CROCKtober - break out your crock pot recipes for October!

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff:

2-3 pounds stew meat (or a 3-pound chuck roast, cubed)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 medium yellow onion
¼ teaspoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ cups beef broth or stock
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/3 cup flour
6-7 tablespoons water
2 tbsp spicy brown mustard
1/2 cup light or regular sour cream

Place the stew meat, salt, pepper and onion in the slow cooker. Stir to distribute the seasonings and onion. In a small bowl, combine the garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth and ketchup. Pour over the meat. Cook for 7-9 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high. About 30 minutes before serving, combine the flour, mustard, and water in a small bowl, whisking vigorously to combine well. The roux should be thick but still pourable so add a tablespoon of water at a time to thin, if needed. Pour the flour mixture into the slow cooker, whisking quickly to mix in the roux with the stew meat and juices and to avoid lumps. Cook on high for 30 minutes. Stir in ½ cup sour cream right before serving. Serve over pasta, rice or baked potatoes (I prefer no-yolk egg noodles!).

(Feel free to add mushrooms - the husband hates them, so I leave them out.)

I make this.. you can vary the veggies/seasonings.. then I make stock overnight from the carcass and any veggie bits I have left. (celery, onion, carrot, garlic) The stock is great to have on hand.

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/02/25/recipe-the-best-whole-chicken-in-a-crock-pot/

The Best Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot
Ingredients

2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 onion
1 large chicken

Directions

Combine the dried spices in a small bowl.
Loosely chop the onion and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Remove any giblets from the chicken and then rub the spice mixture all over. You can even put some of the spices inside the cavity and under the skin covering the breasts.
Put prepared chicken on top of the onions in the slow cooker, cover it, and turn it on to high. There is no need to add any liquid.
Cook for 4 – 5 hours (for a 3 or 4 pound chicken) or until the chicken is falling off the bone. Don’t forget to make your homemade stock with the leftover bones!


Overnight Chicken Stock in the Crock Pot
Ingredients

Leftover chicken bones or carcass roughly equivalent to one small or medium sized chicken
1 onion, peeled and loosely chopped
1 rib of celery, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped (no need to peel)
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme
Salt, to taste
Note: If you are missing any of these ingredients I wouldn’t let that stop you from making it anyway.

Stock Directions

After removing all edible meat from the chicken put/leave the bones, skin, cooking juices, etc. in the crock pot. If you are using the chicken carcass from the “The Best Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot” recipe just leave every single thing that’s leftover (except the good meat of course) in the crock pot including the original onion and spices you used when making the chicken.
Add the onion, celery, carrot and spices on top of the bones and fill the crock pot almost to the top with tap water (leaving about 1/2” at the top).
Turn the slow cooker onto “low” after dinner and cook all night long or alternatively you could start it in the morning and cook on “low” for 8 – 10 hours during the day.
After the stock is done cooking turn off the heat and, using a soup ladle, pass the stock through a fine sieve to remove all herbs/bones/etc. Either refrigerate or freeze the stock for future use. I usually freeze some in both 1 and 2-cup portions, and I also sometimes freeze stock in ice cube trays just in case I just “need a little” for making sauce or rice.
This stock is great in soups like chicken noodle soup and also in rice like risotto. Enjoy!