I have a 4 lb beef rump roast in the refrigerator that will begin its day on Wednesday in my crockpot. But how to cook it...? There are plenty of crockpot recipes out there that get the job done--you know, you throw in aromatic, fresh ingredients in the morning, flip the knob, and by dinner time you have a soft heap of something with an unremarkable flavor and a borderline-repulsive consistency. Like bad leftovers.Winter is crockpot season, but mine has only found its way to the countertop once for chili. Wednesday will be its second performance.
Does anyone have an excellent crockpot recipe, particularly for cooking meat, that gives the meat some zesty and exciting flavor? Any other remarkable crockpot recipe suggestions would be SO appreciated too! I'd love to use this mother's helper more often, but so far in my experience, the product ain't much to write home about.
13 comments:
I am not so sure on the meat in the crock pot. My husband usually takes care of that and it usually turns out well. I'll let him know you're looking for a "roast in crock pot recipe".
As for other recipes, my aunt gave me one for a potato soup recipe in the crock pot that is wonderful.
6c diced potatoes
5c water
4 chicken bullion cubes (for vegetarian I bet you could sub 5 cups of veggie broth, but I've never tried this)
1c diced celery
1c diced carrots
1/2c to 1c diced onions
4t of butter (I usually fudge on this and use a little less)
1 can evaporated milk
1c shredded cheddar or colbyjack cheese
Combine all ingredients except the milk and cheese and heat on high in crock pot for 6-7 hours until veggies are tender. Turn to low and add the milk and cheese, stir well and heat thoroughly for around 30 minutes. You can garnish with parsley (or so the original recipe said, I don't usually use it).
It makes enough soup for the five of us (with my oldest son taking two helpings and often my husband and I as well) and we usually have enough left over for a couple of people to have soup for lunch the next day. All three kids love it! I can't make it often enough for my oldest.
I think the original recipe is from the Fix It and Forget It cookbook, giving credit where credit is due. It's one of our favorites, and fairly cheap to make. Hope this helps.
I don't own a crock pot and this recipe is for grilling, but my busy SIL used it by dumping it in over the meat in the crock pot and said it was the best crock pot meal she has ever made.
Chimichuri Pork:
1 c. flat leaf parsley
1/2 c. extra virgin oliveoil
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c. fresh oregano leaves
1/4 c. fresh cilantro leaves
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. gr. cumin
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
Combine all the ingredients in the food processor, puree.
[Normally you would marinade 2-12 hr over 2 lb pork and then grill/broil.]
Here is a wonderful pot roast crockpot recipe. I serve this to company regularly and it is very good:
1 roast
2 cups water (or beef broth)
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup tomato puree (or marinara sauce)
3 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley
1 teaspoon sugar
2 Tablespoons Flour
3-4 stalks celery
3 carrots
potatoes
1 onion
Put all ingredients in crock pot and let stew at least 6 hours, if you want firmer veggies, add veggies into recipe later and cook until tender.
Serve with a glass of remaining wine (always use drinkable red wine and not cooking wine) and loaf of fresh bread.
This woman challenged herself to cook stuff in her crockpot every day in 2008 - the recipes and her verdicts are all there. It's amazing:
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com
Ik201317,
Ok, the crockpot lady is hilarious! I love it!!! Ladies, do check her out. I have been wanting to get some good crockpot recipies for awhile now, and this is my answer.
Slice an onion and put the slices in the bottom of the crockpot. Peel as many carrots as you need and cut into 2-inch lengths. Arrange under and around rump roast. Sprinkle with cumin and cinnamon and add a couple of handfuls of dried fruit--raisins, apricots, prunes. Pour a cup of beef broth over all. Serve with couscous and call it Moroccan pot roast.
Oh. MomVee, you just reminded me that somewhere I have a recipe for Moroccan brisket that I did in the Crockpot years ago and it was delicious. I don't remember if I even used the dried fruit, but definitely Moroccan spices (including cinnamon) and some tomato of some sort.
I have a goal to use my crock pot more too. So I'll be checking out the Crock pot lady next!
I know I've done an Asian pork roast with Char Siu sauce that was wonderful.
Great topic JM, and great ideas, ladies! I love the crockpot and Red, I'm glad to hear that you serve this roast recipe to company. I'm always on the lookout for make-ahead recipes when we're having people over, but have had some unfortunate experiences...Like the pork roast that was supposed to take 6-8 hours in the oven but was well done after 2 hours :)
There are tons of recipes online & many big recipe sites have a slow-cooker collection. It's worth checking out.
Also, if you like bean soup, crockpots are the very best. I boil the beans till barely cooked, then throw them in with all other ingredients to slow cook for the creamiest, most velvety bean soups. I've never had a failure, no matter what kind of bean soup it was.
One of our favorites from a good cookbook:
Italian Vegetable Soup
By: Patti Boston (Newark, OH)
Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook, Feasting with your Slow Cooker (pg.51)
3 small carrots, sliced
1 small onion, chopped
2 small potatoes, diced
2 TB chopped parsley
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tsp beef bouillon granules or 3 cubes
1 1/4 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
16 oz can red kidney beans, undrained
3 cups water
14 1/2 oz can stewed tomatoes, with juice
1 cup diced, cooked ham
Layer carrots, onions, potatoes, parsley, garlic, beef bouillon, basil, salt, pepper, and kidney beans in slow cooker. Do not stir. Add water. Cover. Cook on low 8-9 hours, or on high 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 ours, until vegetables are tender. Stir in tomatoes and ham. Cover and cook on high 10-15 minutes.
ANOTHER:
Soy Sauce Chicken
1-2 1/2 lbs chicken
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
2 TB sherry
4 slices ginger root
4 green onions
1 whole star anise or 8 sections
Put soy sauce, sugar, sherry, ginger root, 1 green onion (whole) and anise into a large pan and bring to a boil. Put chicken in and cover. When it returns to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook for 40 minutes, turning occassionally to coat chicken. Remove chicken and boil sauce till it thickens slightly. Arrange chicken on platter, cut up 2 or 3 green onions, sprinkle on chicken, and pour sauce over all.
VARIATION I DO:
I have never used ginger root, but I do sprinkle ginger spice in sauce mixture. I also never use anise. I do this in my crockpot. I layer sliced onion, sliced carrots, mushrooms and green onion. Then put the chicken in. And sprinkle some more onion, carrots, mushrooms, and green onion on top. I pour the sauce over the whole thing and let it cook on low all day. Turns out very tender and I serve it over rice. YUMMY.
Thank you all SO much for the great lineup of recipes. I incorporated your suggestions based on what I had on hand and the roast came out better than usual. Red told me how to make gravy from the juice (I don't hide the fact that I'm still learning my way around the kitchen), and that was a nice touch. The Moroccan thing sounds SUPER interesting for next time, I always like taking the sweet route for a change from salty/spicy.
I'm REALLY looking forward to trying of the new non-roast recipes you posted here. Just what I was looking for--good, vouched-for recipes. Thank you for taking the time to post them!!
I love my crockpot, but I admit that I use it mostly for meats that end up shredded simply because of the way they cook up. BUT, I will say that if your family likes tacos, the crockpot makes THE BEST chicken taco meat I've ever had.
Salsa Chicken
Place 4-6 chicken breasts in crock. Pour any salsa over the top - enough to cover the chicken. I use store bought salsa because I've found that homemade salsa is wasted on this recipe. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken. Use for tacos or as sandwiches.
Also, I do shredded turkey for sandwiches in the crockpot too. Just place a turkey breast roast in the crock and cook for 6-8 hours. Then I shred the meat and add a packet of turkey gravy mixed with water to the meat. Makes GREAT turkey sandwiches.
I'm the busy SIL from the second comment! The recipe turned out wonderfully, and I didn't even puree the ingredients in the food processor--just threw them in on top of pork chops. And I used dried spices instead of fresh.
I also do this spice combination on any kind of meat in the crock pot and it is still flavorful 8 hours later: coriander, fresh garlic, salt, and pepper, and then give everyone a wedge of lemon or lime on their plate to squeeze on the meat to bring out the flavor more.
I also make spaghetti sauce in the crock pot:
ground pork
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cans diced tomatoes
Italian seasonings to taste
Delicious and super easy!
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