GIVE ME YOUR RECIPES!
I'm making chicken chili tomorrow. :D
Roast three chickens.
Save bones.
Put celery, onion, carrot, garlic, bay leaf, whole peppercorns, oregano, thyme, parsley, bones and water in crock pot.
cook on low for 8+ hours. Bones should crumble when squeezed.
Remove everything solid, strain, strain again, cool. skim fat off the top, or use a separator.
Freeze in one-cup containers.
You now have awesome chicken stock.
Plus, your apartment now smells amazing.
Frozen meatballs and your favorite pasta sauce = Meatball subs for a week!
Paint an anarchy-symbol on it, drop in some safety pins and torn clothing, to make it a pun-crock.
:lulz:
I have the chili going in there now. My apartment smells so good and it still has 6 hours to go!
I love this thing. Lol.
I love my crock pot. I just make shit up to cook in it.
Quote from: Charley Brown on January 03, 2011, 04:21:12 PM
I love my crock pot. I just make shit up to cook in it.
Well, you really can't screw it up.
Okay, maybe you can screw it up. I just gave mine a stir to help pull the chicken a bit, and although it looks and smells delicious, I put in a bit too much water. So I have more of a soup than a chili. I guess I could add flour to thicken?
I wouldn't, unless you make a roux and stir it in. Raw flour will clump and taste icky.
Quote from: Suu on January 03, 2011, 07:32:28 PM
Okay, maybe you can screw it up. I just gave mine a stir to help pull the chicken a bit, and although it looks and smells delicious, I put in a bit too much water. So I have more of a soup than a chili. I guess I could add flour to thicken?
Best to let it boil down. Also cornstarch and cold water mixed and then stirred in will thicken without the flour taste.
I don't have any cornstarch, so I guess I'll let it finish up and see how thick it is.
Quote from: Suu on January 03, 2011, 07:59:41 PM
I don't have any cornstarch, so I guess I'll let it finish up and see how thick it is.
If it isn't thick enough at finish make some cornbread to eat with it. Place cornbread in bowl, add chili.
Quote from: Suu on January 03, 2011, 07:59:41 PM
I don't have any cornstarch, so I guess I'll let it finish up and see how thick it is.
Is this where I get to say you will roux the day?
My tummy is rumbling!!!
I got like another 45 mins.
In emergency situations, you can also try to blend some pieces of bread with water, for starch. It's not as good, but it kind of works. Just blend it real smooth.
It was so good.
The chicken...it just sorta... melted.
Stomach...gonna pop...
Oh hey:
Quote from: Jenne on January 10, 2011, 12:35:19 AM
TODAY I crockpotted (ha! is that a VERB??) some chicken and put green pepper and onion slices on top, added half a can of shitty beer (waste not, want not, yo), then poured some thai bbq sauce over that. We'll see what happens.
And? How was it?
You can put a duck in the crockpot with not much but it's own fat, a couple sprigs of thyme and some salt.
Holy shit... that's all I can say.
Oh I do enjoy some good duck. And that would probably cook it nicely without it drying out too. OM NOM NOM.
My wife is a big fan of Phyllis Pellman's Fix-it and Forget-it series -- hundreds of crock-pot recipes. http://fix-itandforget-it.com/
Quote from: Suu on January 10, 2011, 04:50:08 PM
And? How was it?
Yum! Put it over rice. It came out a little sweet-n-sour b/c I added some British pickle to it for depth--the bbq sauce I used was a little weak. But it was tasty in the end!
Now I'm going to make crockpot enchiladas...will tell you how that turns out.
Quote from: Pastor-Mullah Zappathruster on January 10, 2011, 06:09:56 PM
My wife is a big fan of Phyllis Pellman's Fix-it and Forget-it series -- hundreds of crock-pot recipes. http://fix-itandforget-it.com/
*checking this out*
Jenne is just as obsessed as I am now! :lulz:
Quote from: Suu on January 10, 2011, 08:29:14 PM
Jenne is just as obsessed as I am now! :lulz:
I'm a busy girl! Crockpot cuts the time in half...you just gotta be disciplined enough to think about dinner before 4 pm. Which, typically, I'm not. :lulz:
I just image-searched "crock pot", cause I realized I was envisioning some sort of big black cauldron .. :) I always thought they were like a kind of really big cast-iron "Dutch oven" ..
but ... wait a fucking minute, these things have built-in heating?????? holy fuck!
I MUST HAVE ONE!!
(also, checking wikipedia on crockpots, maybe this is common knowledge, but this is good to know, blanch vegetables first to kill the vitamin destroying enzymes and not using fresh kidney beans apparently: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crock_pot#Disadvantages )
I'm getting a cast iron "Dutch oven" (really? is there no normal word for this type of pan?) as a late birthday present, btw. Huge thing I saw at the new kitchen shop here. Costs €80 or so, I'm paying half of it myself, but I'm gonna make AWESOME stews and shit with that one :D Ok it's got no built-in heating, but that's okay I just put it on a low gas flame. Except I'm kind of hesitant to leave the house with the gas on, even if it's just a tiny flame. What if it stutters and goes out and then fills my apartment with gas, you know.
Anyway this thread reminded me I still need to buy that thing. Because I thought a crockpot was the same thing :oops:
Quote from: Triple Zero on January 10, 2011, 11:40:05 PM
I just image-searched "crock pot", cause I realized I was envisioning some sort of big black cauldron .. :) I always thought they were like a kind of really big cast-iron "Dutch oven" ..
but ... wait a fucking minute, these things have built-in heating?????? holy fuck!
I MUST HAVE ONE!!
(also, checking wikipedia on crockpots, maybe this is common knowledge, but this is good to know, blanch vegetables first to kill the vitamin destroying enzymes and not using fresh kidney beans apparently: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crock_pot#Disadvantages )
I'm getting a cast iron "Dutch oven" (really? is there no normal word for this type of pan?) as a late birthday present, btw. Huge thing I saw at the new kitchen shop here. Costs €80 or so, I'm paying half of it myself, but I'm gonna make AWESOME stews and shit with that one :D Ok it's got no built-in heating, but that's okay I just put it on a low gas flame. Except I'm kind of hesitant to leave the house with the gas on, even if it's just a tiny flame. What if it stutters and goes out and then fills my apartment with gas, you know.
Anyway this thread reminded me I still need to buy that thing. Because I thought a crockpot was the same thing :oops:
A "crock pot" is a commercial name for an electric slow cooker. A Dutch oven is a cast iron pot you use to slow cook in the oven or on the stove top. Both are pretty indispensable in their own way, because there are things you can do in a Dutch that you can't do in a crock pot, like deep fry. And you can't leave a Dutch oven unattended whereas you can put all the stuff you want done into the crock pot, set the temp and 4-6-8-10-12 hours later, you have a fully cooked meal.
Ok, Suu, so all I did was layer the tortillas at the bottom of the crockpot--greasing the bottom first and then splashing a bit of the enchilada sauce at the bottom first like you do when making a pan of them. Then you layer beans/meat/whatever the filling is on top of the tortilla, plus a bit of sauce and a bit of cheese, all the way till your crockpot or your vision of this loveliness screams UNCLE! Then pour a generous amount of the sauce over the top when you're done, heap some more cheese, and then hours later you have cheesy YUMMY goodness. And it cooks down so that you can section it off like an enchilada CAKE. I had sour cream and cilantro to throw on top as garnish.
Quote from: Suu on January 10, 2011, 05:54:33 PM
Oh I do enjoy some good duck. And that would probably cook it nicely without it drying out too. OM NOM NOM.
Amazingly, the meat came out moist and the skin on top (on legs, but not breast) came out brown and crispy
I swear, as soon as I move and get my huge ass kitchen, I'll be cooking feasts regularly. That means I'll have to have Richter over a lot for dinner, but I don't think he'll really care.
Quote from: Triple Zero on January 10, 2011, 11:40:05 PMI'm getting a cast iron "Dutch oven" (really? is there no normal word for this type of pan?) as a late birthday present, btw.
I thought you just called them ovens over there.
Quote from: Pastor-Mullah Zappathruster on January 11, 2011, 04:05:39 PM
Quote from: Triple Zero on January 10, 2011, 11:40:05 PMI'm getting a cast iron "Dutch oven" (really? is there no normal word for this type of pan?) as a late birthday present, btw.
I thought you just called them ovens over there.
Well, the French do just call them "frites."
ETA: French fries, of course, is what I meant.
I bet the Beligians just call them "waffles."
I'm pretty sure the Belgian call them, "A practical joke that nobody got".
I like waffles. Beligique or not.
But yeah, our penchant for calling things after a nationality is rather grim. And boy does it stick. "Irish stew," "French fries," and the amount of things that are "Dutch" is astounding and would leave someone who's never known a Dutch person scratching their heads as to what they're like:
Dutch uncle
Going Dutch
Dutch courage
...etc.
/threadjack
I want to know how 'going Dutch' started. I mean, are the Dutch partial to paying for their own meals when they go on dates?
Actually, yes, they usually are. You can see the ritual at restaurants where people puzzle with their money and change in order to come to the billed amount (plus 10% tip, usually--as our restaurant staff gets paid normal wages).
Sweet! I learned something new. :mrgreen:
Me too :)
In the pot for tonight...
Indian-Style hot red curried chicken.
Breasteseses.
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/theonlyang/IMG_0096.jpg)
Sauce.
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/theonlyang/IMG_0097.jpg)
Frozen veggies.
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/theonlyang/IMG_0098.jpg)
BRB, 8 hours to cook.
Ooh looks great! And super easy.
Right. I'm going to have to buy myself that Dutch Oven today.
BTW You might not want to use chicken breast but instead wings, drumsticks, legs or whatever (an entire chicken) with some bits of bone to it. Cause those cuts are usually both cheaper and much more flavourful (thanks to the bone and skin), and the only reason to use breast is cause you don't want to deal with the bones, but if you're going to leave it cooking for 8 hours anyway the meat will fall right off, and any tough pieces of tendon that otherwise would be annoying turn soft and flavourful.
BTW one more thing about "going Dutch", paying for another's meal is not entirely uncommon, but really only happens in my experience if there's an actual reason for it. The reason would have to be more than "I'm taking you on a date, I'm the man, so I'm paying your meal". Rather, "I want to take you to this expensive restaurant but don't worry I'm paying", or "It's your birthday, I'm inviting you for dinner", or "It's my birthday, I'm inviting you for dinner" etc. But otherwise, yeah, the default is to split the bill.
Interesting how it came into our vocab though.
Quote from: Suu on January 14, 2011, 01:35:52 PM
Interesting how it came into our vocab though.
It's a funny story they way wiki tells it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_uncle
today I am having beef stew with dumplings, potato, carrots, chestnut mushrooms and a little red wine in the stock.
its been cooking since this morning, and will be ready in an hour
This is what it looked like when it was done. Still a bit too watery, and the chicken didn't take on as much flavor as I thought it would.
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/theonlyang/IMG_0100.jpg)
However, today I did leftovers. Since I put the whole pot in the fridge, I simply pulled it out and put it back on the warmer to heat up while I made jasmine rice.
Once the sauce got warm, I pulled the chicken, and added dried mint (from a peppermint teabag) and another spoonful of hot curry paste. This thickened it right up.
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/theonlyang/IMG_0101.jpg) (pic is before paste and moar pulling of chickens)
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/theonlyang/IMG_0102.jpg)
I think I have another 2 meals left. I shit you not. Of course my breath is now minty and curry at the same time...
What's the beer you paired it with?
That would be Diet Coke in a beer glass. :oops:
so I was going to buy this new Dutch oven, right? except when I got to the store, I was thoroughly confused, since I thought I was going to buy a red-orange Dutch oven, cast iron on the inside, for €89 (it's really big, 11-12 inches diameter).
Except it seems I have confused two models:
* one red-orange Dutch oven with a red-orange lid, €89, but enamelled on the inside (cream white colour). below the enamel is cast iron, of course. 11 inches diameter.
* one grey-black Dutch oven with a glass lid, €99, bare cast iron. 12 inches diameter.
Either of them good quality and will probably last several decades. Given at this price I don't really mind the €10 difference, which one should I buy?
* I really like the red-orange colour
* With use the colour will probably get partially covered with a black layer
* You don't need to season (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasoned_pan) an enamelled pan
* I think the idea of seasoning is kind of cool
* Enamel can get damaged, though you'd actually need to drop the pan
* Enamel can't withstand extremely high temperatures but I don't know how high and whether this is likely
* I get the impression that well-seasoned cast iron has better non-stick properties than enamel
* I got a rather old small Dutch oven from my aunt and the (grey) enamel on the inside is missing at some places, I don't know how this happened, it's got a peculiar pattern, a big chunk is missing, and a whole bunch of small "spots" spread around it.
* Enamel can be cleaned in the dishwasher, which, as I found out with the old small Dutch oven is even capable of removing the black layer on the outside, after a few times. But with the size of the one I'd buy, I don't think I'd put it in the dishwasher anyway because not much else would fit next to it anymore :)
I'm really kind of torn on this, it's a lot of money (even if nearly half of it will be sponsored as a birthday gift), and I don't want to make a choice I'd regret later. That's why I'm currently leaning towards the black-grey bare cast iron Dutch oven because I think I couldn't really go wrong with that one. If it had been orange-red on the outside, I probably wouldn't even have hesitated.
Anybody got a solid opinion or advice on this?
I've only used a bare cast-iron style one, so I can't say much for the enameled one. Go with what you know. :)
I use an enameled one. I can actually use soap to clean it in the dishwasher, which is a plus. I mean, I like the high heat, deglaze, scrub, high heat of a cast iron, but sometimes you just want to soak the remains of a pot of chili or a roast overnight in the sink, you know?
If I had to choose between my enameled cast iron and my bare cast iron I would choose the bare.
Most of my cast iron has been handed down to me and was already 50 years old or older when I got it, so it lasts for fucking ever if taken care of.
My one enameled casserole got chipped in just the right way and I wasn't careful enough when washing it so water got between a section of the enamel and the cast iron and I had a big mess, threw the damn thing away.
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on January 19, 2011, 04:09:47 PM
I use an enameled one. I can actually use soap to clean it in the dishwasher, which is a plus. I mean, I like the high heat, deglaze, scrub, high heat of a cast iron, but sometimes you just want to soak the remains of a pot of chili or a roast overnight in the sink, you know?
THIS.
Soak overnight, really? From my student's days--when my house was much dirtier--I've learned to try and never soak something for longer than 10-20 minutes or so. Cause if shit isn't soft by then, you're most probably going to need to scrub on it anyway, letting it soak longer is only going to do so much.
Just a personal rule for myself, cause if I find myself wanting to let it soak overnight, odds are I won't feel like scrubbing on it the next day either. And I find a week-old pan with grubby water and floating bits in it a lot more disgusting than a pan with dried bits (that again, still take max 10-20 min to soak before I can scrub them off).
And I just about decided to go for the bare iron one ...
My wife made pulled pork by basically
- Throwing a big piece of pork in the crock pot with
- some water and
- some V8 and
- some tabasco
The next day we took the leftovers, which we kept in the removable ceramic dish and added
- some beans and
- some canned soup and
- warmed it up
for soup.
Cooking is suddenly fucking really, really easy.
Do you think there's a way of jury-rigging a kind of sous-vide cooker out of this thing?
As far as I've understood what a Crock Pot is (reading Wikipedia), that really depends on how accurate it allows you to set the temperature in the 50 to 90 degrees Celsius range (50 for really (too) rare steak, 90 for vegetables such as aubergines).
If what Wikipedia says is right and it's only got 3 settings and "low" starts at 77 degrees Celsius, all you're going to get out of it is very tough rubber steak.
If not, rub a steak rubbed with much less salt and pepper than you normally use, then slowly submerge it in a ziploc bag, so that the air is pushed out. Close the bag, maybe figure out some way to make sure the top of the bag remains above water (tape? wooden clothes pin?) and the steak remains below (some metal kitchenware). Cook it for two hours at exactly 55 degrees Celsius (get a digital meat thermometer, they're great fun for all sorts of sciency stuff). Then fry it with very hot oil/butter for 15 seconds on both sides just to make them brown, some people use a butane torch instead.
If you lack the temperature control, forget it, and do what I did in this thread, which also worked really well:
http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=25003.0
On the leaving overnight to soak--water is one of THE harshest chemicals out there. It wears stuck-on shit DOWN. And "week-long" soaks? REALLY?
Ew.
I just mean I prefer to soak it shortly and scrub it out, cause if it's not unstuck after 10-20 minutes, overnight isn't going to do much anyway. The danger, for me at least, is that if I let it soak overnight, I'd forget about it (those were different times, when I lived with a flatmate and half of the dirty shit wasn't mine, I'm much cleaner now there's nobody sabotaging my efforts). But still if I leave a pan to soak overnight, I can't count on myself to clean it up first thing in the morning, plus I don't want to find such a pan when I'm making coffee. But to each their own.
...yes, my experience with soaking overnight is that it works. :lulz:
I'm doing buffalo wings tomorrow, I'll put them in when I get home from work so they should done when I get out of class at 6:45. :fap:
Then I'm doing pulled pork later this week. I have a fucking PORK SHOULDER in my freezah!
Quote from: Triple Zero on January 23, 2011, 10:55:35 PM
I just mean I prefer to soak it shortly and scrub it out, cause if it's not unstuck after 10-20 minutes, overnight isn't going to do much anyway. The danger, for me at least, is that if I let it soak overnight, I'd forget about it (those were different times, when I lived with a flatmate and half of the dirty shit wasn't mine, I'm much cleaner now there's nobody sabotaging my efforts). But still if I leave a pan to soak overnight, I can't count on myself to clean it up first thing in the morning, plus I don't want to find such a pan when I'm making coffee. But to each their own.
For me it's usually a case of "cook dinner, eat dinner, be late for doing something, put pot in sink w/water, come back the next day, clean it out".
But whatever works for you.
Quote from: Suu on January 24, 2011, 04:38:46 AM
I'm doing buffalo wings tomorrow, I'll put them in when I get home from work so they should done when I get out of class at 6:45. :fap:
Then I'm doing pulled pork later this week. I have a fucking PORK SHOULDER in my freezah!
You'll have to tell me how the wings do. This is again something I've seen but never tried. Are you starting them frozen or thawed? (I cringe at asking that in case it's a "duuuh!" type question)
Aren't buffalo wings supposed to be deep fried?
Or at least have crispy skin? I'm fairly sure if you do wings in a crock pot, they'll have a much softer texture.
Yeah, they basically fall apart in ooey gooeyness. Still good though.
this is baffling me
Quote from: Jenne on January 24, 2011, 04:12:07 PM
Yeah, they basically fall apart in ooey gooeyness. Still good though.
This. And you cook them for a shorter time. 4hrs on high.
I'm not sure I want a gooey buffalo wing. I want a crunchy wing slathered in Frank's Hot Sauce and butter.
But, I shall reserve final judgement.
I think most of the wings I have out here aren't crunchy. I like them ooey gooey with the sauce. SLLLUUURRPP!
I didn't make them anyway. Putting the wings in the freezer and switching with pork shoulder so it can thaw by tomorrow night.