. Compared to animal proteins, which contain more fat, beans are made up of vegetable protein which only includes about two grams of fat per serving.

Another great thing about beans is that they don’t take as much to fill you up. A meal that has a bean component will leave you feeling fuller faster. This leads to less overeating. Many beans grow up a vine and can be a great complement to your vegetable garden. They are cheap and go well with a variety of sauces and spices. In several cultures, beans are a main staple of everyone’s daily diet.

When looking for beans to use in for slow cooker recipes, go for fresh or dried beans. Canned beans are good too but should be used as a last resort. Since salt and other preservatives are present to lengthen the shelf life of the product, you lose some of the good for you ingredients found in fresh or dried beans.

Water is a bean’s best friend for a few reasons.  First, soaking beans before cooking removes the substance that causes flatulence in bean eaters. For best results, allow the beans to soak overnight in a bowl of water. When you wake you can add them to the slow cooker.

Popular beans used in recipes are kidney, black, Lima, chickpeas, Northern, navy, and pintos. No matter which type of bean a recipe calls for, bake sure the liquid in the cooker is sufficient enough to cover the beans completely. Be aware, that as the beans cook, the water will evaporate to steam and may need replacing depending on how high of a setting you are using.

It’s best to set your slow cooker on the lowest setting and cook until the beans are tender. Many bean recipes call for diced tomatoes and/or chilies as well. To save time, use a can of diced tomatoes or chilies. By using the lowest temperature they are less likely to overcook and become mushy.

To add flavor to your beans, you can incorporate any onions and seasonings during the last half hour to forty-five minutes. It won’t take long for onions to cook due to the heat and steam that will soften them rather quickly. You may even choose to sauté the onions in a pan with a bit of olive oil prior to adding them to the cooker. Here are just a few ideas for seasonings that go well with beans. Fresh herbs like cilantro, bay leaf, cumin, and parsley provide some zing to your bean dish.

To complete your meal, serve your beans over piping hot rice. The combination of beans and grains create a filing dish that is chock full of good nutrients and flavor.

Slow Cooker Basics Part 2

Slow Cooker Basics Part 2

A slow cooker is a useful tool for any busy household. All that is required of you is to add your ingredients to the crock pot and be ready to eat a sumptuous meal when you return. Slow cookers come in many sizes to accommodate singles and larger family units. Before you begin to lick your lips, here are some basic tips about how and what to cook in your slow cooker.

First, there are slow cooker cookbooks on the market. They turn some of our favorite stovetop and oven recipes into slow cooker sensations. Dishes you may never thought of cooking in a crock pot cooker can be prepared without you even being there. I don’t know about you, but that idea sounds fantastic to me.

What you must remember when cooking anything in a slow cooker is the liquid component. There must be some type of liquid in the bottom of the cooker to begin the cooking process. Without it, your dish will cook to the bottom and burn. There doesn’t need to be a lot of it, just enough to cover the bottom in most cases. The juices within the meat will mingle with the other liquid during cooking to create more of a stock.

When using a crock pot it should be at least half full for maximum cooking potential. Keep in mind that the more food you add to the cooker, the slower it will cook. The temperature will cook the food evenly without overcooking if the heat settings are adjusted accordingly. If you aren’t careful and don’t adjust the crock pot heat settings, you may find that an eight hour setting cooked your dinner in two and spent the other six drying it out.

Meats are the most common food cooked in a slow cooker. People use a crock pot to cook main dishes for dinner since this is the meal we struggle with preparing most on a busy schedule. Any meat used needs to be thoroughly drained before adding it to the cooker. Since meat takes longer to cook, they need to make up the bottom layer. This will also help keep the meat moist since it will cook into the liquid underneath.

For safety, cook meats at least three hours so that an internal temperature that is high enough for proper cooking can be reached. This is not usually a problem since many use the crock pot at its lowest setting (six to ten hours depending on the brand of cooker). Just a word of advice, whole chickens should not be used in a slow cooker. The internal temperature needed to safely cook that much chicken properly can’t be reached in time for eating at such low temperature settings.

If you plan to cook vegetables in your slow cooker, here are some tips. Tough fibrous veggies like carrots and potatoes can be tossed in at the beginning with the meat. It takes longer for the fibers to be broken down and the vegetables to be cooked all the way through. More delicate vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and mushrooms should be added half an hour before the meal is done.

Slow cooking makes dinner a cinch when you are on the run. Just be sure to experiment with various dishes the first time to get an idea of how long your slow cooker takes to create the particular meal. Layering foods correctly and testing heat settings will ensure your meal will be delicious every time.

Slow Cooker Basics Part 1

Slow Cooker Basics Part 1

In today’s world, families are always busy. Whether it is your schedule or your children’s, a good home-cooked meal can be hard to come by. Enter the slow cooker. It provides families with another way to prepare delicious meals for their household. The best part is that you don’t even have to be there while it’s cooking.

Slow cooker is another way to say “crock pot.” Most of us are used to hearing the latter, but the terms are interchangeable meaning the same thing. Now, if you are considering using a slow cooker (and I suggest that you do), there are a few things you should know before you start to enhance your chances of creating a successful meal. Yes, even a slow cooker meal can be horrible if some basic tips are not adhered to. No one wants to come home with a hearty appetite and find a pot full of mush. Yuck!

So let’s start with the purchasing of a slow cooker. You can crock pots in various sizes.  From as small as one quart to as large as five quarts, you’re sure to find one that fits your needs. If you come across a larger one, that’s even better. Depending on your family size or the amount of people you’ll be preparing meals for with it, you may find the larger the slow cooker the better it will work.

Slow cookers also come with removable inner pots that allow for easier serving at the dinner table. A removable inner core allows everyone to sit and relax as they spoon their food onto the plate instead of standing at the stove. Some even come equipped with a non-stick inner pot, making clean up less messy.

Temperature settings vary among slow cookers. Many offer a range of temperature settings to meet the needs of the cook. Some have as little at two setting (high and low) and others include five settings that vary from high (two hours) to really slow cooking (ten hours). There may also be a warm setting in case the food has finished cooking but any accompanying side dishes still need to be prepared. This setting is also great for times when everyone isn’t ready to eat their meal just yet.

Be careful with your heat settings, however. As with ovens, temperatures and settings on the dial are a rough estimate. Don’t be like me who, at the expense of my meal, overcooked a roast the first time.  Even though I had it set to the eight hour setting to cook throughout the day, my slow cooker has a high temperature and cooks boneless meats quickly. I could have put it in the cooker when I got home and still had a delicious meal in less than two hours.

Just goes to show, you live and you learn. To avoid such a food crisis, test your slow cooker on the weekend when you are at home. Start a meal in the late morning hours, using the lowest setting and see how long it actually takes for the meal to cook. You may need to make adjustments to cooking times when you are away based on what you discover.  

A slow cooker can be an extremely useful tool for busy families and even single people alike. With the suggestions above you’ll get used to preparing meals with your slow cooker while you’re not around in no time.

Slow Cooked Soups and Stews

Slow Cooked Soups and Stews

It seems like the slow cooker was practically made for soups and stews. On a cold fall or winter day, you can combine the ingredients for your favorite soup in the pot and fill the house with a delicious aroma while it cooks. Everyone needs to make at least one soup or stew in their slow cooker. It’s an unwritten rule of the kitchen.

Why do we like soups? They are fun and easy to make. Many cultures rely on soup as their main dish for lunch or dinner. A soup can be thin like chicken noodle or some Thai soups. A soup can also be thick like vichyssoise or borscht which represents ethnic soup dishes. Thicker soups keep you full longer between meals. Add a bit of bread and you have a complete meal.

Soups require more liquid than a regular meal in a slow cooker. Don’t be afraid to add two or three cups of broth or water to your cooker when creating soup dishes. If you have a larger slow cooker, you may need to add a bit more liquid depending on how many other ingredients you also add.

If your main ingredient is meat, add it first. For soups it is a good idea to cut raw chicken into small cubes. For beef, buy already cubed beef for stew to avoid having to cube it yourself. Meat should be thawed for soups and stews before adding to the crock pot. Sear meats in a pan before adding them to the cooker. A bit of water will remove those pieces of essence from the bottom of the skillet so they can be added to the soup for flavor.

Go ahead and add your vegetables to the soup once the meat has been put in. Chop potatoes, carrots, squash, zucchini, and onions into soup-sized pieces. Frozen veggies can also be added to the soup. Let your soup concoction cook for six to eight hours. Celery is a common veggie in soups. For a firmer celery texture, wait to add the celery until a couple of hours before the end of cooking.

Creamier soups are also a good choice for slow cooker meals. Heavy cream can stand up to the longer cooking time without scorching. If milk is called for in your dish, use evaporated milk in its place. Evaporated milk has had the water component removed and provides a creamier texture without the curdling effect that can be common when using straight milk.

Now you are ready to add the finishing touches. When making soups like potato soup or chowders that call for cheese, wait until close to done before adding the cheese. Herbs like rosemary, dill, basil, oregano, and parsley can be added now too. Chives, leeks, shallots, and garlic also add flavor to soups and stews. Chives, parsley, and leeks can be used as a garnish.

Can you taste that soup now? The best thing about soup is that it can be frozen in bowls and thawed whenever you feel like some warm-in-your-tummy goodness. A slow cooker makes a batch large enough to feed an army or a large family of hungry eaters.

Potluck Creations in the Slow Cooker

Potluck Creations in the Slow Cooker

A slow cooker is a great addition to your arsenal of cooking equipment. It is definitely a help when you have no idea what to cook for dinner. Throw in a bit of this and toss in a little of that and you’ve got a meal of your own creation for a hungry family.

If you have an adventurous cooking spirit and a cabinet or pantry full of goodies, it’s easy to create a slow cooker meal from scratch. I know you are shaking your head, but it is doable and your family will love it. In fact, why not let everyone get in on the meal to make it more interesting?

When putting together a potluck slow cooker meal, you need a base or main ingredient. Meat or beans make the perfect base. Although grains also make a good base for meals, they cook too quickly to be of any use to you in a slow cooker. Rice quickly becomes mushy when it is overcooked and pastas work best when boiled. Therefore, slow cooking these types of foods would potentially ruin them.

Your base is something that can stand up to the length of time required for crock pot cooking and the temperature. Chicken, turkey, beef, pork, and lamb are all good choices for a meat base. Most beans can stand up to the heating process of a slow cooker. Once you have made a choice for your meal base, wash it thoroughly and put it in the cooker. Don’t forget to add a bit of liquid to the bottom before of the crock pot first.

The next step is to decide what will go well with the base chosen. Most meat types share the fact that they are compatible with many of the same vegetables. First, check the fridge. A bag of baby carrots, an onion, and some celery are staring you in the face. These we can use. Go ahead and toss the carrots right in on top of your meat or bean base.

Go ahead and start the cooker while you search for more ingredients. See that bag of red-skinned potatoes in the corner? The best thing about them is that they don’t have to be peeled. Simply, wash the outer skin thoroughly and pop them into the cooker as well. No need to slice or dice them beforehand.

Remember that celery and onion from your refrigerator? Throw them in a skillet with salt, pepper, and cooking wine if you have it. Let the wine reduce and cook the veggies.

Now it’s time to think about spices and seasonings. What will go well with your base? For kick, add some turmeric, cumin, and cilantro. Curry goes well with chicken or pork for a more Indian flavor. On the Italian side, choose rosemary, basil, oregano, bay leaf, and coriander. Remember, fresh herbs have a more distinctive taste than powdered spices, so if you have some on hand, use those instead.

About an hour before time zero, add your sautéed veggies and spices. Stir and smell the wonderful flavor. If there is still too much liquid left for your liking, turn the cooker up on high and remove the lid. The liquid will evaporate and you can return to low after the desired level of broth is achieved.

When someone in the house is getting hungry, who says you can’t make a great meal from whatever you happen to have lying around? Put that slow cooker to work tonight instead of having fast food or slaving in the kitchen all day long over a hot oven.

Pork in the Slow Cooker

Pork in the Slow Cooker

Pork has been nicknamed “The Other White Meat.” It is a healthy alternative to fattier cuts of beef and chicken. It is flavorful and versatile as a substitute in dishes that once called for only chicken and/or beef. Pull out your slow cooker and take that pork for a spin.

Pork provides many different cuts of meat:  bacon, ground sausage, ham, pork butt steaks, ribs, loin, and chops. Each has its own characteristics and provides different options for how it can be cooked. In the slow cooker you can use just about all of those cuts if you like. The leaner cuts will give you the least fat if you are watching your diet.

Boneless pork chops and pork tenderloin will not take as long to cook. Your slow cooker should be set on four hours instead of eight. Pork can be bought seasoned from the store. If yours is not, try a trick I like to use for pork and poultry. Add a packet of onion soup mix to the meat. It can be regular onion or golden onion, whichever you prefer.

Once you have added your pork cut and onion soup mix, pour about one cup of water and any other flavorful sauces, such as soy or teriyaki sauce into your slow cooker. Veggies can be tossed in now if you want to add them. You can use fresh or frozen veggies either one.

Sausage balls can be made by rolling out ground pork sausage. If you don’t have fresh pork, frozen sausage balls will do. Again, be sure to add your favorite sauce and a bit of water to the cooker. Depending on how many sausage balls you are preparing and whether they are fresh or frozen, cooking time is approximately two to four hours, with frozen pork sausage and higher quantities requiring the higher amount of time. Remember, with pork you can never be too careful when it comes to making sure it’s cooked through. After two hours of cooking, check for doneness.

Another favorite cut of pork for the slow cooker is pork ribs. They can be country style (little to no bone and more meat) or spareribs. You may choose to season and marinate the ribs with your favorite store bought or homemade marinade. For best results, marinade overnight before cooking them in the slow cooker. They will be in there for six to eight hours so there is no need to parboil on the stove for tenderness.

Yep, you guessed it; don’t forget to add water before cooking. An hour or two before cooking is complete, add your favorite barbeque sauce.  The spicy sauce will find its way through the meat and add flavoring. By the time they finish cooking, the ribs will be so tender it will fall away from the bone. Now those are some good ribs!

You can even slow cook a ham for a special Sunday dinner. Glaze it with honey or brown sugar and pineapples an hour or so before it is cooked. The meat will be juicy, flavorful, and tender when sliced.

Pork is a great meat to use in the slow cooker. Just be aware of your cooking times for boneless meat as opposed to bone-in varieties. The last thing you want is a dried out piece of meat that no one enjoys. How do I know that you might be asking?  Take my word for it it’s not delicious by any stretch of the imagination.

Pantry Staples for Crock Pot Cooking

Pantry Staples for Crock Pot Cooking

A slow cooker in the kitchen will pay for itself in no time. The time it saves when preparing meals makes it priceless. But, if you plan on using your slow cooker quite often, there are a few staples you may want to keep on hand to enhance your dishes.

1. Beans – Beans are a cheap source of protein that cooks well. Each bean has its own flavor which is enhanced by the spices you use to cook them. Beans can be used as a meal base when meat is present or if you are a vegetarian looking to create an easy dish without much fuss. Whether navy, lentil, Northern, or black, beans create some amazing slow cooker meals.

2. Fibrous Vegetables – The average household has at least a few potatoes lurking around. They are a versatile food. Mash them, fry them, stew them, or throw them in the crock pot. Potatoes add density to soups, stews, and meals with meat. Because they, and other fibrous veggies like turnips and carrots, take longer to cook, they can be thrown in the cooker with the meat and allowed to cook all day.

3. Fresh Herbs – Herbs can dramatically change the flavor of almost any meal. Herbs come dried, but release a better flavor if they are fresh. You can grow your own herbs in the house in small pots. All you need is a sunny spot, good soil, and water. Home grown herbs can be dried to extend their life, making them easy to keep around without worrying about wasting them. Herbs are added near the end of the crock pot cooking cycle so their flavor infiltrates the cooked meal.

4. Broth – Anything cooked in the slow cooker needs a liquid to start the process. Instead of always adding water, try broth. Chicken, beef, and vegetable broth are available in most grocery stores for very little money. Many varieties come already seasoned and it’s a quick and easy way to add flavor to meat dishes.

5. Flour or Cornstarch – Flour and cornstarch are used for thickening and sautéing. Applying a light coating of flour to meats and sautéing them in a little olive oil will create flavorful bits of essence that can be added to the slow cooker. At the end of a meal, adding cornstarch to the remaining liquid can create creamy gravy for dishes like rice or potatoes. Flour can also be used as a thickener, however cornstarch makes smoother gravies.

6. Meat – This article is about pantry staples, but since meat is the centerpiece of most crock pot meals, be sure to have some of your favorites on hand (in the freezer of course). It can be any meat you choose. A tougher cut of meat will cook better and almost melt in your mouth when the dish is ready. Slow cooking will add moisture and tenderize meat that would otherwise dry out and be tough when cooked in the oven.

With these ingredients on hand, you can create any number of basic meals in the slow cooker. By keeping them on hand, you’ll have a variety of dinner ideas without the hassle of running to the store or searching for an answer when asked “What’s for dinner?”