Yes, a crock pot. Not a crack pipe.
My neighbor gave me an extra one that they got for their wedding and I have made a grand total of one (count it) meal in it thus far. 9 1/2 hour beef stew. El yummo.
So give me your best crock pot recipes. Low fat is preferred but not a must.
Lamb Shanks A’La Fenris
4-6 lamb shanks…Ask the butcher in your supermarket if necessary…
1 can of anchovies
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes (or more…if you like tomatoes, add two cans)
1 cup of low-sodium beef-broth
1 cup booze (seriously…sherry, brandy, left-over wine, vodka…doesn’t matter, the result will be good, but you need some kind of alchol)
1 large onion, cut up
4 cloves of garlic, mashed (smoosh the things with the unopened tomato can!)
1 large sprig of fresh rosemary
some fresh Basil
Oregano (fresh is better, but…)
Flour, salt, pepper
Olive oil
Dredge the lamb shanks in the flour/salt/pepper mixture, brown in the oil. Place in the crockpot.
Saute the onion and the garlic in the same pan, add more oil if needed. Saute until light gold color, put in the crockpot.
Take your frying pan (that you browned the lamb and onion in, get the pan hot and dump the broth and booze in. Scrape up all the gunk on the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
Cut the anchovies up and put in crockpot. Put the herbs in the crockpot. Put the tomatoes in the crockpot. Pour the liquid from the pan in the crockpot. Cover and cook on medium-high.
Cook for at least 4 hours. The longer you cook it, the better it’ll taste. Serve over pasta.
Fenris
Whoa, Fenris! First it’s the artificial cheese like substances in my school cafeteria spaghetti recipe and now you’re telling the deaf one to put swimmers into a lamb shank stew. Your recipe almost belongs over in Wildest Bill’s thread, I do declare.
However, you are redeemed by the large quantity of alcohol that you specify. Nonetheless, I heartily recommend two things;
[li]Rinse all of the oil off of the anchovies prior to adding them to the stew. The full monty of soaking them in milk is not needed, but a rinse wouldn’t hurt, unless you really like swimmers.[/li]
[li]Julia Child’s trick of browning the shanks with a spot of sugar works wonders on the gamey flavor that some lamb can have. Use it right along with the salt and spices.[/li]
In closing I also recommend that Canthearya drop by my recipe thread for a glance at my beef taco meat recipe. It is perfectly suited to crock potting. I’ll probably post a barf beely… er, beef barley soup recipe real soon too.
PS: Feel free to cross post your recipe over in my thread as well.
The artificial cheeze is necessary. You wanted to duplicate school cafeteria food, and, since you are obviouly a person of true discernment and taste, as well as an artiste, I assume you want authenticity. Real “comes from a cow…(or in the case of Mozzerella, a buffalo)” cheese wouldn’t duplicate the oily, rubbery texture that you get in school cafeteria food.
The anchovies sound like a weird, but they melt and add a subtle depth to the flavor of the sauce. You can’t actually taste 'em. (actually the adding of anchovies to sauces is pretty common in British and Tuscan cooking)
[quote]
**
However, you are redeemed by the large quantity of alcohol that you specify. Nonetheless, I heartily recommend two things;
[li]Rinse all of the oil off of the anchovies prior to adding them to the stew. **[/li][/quote]
You’re completely right about this step and I should have added it.
I don’t know how to cross-post here, but I’ll copy and paste it.
Fenris
Lately, my favorite thing has been chili (midwestern-style ;), my kids don’t like things too spicy). I don’t do things too exactly when I cook but basically this is my “recipe”.
Dump into the crock pot:
~1-2 lbs of ground beef, browned and well drained (optional if you don’t eat meat or don’t want the fat)
~1 large can of diced or crushed tomatoes (crushed with make it thicker, diced will make it chunkier)
~1 regular-sized can of diced tomatoes with seasoning (for instance onions and green chiles or jalepenos)
~1-2 onions-chopped, a very large one will be enough otherwise use 2
~1 can black beans, drained
~1 can red beans, drained
~1 can chili-style beans
~2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
Then I get out the spice containers. Add:
2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
Cumin to taste
Black Pepper to taste
Garlic Powder to taste
Stir that all together. Put the lid on and cook on high until the onions are totally clear (usually 6 hours or on low for 11-12 hours depending on how finely you chopped your onions).
When I used to work outside of the home, I would prepare this all ahead of time and store in the refrigerator (a day or two) until I wanted to cook it. Then all I had to do was dump it in the crock-pot and turn it on. Much easier than a roast; they don’t prepare early very well.
[Hannibal Lector] I’ve got a lovely recipe for kidney stew, Clarise…
thp-thp-thp-thp. [/Hannibal Lector]
two cubed potatoes
2 sliced carrots
1 diced yellow onion.
Big Pot Roast
Salt and pepper to taste.
Fill the lid of the crock pot with water, and pour it over the contents.
Turn it to high, and cook away. At nighttime, turn it down to low.
Cook it for two days. This will be the most tender pot roast you will ever partake of.
We actually do this in the rice cooker, but i thnk it would work fine in a crock pot on low.
Kick-ass cheese dip
2 blocks plain cream cheese
2 little boxes frozen spinach
1 jar alfredo sauce
couple cups shredded cheddar
Parmesian, if you want to go crazy with it
What ever seasonings appeal–I like garlic and papper, here.
Through it all in the crock pot and let it melt down. Serve with chips of bread.
beef Stew:
2 cans Campbells’ cream of tomato
2 cans Campbells’ french onion
1 beef roast of your choice
carrots
celery
potatoes
bell pepper
onion
garlic
olive oil
A good burgundy of your choice
fresh french bread
butter
put soup in pot, on high. don’t dilute.
Dice up the roast into cubes. heat Oive oil and fresh crushed garlic in skillet. Brown meat. Dice up veggies. add all to pot, and add water as needed to bring the level up to the rim. stir, cover and simmer on low for about 6 to 8 hours, stirring and sampling occasionally. Add 1 cup of burgundy during the last half hour, stirring in thoroughly.
Eat stew with the french bread, butter and perhaps a small side salad. Salt & pepper to taste. Polish off wine. Sigh contentedly. 
Roasts are fine for crock pots. I usually just get some BBQ sauce, dump both in the pot, and put on high for about 6 hours on high. You won’t need a knife when it’s done.
Also good are meatballs in BBQ sauce.
Mom’s Homade Chicken Soup:
-whole lil’ chicken or package of chicken wings
-fav. veggies (I prefer it without)
Sit down with the collander and pick out all the chunks of chicken you can. Dump out bones and remains.
Stick chicken back in crock pot with the liquid nd throw in noodles of your choice. I prefer bowtie.
Let noodle cook. Serve.
Chulent, as some of you, no doubt, know, is a hearty dish usually eaten on Shabbos (Saturday) afternoon by observant Jews. Here’s how I make it (I use a West Bend slow-cooker, which is actually metal; it might work a bit differently in a true Rival crock pot, but I think it’ll be fine, just take a bit longer for the first few steps):
Lightly cover bottom of crock pot with oil. Put crock pot on higest setting.
Slice an onion, dice a clove of garlic. Fry on bottom of pot.
After onion & garlic are fried, put in a piece of beef short ribs (approximately 1/2-1 pound). (It’s called “Flanken” in Jewish, the labels on my packages say “beef short ribs for Flanken.” I don’t know if it has another name in the non-Kosher world.) If necessary, other cuts of beef can be substituted. Spinkle top with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika. Turn over and season the other side the same way. Brown the meat in the fried onion and garlic.
Peel and cut up 4-5 medium potatoes into eighths. Place them, 1/2 - 1 cup of barley, and 1/4-1/2 cup of mixed beans (here in NYC, they package Kidney beans, cranberry beans and red beans as “Chulent mix”) into the pot. Cover mixture with water. Put in 1/2-1 tablespoon of salt, onion powder, garlic powder & paprika, spinkle in some pepper and stir. You can also throw in some barbecue sauce if you want.
Turn down the setting to medium after the water starts boiling (if you won’t wait around for that, you can turn it down sooner). Let sit for 12 hours or more. Enjoy!
1 venison neck roast
1 package onion soup mix
1/2 cup water
Put all in crock pot on medium for 2 days. Grab neck bone with tongs and let the meat slide right off. shred and serve on potato rolls.
Sometimes the simplest is the beat.