Tag Archives: Slow cooker recipes

by | July 7, 2014 · 9:18 pm

Korean Style Bear Tacos

So I admit that we’ve been pretty bad slackers about posting new recipes lately. I suppose that’s just what happens when you combine summer with jobs, more babies, interstate moves, potty training, the list goes on. But fear not, we’re still alive and cooking (even if we’ve got some standby recipes on repeat) and experimenting with some new things when we can.

This recipe is my most recent experiment with bear meat. Of course, most people don’t have bear hanging out in the fridge and that’s totally fine – beef, pork shoulder or other wild game would work great as well. This one is inspired by this delicious “globally-inspired” taco place by my house and adapted from this recipe. It’s a nice little way to mix up your ho-hum taco night without too much extra effort.

korean-bear

Korean Style Tacos
For the Roast
2-3 lb bear (or beef) roast
1/2 C soy sauce
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 granny smith apple, julienned
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger
1/2 C honey
1/4 C rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp sesame oil
black pepper
3-5 C water

Place roast in a glass baking pan.  Scatter apples and green onions on and around roast in pan. Combine soy sauce, vinegar, oil, honey, garlic, ginger and pepper, then whisk well to combine.  Pour marinade over meat and vegetables. Marinate overnight.

In the morning, transfer roast and marinade to a slow cooker. Add water one cup at a time until the roast is 1/2 to 3/4 covered with liquid. Slow cook on low for 6-8 hours. Once meat is tender and falling apart, remove roast from slow cooker and gently shred with two forks.

For the Tacos
small taco size tortillas, warmed
1 C cabbage, shredded or chopped to coleslaw-like sized pieces
1/2-1 granny smith apple, julienned
3/4 C matchstick or julienned carrots
4-5 radishes, julienned
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
pinch kosher salt

1-2 tsp sriracha, to taste
1/2 C mayo

Prepare cabbage, apple, carrots and radishes and combine in a medium bowl. Add cilantro and toss to combine. Whisk together lime juice, oil, cumin and salt and pour over slaw mixture. Toss again to combine. Slaw don’t need to be exact – make your slaw to taste and for the appropriate amount of people you’ll be serving. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together sriracha sauce and mayo, adding sriracha until you reach your preferred heat level.

Assemble tacos by spreading sriracha mayo on each tortilla and topping with meat and slaw. Drizzle with additional sriracha if desired.

korean-bear-tacos

katie

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by | January 20, 2012 · 8:00 am

Beef, Barley and Sweet Potato Stew

Winter storms are brewing, so pull out that crock pot and some nice winter produce and whip yourself up a body warming stew. This is perfect after a shoveling session or snow angels with the babes.

Beef, Barley & Sweet Potato Stew 

1-2 lbs. beef stew meat
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 medium sized yellow onion, diced
2 whole carrots, peeled and diced
2 TBSP diced sun dried tomatoes
1 TBSP minced garlic
2 C beef broth
1/2 cup marsala wine
1 tsp pepper
1/2 TBSP oregano
1 C barley
2 TBSP flour

Layer vegetables on bottom of slow cooker. Pour broth and wine over vegetables. Add barley, mix until all barley is covered in liquid. Lay beef over top and add spices. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. In last 30 minutes of cooking, add 2 TBSP flour and mix thoroughly.

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by | September 20, 2011 · 9:37 am

Slow Cooker Turkey Mole

I originally had a different post planned for today but since we’re on the topic of slow cookers, I thought I’d share my slow cooker experiment from this past weekend. For some reason the hubs got it in his head that we needed to have this “amazing” mole I had once made with his wild turkey. While I remembered making it, I had no idea how I made it the first time.

My plan to appease him was to just follow a recipe, however traditional moles call for an assortment of dried chili peppers which I couldn’t find at my grocery store and would probably need to go to a Hispanic grocer to find. So I’ll start out by saying that this is not a “traditional” mole but an improvised experiment.

It uses a lot of ingredients and is not a “quick” meal per se, however since the slow cooker is doing all the work on the turkey you’ll only need to make the sauce – which is mostly just blending things. It’s a good hearty meal for a lazy fall afternoon of watching football.


Slow Cooked Turkey
2 large turkey legs or 1 package of turkey “legs and thighs” (chicken would work too)
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chipotle powder or 1 pureed chipotle pepper
16 oz chicken broth
1/2 can fire roasted tomatoes
brown rice
cotija cheese

Remove skins from legs.  In a small bowl, combine chili powders, salt and garlic powder.  Pat spice mix onto meat and place into a slow cooker.  Cover with tomatoes and chicken broth.  Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours or on high heat for 4-5 hours until meat is tender and falling off the bone.

Mole Sauce
1 poblano pepper
1 red pepper
2 italian red sweet peppers (long skinny red ones)
1 jalapeno pepper
1/4 C almonds
1/4 C pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
dash oregano
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 can fire roasted tomatoes (remaining from before)
10-12 grape tomatoes
1/4 C chocolate chips (I like milk chocolate)
1/4 C chicken broth
1/4 C slow cooker cooking liquid
salt to taste

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Slice peppers in half, removing stems and most seeds (all seeds if you’re afraid of spice). Place peppers on foil and broil for 5-7 minutes until they are charred but not burnt through. Let cool and peel off charred skins. Place in saute pan with a little oil and continue to cook/char until peppers are soft. Remove from pan and set aside.

In a blender, add almonds, pepitas, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and oregano. Blend until nuts are finely ground. Next, in the same saute pan, saute onion and garlic in 1 Tbsp of olive oil. When they begin to soften, add remaining canned tomatoes and grape tomatoes. Continue cooking until grape tomatoes begin to split and onion is soft. Add to blender and puree. Add roasted peppers and chicken broth and continue to puree until mixture is smooth. Transfer to a sauce pan and warm over med-low heat. Add chocolate chips and 1/4 C of liquid taken from the slow cooker. Stir until chocolate is melted.  Season lightly with salt.

Place shredded turkey into the saute pan and coat with sauce.  Stir well to combine and heat over low just to warm.

Serve with brown rice, cotija cheese and extra pepitas.


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by | March 16, 2011 · 8:21 am

Slow Cooker Corned Beef Sandwiches

There are fancy ways to do corned beef and then there is the cheater way. By putting the slow cooker to work, these super easy corned beef sandwich melts may be using the cheater way but they are totally perfect for a weeknight St. Patty’s day meal. We left off the saukerkraut because neither the hubs or I are a fan, which means these aren’t technically Reubens but they’re just as tasty!

reuben rachel sandwich

Slow Cooker Corned Beef Sandwiches
1 packaged corned beef roast
baby swiss cheese
thousand island dressing
pumpernickel rye bread

Place corned beef roast in a slow cooker and season with seasoning packet and extra ground pepper. Add 2-3 cups of water until roast is submerged about 1/2 way. Cook on low heat for 5-6 hours. Remove from liquid and slice roast into thin cuts.

Toast two pieces of bread per person and slather toasted bread with dressing. Stack two layers of corned beef on one piece of bread and top with two pieces of cheese. Microwave for 30-40 seconds until cheese begins to melt. Top with other piece of bread.

corned beef sandwiches

And Now for Dessert!
Want a tasty Irish inspired dessert to round off your meal? Here’s ideas that range from easy to rich, in case you missed them:
Guinness Float
Irish Car Bomb Ice Cream
Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting

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by | October 15, 2010 · 9:04 am

Slow Cooker Beef Brisket over Garlic Parmesan Mash

We may be in the midst of an indian summer, but my hankering for hearty fall meals has not subsided. And when fall meals enter my brain, I think of two special words: slow cooker. The slow cooker is one of my favorite inventions. It is career-friendly, mom-friendly, leftover-friendly and most important, tummy-friendly. So with the best rated slow cooker, I created a beef brisket cooked in one of my other favorite inventions, beer!

Beef Brisket Ingredients:

2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 3-4 lb. beef brisket
2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 12 oz bottle red lager (I used Leinie’s Red)
4 stalks celery, cut into large pieces
2/3 C. brown sugar
1 can tomato paste
1/2 C. apple cider vinegar
1/4 C. brown mustard
1/3 C. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. paprika
dash of coarse ground black pepper

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet. Brown brisket on all sides, about 8-10 minutes. Add garlic half way through. Transfer meat to slow cooker. Pour beer in skillet, scraping up brown bits. Simmer for one minute. Add to slow cooker. Nestle celery around beef.

In a medium bowl, add remaining ingredients and whisk. Pour over beef. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove from cooker and allow to sit about 10 minutes before cutting.

Garlic Parmesan Mash ingredients:

5-6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 C. milk
2 TBSP butter or margarine
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 C. shredded parmesan cheese

In a large pot, cover potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Boil approximately 20 minutes. Drain water. Add remaining ingredients and whip with hand mixer.

I plated the brisket over the potatoes, drizzled a little extra sauce from the slow cooker and topped with French’s crispy onions. Little fuss for a fabulous meal! And with the leftovers, we reheated the brisket and put it on a sandwich with a little Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. Delish!

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by | January 13, 2010 · 7:30 am

Chicken a la King

I believe there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who cook with condensed “cream of” soups, and those who think it is a sin. I like to consider myself someone who does not, however I do have a couple recipes in my arsenal that are too good to pass up, and they do contain condensed soups.

This Chicken a la King recipe is one of them. It is so easy, but is still fancy enough to serve at a dinner party. And because of the addition of sour cream, and the fact that you slow cook it for 3-4 hours, it really has a homemade taste.

Chicken a la King

1 cup cooked chicken, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 7 oz can mushrooms, drained
1/4 cup fat free milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 package puff pastry shells

Place chicken, peas, corn, pepper, soup, mushrooms and milk into a slow cooker. Turn it to low and let it simmer for about 2 hours. Add the sour cream and simmer for another 1-2 hours or until bubbly and thick, stirring occasionally.

Bake 4 puff pastry shells according to package directions. When ready to serve, place puff pastry on a plate and pour Chicken a la King mixture on top.

Chicken a la King can also be served over toast or brown rice if preferred.

This recipe can easily be doubled for a larger crowd and the left overs freeze wonderfully!

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