Love My Crock

summer crock hiatus

2006-06-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

If you're reading this, it's either because you know Rachel (me) or Kate, have followed the link on an e-mail from me, or have somehow found your way from my contributor's blurb in XLR8R a few issues back. I just wanted to say hello to anybody checking out LMC and make formal our summer hiatus.

It seems that crock-pot cookery isn't as much fun to either contemplate or do in the warmer months--we're too busy running around outside or just aren't hankering as much for warm chilis and soups. Don't worry, Seattle summers only last through September, at best. I plan to get real with this blog come fall. Until then, I'll be enjoying these delicious dishes:

fish taco. mostly from the phenomenally excellent agua verde.

ceasar salad. sometimes with chicken.

lemonade. alcoholic.

Happy summer solstice!!! See you soon!

Double Corn and Cheddar Chowder

2006-02-23T02:28:00.000-08:00

Hot damn! Now here's one I've made twice. It's great for weekend afternoons when you aren't desperate for food just yet and want to have something yummy later. I don't have much to say other than it's delicious, simple, and highly recommended. For funny anecdotes see the previous review--as everyone knows, it's much easier to make fun of something than praise it, and I'm tired. Enjoy!

1 tbsp. butter
1 c. onions, chopped
2 tbsp. flour
2 1/2 c. chicken broth
16 oz. can creamed corn
1 c. frozen corn
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce (I use Tapatillo sauce and give it two extra shakes)
3/4 c. (or a whole, does it really make a difference?) sharp cheddar cheese
freshly ground pepper

1. In saucepan, melt butter, stir in onions and saute until wilted. Stir in flour. When well mixed, whisk in chicken broth. If you're like me and don't yet have all the tools of the trade (why buy a whisk when there's CDs to be bought?) just stir it around with a fork. Stir frequently over medium heat until broth is thickened. (This is dubious. I just make mine somewhat thick because I'm impatient.)

2. Pour into 4-qt slow cooker, mix in remaining ingredients except cheese.
3. Cook on low 3 1/2 hours, stir in cheese until melted and well-blended, cook 1 more hour.

I do have a couple more things to say. First, if anyone can tell me how to avoid the strange film that covers my spoon while eating this, that would be great. Am I not blending the cheese properly, or should it be added 30 mins before the end rather than 1 hour?

Makes 6 servings, and they would be 200 calories each but are probably more because I don't use reduced-fat cheese. I don't partake in narcotics so I might as well get my endorphins firing with real cheese, expanding waistline be damned. I'd rather be fat than die from lack of pleasure, so there.

The hot sauce really gives it a kick. A wise man at my workplace first bristled at my soup, saying he only used fresh corn in his recipes. I hesitate to say "la dee dah" because I realize how much more amazing dishes with fresh ingredients are. Anyhow, he impetuously grabbed a spoon and had a sampling of my chowder, which he then proclaimed "very good"--from him, a high compliment. How d'ya like them apples?

"Simple Tuna Delight"

2006-02-23T02:03:00.000-08:00

Is that a three-way oxymoron or what? I mean, will you just look at that plate of cat food barf? Don't click on it, it's too frightening. This dish was made on one of those weeks when I was dead broke and decided to whip something up other than pasta sauteed in garlic butter. All it took were two cans of tuna, one can of cream of chicken soup, and some frozen veggies. Voila: cat food barf.

Tuna: It smells, tastes, and looks like cat food. And guess what, cats don't even like it. Maybe they like that Sheba stuff, but Mr. Chow just played with his bite of delight. I can't say it enough. Do not cook or eat this dish.

Following this recipe and once I came back into money, I spent a good deal of it on quality ingredients like fresh shrimp, bacon, chives, and red potatoes for what seemed like a delicious Corn and Shrimp chowder. Like the tuna dish, that one won't be explained in further detail here. I didn't even take a picture of it. Both of these things foiled my eating-cheap plans because they were, in fact, inedible.

Even my boyfriend didn't want seconds, and he eats offal and sea urchins.

T.V.P. Chili with Corn

2006-01-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

I want to love you--T.V.P.!

Ok, so that doesn't have quite the same ring to it as "P.Y.T.," but this altered Vegetarian Chili recipe was a pretty little thing. The first recipe made to save serious money and nourish me through a week of lunches, I was happily surprised with the hearty results. The QFC closest to me didn't have T.V.P. (Textured Vegetable Protein) in their bulk aisle anymore, and I wasn't up for walking to Madison Market, the local co-op, so I ended up buying that veg chili mix some company makes, which is nothing but a bag of T.V.P. and some dehydrated veggies for $3.99. Pricey, but I suspect its pre-packaged magic gave this recipe the kick that others have somewhat lacked. The kick that says, "You can eat me with very few garnishes, really! I taste good!"

The recipe I followed was for a 6-qt pot, so I halved some things, though not the spices, and added/subtracted an ingredient or two. Since it looks quite different from the original, I'll present it to you as--gasp!--mine:

15-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
15-oz. can kidney beans, drained
15-oz. can garbanzo beans, drained
15-oz. can black beans, drained
15-oz. can corn, drained
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 c. chopped red onions
4 c. low-sodium tomato juice

(I may have used 3--as Kate points out you can always use less liquid than what's called for. The main thing is that your pot is at least half full so things will cook evenly, but not more than 3/4 full so it won't explode. I just tried to make sure the ratio of solids to liquids was more chili-like than soup-like.)

1-2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1-3 tsp. chili powder (three baby!)
1 c. T.V.P.

1. Place tomatoes, all beans, corn, pepper, and onions in cooker.
2. Add tomato juice & seasonings/spices. Top with T.V.P. (Don't stir it in)
3. Cover, cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4 hours.

6-8 servings, 270 calories per

beautiful colors, no? and the result:

The perfect consistency and spicy deliciousness! My boyfriend requested that the next batch be made with beef, but I liked the substitute. I'm trying to eat less meat, and maybe by cooking I'll discover that I really do like enough vegetables and varieties of food to do that.

Paella is for lovers?

2006-01-22T12:02:00.000-08:00

There's a scene in Sex and Lucia where Lucia, who has just fled the scene of her boyfriend's apparent suicide, walks into a beachside cafe and orders paella. The waitress tells her that the restaurant only serves paella for two, sorry, so she'll have to order something else. Lucia bursts into tears, the waitress wonders whether now is the right time to tell her the specials du jour, and then Lucia does everyone a favor by running out of the restaurant, down the beach, and into the next scene of the movie. Paella, apparently, is only for lovers.

I have a lover, but he only eats nachos. Last Tuesday night while he was swizzling beer and crunching on his favorite "meal," I dragged out the 5-quart crock pot I got for Christmas and filled it with a Better Homes and Gardens paella recipe. This serves 6, so even if you're eating alone, you'll have enough to feed all your absent lovers for the rest of the week.

Chicken and Sausage Paella

3 lbs. meaty chicken pieces, skinned
8 oz. cooked smoked turkey sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 large onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 turmeric (cheaper than 1/8 tsp. saffron, which you can use instead if you've got the cash)
1 14-oz. can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup water
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 medium yellow or green sweet peppers, cut into thin, bite-sized strips
1 cup frozen peas
3 cups hot cooked rice or one 5-oz. package saffron-flavored yellow rice mix, cooked according to directions

1. In a large skillet brown chicken pieces, half at a time, in hot oil. Drain off fat. Place chix pieces, turkey sausage, and onion in the crock pot. Sprinkle with garlic, dried thyme, black pepper, and turmeric/saffron. Pour broth and water over all.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 8 hours. Add the tomatoes, sweet peppers, and peas to the cooker. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

Though my paella looked just like the picture, it tasted like a watered down version of the paella I ate while visiting Spain a few years ago (alone, I might add). Just guessing, but maybe it was the water? The recipe calls for 18 oz. of liquid, most of which was left at the bottom of the pot after cooking. Better Homes and Gardens offered no direction in this matter, so I drained the excess off. More liquid appeared. I drained that off. The next day, more appeared. Conclusion? This is one soggy, sorry dish, and about as romantic as a sweaty palm.

The good news is that it includes all the four food groups, so I staved off anemia for one more week. The bad news is that this quick and easy crock pot recipe took 2 hours to slice, dice, brown, pour, and clean up. Not to mention the left-brain aerobics of forcing myself to wake up early and throw all this together before going to work. I thought crock pots were supposed to take the time out of timed cooking!

Not bad for my first crock attempt. Nothing burned, and my apartment smelled fantastic for two days. But will I ever lure my lover to the dinner table? Is Garlic Chicken with Artichokes for lovers? How many chickens can I eat before I break through my post-vegetarian guilt and cook a pork roast? Ladies and gentlemen, I wonder and wait.

Veggie Minestrone: I'm Just Not That Into You

2006-01-18T23:22:00.000-08:00

4 c. low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
4 c. low-sodium tomato juice
1 tbsp. dried basil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 c. fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
28-oz. can low-sodium diced tomatoes
1 1/2 c. uncooked rotini pasta

1. Combine all ingredients except pasta in slow cooker. Cook on low 7-8 hours.
2. Add pasta. Cook on high 15-20 minutes.

Makes 12 servings, 70 calories per

Alright, well, if you noticed the copious use of the word "low" and the fact that each serving contains enough calories for about 20 minutes of living life, you might be tipped off to what I had to find out the hard way: this soup sucks. I didn't see a footnote that said "If your diet allows, you may want to increase the salt to 2 tsp." I'm not even on a diet, I just didn't think the low-fat cookbook would have totally bland recipes. Now I know why everything I truly enjoy eating has 1000 mgs of sodium on the package.

I used zucchini instead of mushrooms because I loathe fungi, and I added a can of kidney beans because I thought that's how I'd seen it done elsewhere. Something in the mix--maybe one of these two--made things suspiciously, and unappetizingly crunchy. Adapting this 5-qt recipe to my 4-qt pot by only using 3 cups each of broth and juice also made the finished soup look more like chili. Chili that could only be saved by a merciful rain of salt and cheese. If you have any minestrone tips, please share because I love the soup. Just not this one. Low-Fat Veggie Minestrone, it's over between us. Your beauty is skin deep, you're too skinny, and you have absolutely nothing to say...it's not me, it's you.

Wake-N-Bake Apple Cake

2006-01-18T23:10:00.000-08:00

Because I made this as a present a couple of weekends ago for someone who I suspect likes the weed:

1 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
4 medium-sized cooking apples, chopped
1/3 c. eggbeaters (this is a low-fat recipe)
2 tsp. vanilla

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
2. Add apples, stirring lightly to coat.
3. Combine eggbeaters and vanilla. Add to apple mixture. Stir until just moistened. Spoon into lightly greased slow cooker.
4. Cover. Bake on high 2 1/2-3 hours. Serve warm.

Makes 8 servings, 180 calories per

This was a fun one to try, and as it turns out many people aren't aware that you can bake cakes and fruit compotes in your crock-pot. Oh but you can! It didn't look like there was enough of the eggbeaters and vanilla to make any sort of texture, but I dumped it all in the pot and magically (or maybe it was the baking powder) it expanded into an honest-to-God, yummy-smelling cake. It wasn't much to look at, but the birthday boy said it tasted good, and leftovers won raves at the office. Woo hoo! I used the tart and delicious Granny Smith apple.

crock me up

2006-01-10T15:47:00.000-08:00

coming soon: apple cake, minestrone soup, and kate!

Turkey Chili with Black Beans

2006-01-07T13:38:00.000-08:00

Ideal for 4- or 5-quart pot

1 lb. uncooked ground turkey breast
1 lg. onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
14 oz. can of fat-free chicken broth
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground all-spice
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground paprika
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
14 oz. can tomato puree
2 tsp. cider vinegar

Serves 5, 280 calories per serving

If you're like me, Monday is the new Friday, and weekends haven't meant anything (other than sleeping in even later or maybe taking a road trip) for years. After a long week, which usually involves going out once or twice during, I often want to stay in on Fridays and watch movies. Last night Kate had the same idea. My boyfriend breakdances on Fridays until 9, so I promised them both chili and a movie after.

This experiment taught me that slow-cooking still involves elements of cooking. As in, I can't figure I'll start at 5 and have the chili ready at 9 (4 to 5 hours cook time)--not when you have to brown the meat first and chop up the vegetables. Because of these unforseen complications, my chili was an hour late, ready to eat at 10 p.m. I forgot the cinnamon, but the great taste of it really surprised me. I'm an extremely picky eater, with texture issues, and would usually not use this recipe because it has vinegar and is full of onions. I realize now how much I have to learn. You can't taste the vinegar, and the onions cooked to all taste (good) and no crunch (also good). Duh, right? But not for me, which is why I'm keepng this blog. It's a brand new world!

We enjoyed the chili with a little shredded cheddar on top, some Hefeweizen, and a viewing of Showgirls (unfortunately minus the new-edition commentary).

They got seconds. Aww, yeeah.

Lesson 1

2006-01-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

My first experiment was a mess, and I deserved it.

As I shook my Rival 4-quart stainless steel Crock-Pot (TM, where's my check?) free from its styrofoam enclosure a few days after the holidays, a coupon fell out for $1 off a bagged meal. You know, like those quick skillet dinners. It kind of floored me, honestly. Isn't slow-cooking easy enough--why would you need to buy a meal pre-packaged? Sometimes, laziness knows no bounds.

I grabbed the "Chicken with Red Skin and Vegetables" flavor and set it on low for an overnight cooking session (8-10 hours). I thought it'd be better to try this before leaving the house and coming home hungry, and being pissed if it didn't turn out right. This way, I could check on the heating and timing capabilities of my machine, and maybe take some along for lunch. I was a little worried--look at those "chicken" pieces! Gross. But 9 hours later, I woke to a surprisingly pleasant scent, and a future of warm, fragrant, magically-cooked meals stretched out in my mind. I elbowed my still-sleeping boyfriend: "Hey! Can you smell that??" "What?" he said, the you're crazy look on his face, and turned over, not yet interested in the delightful cuisine.

I went to check on it, and as you can see, what "sauce" there may have been had dissolved into unappetizing little bits. The carrots, onions and celery looked good, but the "chicken" looked even worse. "Like little pieces of lung," said the boyfriend. I abandoned it, dejected. "I'll eat it with some rice," he continued. His stomach did not thank him. I probably should've taken it out at 8 hours, but I slept in. No matter, the verdict is in: nasty, and not recommended.

The Joy of Crock

2006-01-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

Hello, and welcome to Love My Crock.

We're young, busy people who are in the habit of eating, at least occasionally. Do you know what I had until about 5 p.m. yesterday? A tall mocha and a gruyere-thyme scone. As a recently professional person who tends to wake up late, rush to work without breakfast and stay chained to my desk for the next four or five hours out of guilt, I've been doing a crap job of nourishing myself. I'm not a salad girl, I'm sick of sandwiches, and the lure of the skyscraper-lobby $5 multicultural buffets always ends in some kind of misery. Phad thai shouldn't have a ketchup-like color or consistency, and I don't need to tell you about heat-lamped Indian food.

Soup is always a good option, and luckily I work a few blocks away from the Pike Place Market, where you can get it with yummy crumpets and fresh fruit. But the fact is, I'm too rushed and/or lazy on a given day to take good care of myself. For dinner, my boyfriend and I mostly eat out. Because life is moving so quickly, I also want to do things that will put me back in the moment. I haven't jumped on the knitting train--I just can't help thinking, I'll knit when I'm 60. My idea of slow-living, for now, is letting a machine do the work for me so I can read or listen to albums on vinyl, two things I hardly have time for anymore. So that's another reason I asked for a slow-cooker for Christmas.

I don't know when it occured to me--when I think of crock pots (TM), I think of my mom's pot roasts, which I don't want to recreate. Maybe I saw a photo of one or read a subversive piece of marketing disguised as something else, but suddenly the device seemed like the answer to my dreams of creative, delicious, cheap and maybe healthy meals. My friend Kate also got one for Christmas, and she told me we're not the only ones!

This will be a forum for our triumphs and disasters, although with her previous cooking experience, Kate's sure to have more of the former. Crock lovers, this is for you!