Crock Pot

[kcneon]

The white chicken chili turned out ok. It was a bit bland so if I ever make it again I'll add an extra cup of salsa verde.

Same thing happened with the one I made, so I added 2 Tbl dijon mustard.  It blended in well and made the flavors pop.

[cuddlyevil]

I am thinking of doing a crock-pot thing for the kiddo's birthday party on Sunday, but I'm not sure what yet. Initially I was thinking about chili, but the roast or pulled pork ideas sound good. I also stumbled across a short rib recipe that looks amazing, it's served with a goat cheese polenta. It'll be a bunch of adults and two (possibly 3 if the neighbors come over), I know one of the kids will eat it but the others are up in the air. We're planning on taking the birthday girl to chuck e cheese, so I was thinking of a crock pot recipe because it's essentially "set it and forget it".

Thoughts? Other recipes to consider?

[Kwyjibo]

Julie's mom likes to cook a pork roast and a beef roast together.  It tastes amazing.

[cuddlyevil]

Ooooo...that sounds good.

I still have the drippings from the roast I did last winter (it's in the freezer), if they're still good I might add them into the liquid if I do a beef roast.

[Poolio]

If the kids will eat it, I have a stupidly easy beef stroganoff recipe. It looks like a trainwreck in the crockpot until you add the sour cream but it tastes amazing. Serve it over some hot buttered egg noodles and you're set.

I also have a honey chicken recipe that is darn tasty as well, I like to up the curry power quotient because it can be too sweet since you add nearly 1 cup of honey.

[cuddlyevil]

I'll take both, one will not eat the stroganoff but she'll probably be so wiped out from the activities earlier in the day she won't eat much anyway.

[Jen]

Brought out the ol' slow cooker yesterday so make up some chickpeas for a soup I made last night. The slow cooker is a great way to cook up dried beans (didn't even soak them overnight, just used Alton Brown's method). I also discovered while making dinner that snacking on chickpeas is healthier than candy.

Brought out the SC again today to make this soup tonight. I did soak the black beans overnight because I didn't feel like cooking them up in the pressure cooker (which I do often) last night. I know someone mentioned that they didn't like a lot of recipes off of A year of slowing cooking site and while I have only made a couple, this is one I did like. (Agreed on how many of them don't seem very "homemade.") I also made up a batch of brown (also using an Alton Brown method) rice last night so dinner is made, just have to go home, heat up the rice and serve. I am relaxed just thinking about it, and wondering why I don't do this more often.

And in my infinite wisdom of relaxation, I am now wondering why I made brown rice. I guess I forgot that this is a soup when I decided I needed a side to go with the dish. D'oh! Maybe I'll make rice pudding out of it instead then.

[Butter]

I am surprised the Alton Brown recipe didn't include growing the rice yourself, then putting it through some elaborately constructed hulling device.