Slow cooker challenge!
Discussion
(NO PRIZES, IT'S JUST FOR FUN!)
OK, for all of the gastronauts who like to share their amazing looking dishes using your pro catering equipment and knowledge, how about a more minimalist little challenge to you, for the rest of us to try to replicate:
The Slow Cooker Challenge
The rules:
Kitchen equipment is limited to:
x1 knife
x1 chopping board
x1 spatula/stirring device
x1 device for boiling water
x1 slow cooker
x1 high output heat device for the purposes of caramelisation
x1 device for the heating of water if required
Other kitchen items can be put to use, like a bowl to soak, for instance; the kitchen sink would obviously be required to clean/peel etc. Clingfilm, foil etc also OK - the main restriction is that apart from caramelisation, ingredients should be cooked in the slow cooker without additional blending, pressure cooking etc.
The challenge is to present one or more dishes cooked from a slow cooker, a list of ingredients used, with a pic of the end result to show what we can aim for with the same equipment.
Think of it as some sort of culinary replication of a one make series - let's see what can be achieved with a limited kitchen and a pro attitude!
OK, for all of the gastronauts who like to share their amazing looking dishes using your pro catering equipment and knowledge, how about a more minimalist little challenge to you, for the rest of us to try to replicate:
The Slow Cooker Challenge
The rules:
Kitchen equipment is limited to:
x1 knife
x1 chopping board
x1 spatula/stirring device
x1 device for boiling water
x1 slow cooker
x1 high output heat device for the purposes of caramelisation
x1 device for the heating of water if required
Other kitchen items can be put to use, like a bowl to soak, for instance; the kitchen sink would obviously be required to clean/peel etc. Clingfilm, foil etc also OK - the main restriction is that apart from caramelisation, ingredients should be cooked in the slow cooker without additional blending, pressure cooking etc.
The challenge is to present one or more dishes cooked from a slow cooker, a list of ingredients used, with a pic of the end result to show what we can aim for with the same equipment.
Think of it as some sort of culinary replication of a one make series - let's see what can be achieved with a limited kitchen and a pro attitude!
Edited by ReverendCounter on Wednesday 19th October 22:07
Edited by ReverendCounter on Thursday 20th October 11:59
I was thinking about the possibility of eastern-inspired rice + chicken, where the rice absorbs liquid as the chicken cooks, leaving a drier dish. Then perhaps some sort of Moroccan thing with lamb+chermoula, with couscous - but I've never made that. Maybe a slow cooker could approximate a tagine? Just a thought - temps might be wrong.
ReverendCounter said:
I was thinking about the possibility of eastern-inspired rice + chicken, where the rice absorbs liquid as the chicken cooks, leaving a drier dish. Then perhaps some sort of Moroccan thing with lamb+chermoula, with couscous - but I've never made that. Maybe a slow cooker could approximate a tagine? Just a thought - temps might be wrong.
You would be better off with rice so a biryani type dish. Soak the rice so it absorbs the water beforehand ReverendCounter said:
I was thinking about the possibility of eastern-inspired rice + chicken, where the rice absorbs liquid as the chicken cooks, leaving a drier dish. Then perhaps some sort of Moroccan thing with lamb+chermoula, with couscous - but I've never made that. Maybe a slow cooker could approximate a tagine? Just a thought - temps might be wrong.
If you source of "heat" for browning is open to interpretation then I've got a few left field ideas.21TonyK said:
If you source of "heat" for browning is open to interpretation then I've got a few left field ideas.
I know November isn't too far way but let's agree on no explosives - other than that a heat source is a heat source...!(or have I just put a dampener on your idea for bang bang chicken...)
Edited by ReverendCounter on Wednesday 19th October 21:26
ReverendCounter said:
21TonyK said:
If you source of "heat" for browning is open to interpretation then I've got a few left field ideas.
I know November isn't too far way but let's agree on no explosives - other than that a heat source is a heat source...!(or have I just put a dampener on your idea for bang bang chicken...)
Edited by ReverendCounter on Wednesday 19th October 21:26
It was amusing timing for this challenge as I was thinking of adapting my boeuf bourguignon recipe/method (one of the two classical ways of making it) to my OnePot slow cooker for much of it, however it falls foul as I would still need a frying pan for the lardons, baby onions and mushrooms, plus I would need a second pot to transfer the cooked meat over to before straining the sauce through a muslin cloth lined strainer (and tbh I was going to finish it off in a high over to reduced the stock).
dapprman said:
I was thinking of adapting my boeuf bourguignon recipe/method . .however it falls foul as I would still need a frying pan for the lardons, baby onions and mushrooms
You could waft a blowtorch at them when they're in the cooking pot PERHAPS (oxyacetylene at your own risk) dapprman said:
plus I would need a second pot to transfer the cooked meat over to
There's a second dish allowed dapprman said:
before straining the sauce through a muslin cloth lined strainer
As long as anyone else who tries the recipe can consider using an alternative that they are likely to have anyway, then their results might be a little more coarse but acceptable dapprman said:
(and tbh I was going to finish it off in a high over to reduced the stock).
Hmm, what if the second bowl happens to be metal - then you could heat it from underneath with a blowtorch - but is it worth risking burns to adapt this particular dish...? The choice is yours.beambeam1 said:
RobbieTheTruth said:
Basically, post amazing recipes that are extremely easy to make in the slow cooker.
Apart from browning the meat and frying off the onions, the Jailhouse Chilli recipe from this part of the forum is always done in the slower cooker. Love it.Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff