Simple Slow Cooker Recipes
I have said many times, I love a braise. The braises I especially love are those that represent one pot cooking and those that take budget cuts like shoulders and thighs and turn them into melt in your mouth, tender pieces of meat. One of my favorite tools to braise in is the slow cooker.
Braising is, in fact, what a slow cooker does. It is a master braiser, but slow cooker sounds better. As a braiser, its most important skill is that it can create and hold a low (165F) temperature perfectly. The act of tenderizing budget cuts of meat needs exactly these conditions. The addition of liquid makes it a braise. Meats cooked low and slow using dry heat methods work, too, but these are not braises. Some might call the slow cooker a uni-tasker, as a braise can be done on the stove or in the over with not much more then a dutch oven, but I find it to be easy to use and I can leave it on while I am out – something I would never do with the stove or oven.
When it comes to recipes for a slow cooker, I look for the simple slow cooker recipes. In my world, simple slow cooker recipes don’t have that much pre-prep, maybe some chopping of a few vegetables (I’ll soak some beans over night, too). They are created so that all of the ingredients can be just piled into the cooker and then the cooker is turned on to cook with no further intervention. If the recipe creates a whole meal – containing meat, vegetables and grain – even better! If I have my act in gear, I can do the prep in the morning, put everything in the pot and it is waiting for me after work. If I can’t, I do the prep the night before and put it in right before walking out the door. A slow cooker makes braising a cinch.
Here is one of those slow cooker recipes with chicken thighs, some spicy sausage, beans, a few vegetable and some bulgar.
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 medium sweet onion
- 2 stalks of celery
- 2 medium carrots
- 1/2 lb of dried beans that have soaked over night
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 4 spicy Italian sausage links (about 1/2 lb)
- 1 cup of bulgar wheat
- 2-2.5 cups of chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and Pepper
- Peel and finely chop the garlic clove.
- Peel the onion. Cut the onion into thick slices.
- Wash the celery stalks and cut them into 2 inch pieces.
- Peel and wash the carrots. Cut them into 2 inch pieces.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Drain the beans. Place them in the bowl of a 3 qt slow cooker.
- On top of the beans, place the onions and garlic. On top of the onions, add the celery and carrot.
- Place the chicken on top of the vegetables. Place the sausage links on top of the chicken.
- Sprinkle the bulgar on top.
- Add the chicken stock and bay leaf.
- Place the cover on the slow cooker. Turn the heat to low and cook for 7-8 hours. The meat will be cooked through, the beans and bulgar will be tender. Remove the bay leaf.
- Serve hot.
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