Melinda Cooper - 45 Tasty Crock Pot Soups and Stews Recipes: For All Families

45 Tasty Crockpot

Soup And Stew Recipes

For All Families

Melinda Cooper

Copyright 2014 Melinda Cooper

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Table Of Contents

The basic crock pot consists of an oval pot made of ceramic or porcelain, a heating element made of metal and the lid, made of glass. Over the years, these small appliances have evolved to include stylish designs such as timers, multiple heat settings, locking lids, insulated cases and other features but their functionality has remained the same.

Crock pot (also known as slow cooker) is a great time saving kitchen appliance due to its function of maintaining a relatively very low temperature for extending the cooking duration. It is a convenient method of cooking soups and stews. The preparation mainly involves putting all your ingredients in the Crockpot and cook together for several hours.

Since a crock-pot uses low cooking temperatures, it can be left unattended to and generally will not overcook if the food cooks a little longer than the suggested cooking time. A few crock pot recipes require an ingredient like pasta, to be put in them towards the end of the cooking time in order to prevent it from being overcooked during the slow cooking process.

Some soups and stews can even be made the day before, if you so desire. The soup or stew will then be started in the crock-pot before you leave for the day and when you get back at the end of the day, it will be ready to eat.

When cooking crock-pot soup and stew recipes, all the ingredients flavors have an opportunity of blending together and creating a great taste. You can even adapt most traditional soup and stew recipes to crock-pot by adjusting the cooking time.

People who enjoy home cooked meals but run tight schedules will definitely love the moth-watering recipes listed here. It's also great for beginning cooks since all that is required is to fill it, turn it on and return hours later to a home filled with wonderful smells and a ready dinner for you and your family.

• Slow cooking beautifully extracts all the flavors in beef, pork, lamb and chicken making them more delicious.

• You can use crock pot for making less oily food as it does not require oil for cooking the food just like in other appliances and if you will do it then you can have pools of oil in your meal. You can also cook the meat in it without adding any fat to it as the crock pot does not let the fat drains away just like it get drained away while frying in other appliances.

• You can cook your breakfast in the night and your dinner in the morning. I know it sounds weird but you can achieve it by putting all the ingredients in the crock pot for getting cooked overnight and in the morning the breakfast gets ready to be served. Isnt it an easy way to reduce the burden of cooking in the morning? You can make chocolate brownies, bacon, eggs, oatmeal and casserole etc in it.

You can do the same with dinner also; you can put all the ingredients in the crock pot in the morning and you can get it done by the time you come home from job. You can make pot roasts, mashed potatoes, cheesecakes, ice cream toppings, tomato sauce, apple sauce or butter, sandwiches, lasagna, meat balls, barbecue and many other things in it.

• Crockpot should be one half to two thirds full. If it is filed to the brim, the foods wont cook well. Foods will also cook too quickly if the liquid level and food is lower. Foods that are cooked on the crock-pot are immersed in the simmering liquid and this is why they cook faster and will also be moister.

• Remove skin from poultry, excess fat should be trimmed from meats. Fat will melt with extended cooking durations, and will leave an unlikable texture to the finished dish. Fatty foods cook too quickly also.

• Always chop your ingredients uniformly so they cook evenly. Place the ingredients strategically inside the pot. Put veggies on the sides and bottom of your crock pot and place meats on top. This is because vegetables dont cook as fast as meat.

• Chicken: pay attention to your cut. Boneless chicken breasts for instance take 2-3 hours while bone-in chicken breasts take 3-4 hours. Bone-in breasts, wings, chicken thighs and drumsticks are among the best cuts of chicken to use.

• Meats: any type of meats can be used but tougher, cheaper cuts of meat are better because they have less fat. It is best to brown meat and drain excess fat away before adding to crock-pot.

• Vegetables: use fresh and not frozen because it usually turns out better. Par-boil or pre-cooked rice is also better.

• Aromatics: Sauting onions and garlic before adding will help extract the flavor.

• When cooking on low setting, do not lift the lid to stir. If you do, enough heat will escape and the cooking time has to be extended by about 20 minutes. Instead, spin the cover until the condensation falls off then you can easily see inside.

Bacteria grow after a while and prefer lower temperature environments. The safe way to cook is to get the temperature up to and above 140 degrees (at this temperature, bacteria cannot grow) as quickly as possible. Defrost all foods before cooking in the crock pot so that the food temperature can get to 140 degrees quickly. Ensure you use a thermometer when applicable.

Removable liners are much easier to clean. However, if your crock pot has a non remover liner, you can line it with a cooking bag and you wont have any cleanup whatsoever. To make cleanup easier, spray the interior of the liner with cooking spray.

Cooked food should be removed from the crockpot or liner before refrigerating the cooked food. Since the liners material is thick, the food will not cool down soon enough to prevent harmful bacteria growth.

Servings: 4

PREPARATION TIME: 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: 5 hours

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of spinach also known as Palak
• Pound of diced goat cheese
• 6 cups of vegetable broth
• 5 red onions, diced
• Chilies, according to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh coriander, chopped
• Fresh mint, chopped
• 2 tsp of cumin powder
• tsp of cumin seeds
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tbsp of olive oil

Direction:

1. In a Crockpot heat the oil and fry the onions
2. Add the cumin seeds and stir for 20 sec
3. Add the chilies, garlic and the cheese
4. Add the spinach and the rest of the ingredients
5. Cover and cook for about 5 hours on medium low heat.

Servings: 2

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 3 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of eggplant
• 1 cup of tomato sauce
• 5 red tomatoes, diced
• 4-6 chilies
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp of lime juice
• 1 tsp of black seeds
• 1 tsp of cumin seeds
• 2 cup of water
• 2 tbsp of soya sauce
• 3 tbsp of olive oil

Direction:

1. In a Crockpot, heat the oil and fry the seeds
2. Add the chilies and onions