What's in the mini crock pot? (It is a small, 1.8 l capacity crockpot, meant for 1 or 2 people)
I seem to remember that one hour on high equals two on low.
Don't fill the pot more than two-thirds or less than half
Variations; use brown sugar (the darker the sugar, the more pronounced the taste), add nutmeg or 2 cardamom pods or a fresh bay leaf, or vanilla sugar (I store my vanilla pods in a jar of caster sugar to make vanilla sugar for baking, sprinkling on strawberries, etc)
SATURDAY SOUP (I used to make this years and years ago every week.)
This has a rather thin flavour if you haven't used any butter or oil. The sweating stage is a good idea.
Basic recipe; the tired vegetables at the bottom of the fridge on the day before you go shopping; quantities variable but onion and potato give it 'body'. Chop onion, carrots, celery, beans, swede, cabbage (not too much!) etc quite small, along with a couple of smallish potatoes to thicken it.
Best to sweat them first in oil, (I zap them in the microwave with a smallish dollop of olive oil) and put in pot. Add liquid (hot stock - can be made up from powder, tinned tomatoes, or just water) and seasoning - salt pepper, garlic puree in a tube is great stuff, tomato puree if no tins available, herbs, but go easy on the salt if you have used stock powder. Cook on high 4 hours, low 8 hours.) Made 3 good portions
BEEF GOULASH
450g diced beef stewing steak, an onion, a red pepper and a yellow pepper all sliced, 2 small garlic cloves, half a tin of tomatoes, 1 tablespoon tomato puree, oil, flour, salt pepper, stock (used stock powder), large teaspoon hot smoked paprika, bayleaf from the garden, a couple of tablespoons sour cream to serve.
Soften onion and put in pot with peppers and garlic. Brown meat in hot oil in batches and add to pot. Sit tablespoon or so of plain flour into juices in pan to absorb the juices, add hot stock gradually, stirring, to make a sort of thick gravy. Add herbs, tomato puree, seasoning, stir well and add to pot, covering the meat. Pot was now rather full so cooked on Low for 8 hours. Made 4 portions (2 for now, 2 in freezer) with pasta/potatoes and another veg, and also 1 portion of soup.
SAUSAGE SUPPER
450 sausagemeat, divided into 20 meatballs, 1 onion, three sticks celery, 3 long thin carrots, 2 cloves garlic all chopped, seasoning, half a tin tomatoes, 1 tablespoon tomato puree, herbs, hot stock or water, seasoning, oil.
Put all veg in pot, brown meatballs (zap in Air fryer for 5-10 minutes) and add them. Stir all the other ingredients together and pour into pot. High 3-4 hours, Low 7-8 hours. Made 4 portions (2 for now, 2 in freezer) with potatoes and another veg.
excellent using sausages with chorizo in them, and peppers, maybe some chilli, for more Mediterranean flavour.
LEMON AND ORANGE AND GINGER CHICKEN
6-8 boneless skinless chicken thighs or equivalent, cut into pieces, half an onion, Juice and rind of 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons marmalade, finely chopped ginger to taste (1 heaped teaspoon) 2 small cloves of garlic, salt and pepper, hot stock or water.
Trim chicken and put in pot. Mix all the other ingredients well and add, covering the chicken. High 1 1/2 - 2 hours, Low 3-4 hours. Split the sauce between all the portions otherwise it may be a bit dry.
MACARONI CHEESE makes four portions, eat 2, freeze 2.
125g macaroni; 300ml whole milk (I use semi-skimmed); 25g butter cut into pieces; 25g soft cheese like Philadelphia or imitations; 100g strong grated cheedar (double the quantity in the original recipe). My other additions to the original recipe are finely chopped shallots or onions - say half a small-med onion; a shaking of frozen peas and or sweet corn.
Pour boiling water on pasta and leave while you assemble everything else. Defrost the frozen veg by adding to the pasta water just before you drain it. Put everything in slow cooker, season (needs plenty of seasoning) and give a good stir. Low for 1 hr, stir, low for half an hour. Check - if too sloppy (not a problem I had) cook for 10 mins with lid off, if too stiff, add a splash of milk
For two people, split into two. Massively improved by frazzling some pancetta pieces (in air fryer pannikin) combining with macaroni cheese, topping with grated cheese and browning (in air fryer). Use cheese and breadcrumbs in ordinary oven, but breadcrumbs go all over everywhere in air fryer. Could add wilted spinach at this point too. (wilt it when frazzling pancetta?)
BRAISED WHITE CABBAGE
Put a teaspoon of Marigold boullion powder in crockpot, black pepper / 2-3 peppercorns, dollop of butter - slightly bigger than a walnut, and a mug of hot water. About two-thirds fill with shredded with cabbage. 2 hours on high, stir once or twice, add more salt/seasoning if needed. Considering caraway next time - might add chopped ham or frazzled pancetta just before service. Loads of liquid left.
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