Slow cooker recipes that will feed your family for days - CNN

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Slow cooker recipes that will feed your family for days - CNN Posted: 09 Jul 2020 11:01 AM PDT Slow cookers are like magic. Assemble and prep your ingredients, pop them inside, and lift the lid hours later to reveal a flavor-packed dish that can provide meals for days. One-pot recipes make the most of everything you put in them. They're great for feeding a whole family or cooking in bulk and freezing portions for later. Not to mention that standing over a hot stove is a far cry from summer fun. We asked Georgia restaurateur and "Top Chef" judge Hugh Acheson for a few favorite dishes from his cookbook "The Chef and the Slow Cooker." Find out what you'll need and see Acheson's expert tips for each recipe, below. "Top Chef" Judge Hugh Acheson PHOTO: Jason Travis Lentil Soup with Kale & Sour Cream Lentil Soup with Kale & Sour Cream PHOTO: andrew thomas lee photography "I love lentils. They cook quickly, are incredibly nutritious, very inexpensive and have a culinary dexterity about them," Acheson says. This classic soup is made with green lentils, which keep their shape as they cook, especially if you opt for the French or Puy variety. "Lentil soup is about a 4:1 ratio of liquid to lentils, but you can make it as brothy as you wish," Acheson says. He recommends pairing it with a piece of toasted baguette for a fine meal. Soups are classic meals that can go straight into the freezer until those nights when no one feels like cooking or ordering dinner. Makes 3 quarts. Ingredients 8 cups vegetable stock 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 shallots, minced 1 cup finely diced carrot 1 cup finely diced celery 2 sprigs of fresh thyme 1 tablespoon smoked paprika 1 tablespoon freshly ground coriander 1 pound green lentils Kosher salt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 4 cups chopped, stemmed Red Russian Kale (pieces cut to be ½-inch squares) 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar Sour cream, for serving Chopped flat leaf parsley, for serving Directions Preheat the slow cooker on high for at least 15 minutes. In a pot, warm the stock over medium-low heat so it will be hot when you add it to the slow cooker. Place a large frying pan on the stove over medium heat. Add the olive oil; when it shimmers, add the shallot and cook for two minutes. Add the carrot and celery and cook for two more minutes. Add the thyme, smoked paprika and coriander. Stir well and place this all into the slow cooker set on high heat. Rinse the lentils in a fine mesh colander under cold water. Add them to the slow cooker and then add the hot stock. Add 2 teaspoons of the salt and cook for three hours on high heat. Remove 1 cup of the soup with a ladle and puree it in a blender, or alternately just take a hand blender and quickly buzz the soup a bit to make it a little smoother and bring it all together a bit. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the butter. When the butter bubbles and froths, add the kale and cook, stirring, for about two minutes. Season the kale with a pinch of salt and add it to the soup. Add the lemon zest and sherry vinegar to the soup and season, liberally or to taste, with salt. Garnish each bowl with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of parsley. Chill and pack leftovers to serve later. Chicken and Dumplings Chicken and Dumplings PHOTO: andrew thomas lee photography "Chicken and dumplings is the coq au vin of the American South," Acheson says. "A classic that really gains deep flavor with the slow cooking, this is a dish that should be in your repertoire." Chock-full of fresh vegetables and plump dumplings, this recipe makes for a hearty, well-balanced meal. This recipe easily doubles to make leftovers for both the fridge and the freezer. Serves 4. Ingredients 6 to 8 chicken legs (about 2 pounds) Kosher salt 1 tablespoon black pepper 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 quart basic chicken stock 1 cup small diced sweet onion 1 cup small diced celery, plus ½ cup finely diced celery 1 cup thinly sliced oyster mushrooms 2 bay leaves 1 cup all-purpose flour ¾ cup buttermilk ½ teaspoon baking powder 1 tablespoon fine chopped fresh thyme 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley Directions Preheat a slow cooker on low heat for at least 20 minutes. Season the chicken with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Sear the chicken legs for five minutes, then flip and sear another five minutes on medium heat. Add the stock, onions, small diced celery, and mushrooms to the slow cooker. Add the chicken, cover with the lid, and cook on low for four hours. When you're about 30 minutes out from completing the four hours, make your dumplings. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, buttermilk, 1 teaspoon of salt, and the baking powder and mix with a fork, until just combined (a few lumps are OK). After the four hours of cooking the chicken base, add the dumplings by dropping heaping spoonfuls (golf ball-sized) directly into the slow cooker. Cover with the lid and cook for 30 minutes, then flip each dumpling and cook 30 minutes more. Place a medium skillet over medium heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the finely diced carrot and remaining ½ cup of finely diced celery and a pinch of salt. Sweat the vegetables down for three minutes, then remove from heat and add the thyme and parsley. Add this to the slow cooker and fold in before serving. Beer-Braised Pork Tacos Beer-Braised Pork Tacos PHOTO: andrew thomas lee photography Slow-braised pork makes for a tender, flavorful filling for at-home taco night. Acheson calls this recipe both easy and redeeming: "You can garnish up the tacos further as you wish, maybe with avocado, lime, cotija cheese and some charred scallions," he says. A wide mixture of toppings make a big piece of meat like this serve tacos for days — or use it for delicious pulled pork sandwiches to mix things up. Definitely garnish the tacos with Acheson's Tomatillo Salsa Verde, the recipe that follows. Serves 12. Ingredients 8 pounds bone-in pork shoulder Kosher salt 1 tablespoon black pepper 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup lard 1 cup large diced sweet onion 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 2 teaspoons ground coriander ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 tablespoons lime juice 1 6.5-ounce can chipotles in adobo sauce 1 can of Natty Light beer 2 cups Tomatillo Salsa Verde (recipe follows) Directions Preheat a large slow cooker on low heat for at least 20 minutes. Season the pork shoulder all over with 2 tablespoons of salt and the pepper. Place a large skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil, and when the oil shimmers, add the pork and sear it for five minutes per side, for a total of 10 minutes. Remove the pork shoulder and place it into the large slow cooker. Add the lard to the same skillet over medium heat. Once the lard has melted add the onions and garlic and cook for five minutes. Transfer it to the slow cooker and also add the coriander, cinnamon, lime juice, the entire contents of the can of chipotle and the beer. Cover with the lid and cook on low for 12 hours. Tomatillo Salsa Verde Makes 2 cups. Ingredients 2 cups coarsely chopped tomatillos (washed after the husks are removed) 1 cup coarsely chopped sweet onion 1 packed cup cilantro (stems, leaves and all) 2 tablespoons lime juice 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1½ tablespoons sliced seeded serrano peppers 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil Kosher salt Directions Blend all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Season with salt, to taste. Tools for cooking big meals in a slow cooker Cosori Slow Cooker 11-in-1 6-Quart Programmable Multi-Cooker ($99.99; amazon.com) Cosori Slow Cooker 11-in-1 6-Quart Programmable Multi-Cooker With 11 functions, a 24-hour delay feature, and a lower price point than its bigger-name competition, this slow cooker can help get loads of delicious meals on the table at a great value. All-Clad Cast-Iron Dutch Oven Slow Cooker ($299.95, originally $360; williams-sonoma.com) All-Clad Cast-Iron Dutch Oven Slow Cooker Acheson's personal favorite from All-Clad features a Dutch oven insert, which can be used to sear meat on the stove before transferring back into the base for slow cooking. Lodge Chef Collection 12-Inch Skillet ($29.95; surlatable.com) Lodge Chef Collection 12-Inch Skillet A cast-iron skillet also works great for searing meat separately before transferring into a slow cooker, and Lodge makes some of the best ones on the market. T-fal Titanium Nonstick Dishwasher-Safe Cookware Fry Pan with Lid, 12-Inch ($44.99; amazon.com) T-fal Titanium Nonstick Dishwasher-Safe Cookware Fry Pan with Lid, 12-Inch Our top pick for the best nonstick pan of 2020, this is a versatile kitchen staple you'll definitely put to good use. 9" Kitchen Fine-Mesh Strainer with Sturdy Handle ($16.90, amazon.com) 9" Kitchen Fine-Mesh Strainer with Sturdy Handle This sturdy fine-mesh colander is great for rinsing all sorts of small grains, beans, berries or lentils. Oxo Good Grips 3-piece Mixing Set ($27.99; amazon.com) Oxo Good Grips 3-piece Mixing Set Sturdy plastic mixing bowls are great for mixing ingredients, marinating, whipping up dumplings, and more. Vitamix Venturist V1200 Blender ($349.95; vitamix.com) Vitamix Venturist V1200 Blender A powerful blender is a worthwhile investment that you'll use for everything from homemade soups and salsa to smoothies and frozen desserts. This Vitamix was our top pick for best luxury blender when we tested nine of the most popular blenders to see which is really the best. Calphalon Contemporary Hard-Anodized Aluminum Nonstick Cookware, Sauce Pot, 5-quart ($61.31; amazon.com) Calphalon Contemporary Hard-Anodized Aluminum Nonstick Cookware, Sauce Pot, 5-quart A 5-quart pot has tons of uses in a home cook's kitchen, including heating stock for the lentil soup above. Spring Chef Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Metal Measuring Spoons, Set of 6 ($12.97, originally $24.97; amazon.com) Spring Chef Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Metal Measuring Spoons, Set of 6 Every kitchen should have a set of dependable measuring spoons like these, which come with a leveler to get measurements just right. Pyrex Glass Measuring Cup, 3-Piece Set ($17.99; amazon.com) Pyrex Glass Measuring Cup, 3-Piece Set Classic glass measuring cups make it easy to measure and pour exactly the correct amount of just about anything. They're safe to heat in the microwave and throw in the dishwasher. Oxo Good Grips Wooden Spoon Set, 3-Piece Set ($11.99; amazon.com) Oxo Good Grips Wooden Spoon Set, 3-Piece Set A classic set of wooden cooking spoons can last a lifetime if properly cared for — don't leave them in a sink full of soapy water to soak. They prevent scratching of nonstick and ceramic surfaces. Zulay Soup Ladle Spoon with Comfortable Grip ($6.99, originally $7.99; amazon.com) Zulay Soup Ladle Spoon with Comfortable Grip A ladle is an essential kitchen staple if you're making soup. This one has loads of great reviews and is ergonomically designed to be extra comfortable on the wrist, scoop after scoop. Microplane Premium Classic Series Zester Grater ($14.95; amazon.com) Microplane Premium Classic Series Zester Grater This zester is a secret weapon of many home chefs. The handle makes it easier to zest lemons or limes than a traditional box grater, and it's perfect for grating Parmesan right over hot pasta. Glass Meal Prep Containers with Lifetime Lasting Snap Locking Lids, 5-Pack ($28.99; amazon.com) Glass Meal Prep Containers with Lifetime Lasting Snap Locking Lids, 5-Pack When you're cooking in batches, storage containers are a necessity. These glass containers are freezer-safe and won't leach chemicals into gourmet concoctions as plastic can. Victorinox Fibrox Pro Chef's Knife ($31.30; amazon.com) Victorinox Fibrox Pro Chef's Knife Cooking at home requires a serious chef's knife like this Amazon best-seller, which is a great knife for under $100. McCormick Gourmet Coriander Seed, 0.87 oz ($4.99; amazon.com) McCormick Gourmet Coriander Seed, 0.87 oz Coriander seeds come from the cilantro plant, but aren't as easy to find at the store as the fresh herb. This little jar of seeds will last a long time and keeps the flavor of the seeds fresh. Just use a grinder (see below) to release the full flavor experience. Golden Bell 4 Piece 2" Spice Herb Grinder ($12.99; amazon.com) Golden Bell 4 Piece 2" Spice Herb Grinder A spice grinder like this best-seller doesn't take up much space and does its job perfectly, with a little elbow grease. 'The Chef and the Slow Cooker' by Hugh Acheson ($19.27; amazon.com) 'The Chef and the Slow Cooker' by Hugh Acheson Pick up a copy of Acheson's cookbook to discover more versatile and delectable ways to put your slow cooker to good use. Note: The prices above reflect the retailer's listed price at the time of publication.

Camping and cooking: How to prepare meals like the pros - Washington Post Posted: 09 Jul 2020 08:56 AM PDT Humans have been cooking and eating outside since the dawn of mankind. But somewhere along the way, we got more sophisticated with how we prepared our food, swapping survival-mode hunting and gathering for something a little more pleasurable. Today, campground cooking can be as easy or intricate as you'd like, depending on your budget and how you're camping. Because we believe the great outdoors are even greater when you're eating well, and interest in camping and RV rentals are up exponentially during this pandemic summer, we spoke to camping and cooking experts to get their tips. [An expert's essential tips for first-time campers] Plan every meal, and do so according to your skill level It's hard to wing it when it comes to camp cooking. "Camping is a little more high stakes than home cooking, because you can't order pizza if it all goes badly," said Michael van Vliet, who runs Fresh Off the Grid, an online cooking resource for outdoor enthusiasts, with his wife, Megan McDuffie. Plan each meal and snacks in advance of your camping trip to make sure you don't burn through your food on the first night or get stuck eating chips for breakfast. How that plan will look will vary greatly depending on how you're camping (i.e. backpacking through the wilderness or RV camping). If you're car or RV camping, you should be able to bring enough gear to make meals as you would in your own kitchen. Shakshuka from Fresh Off the Grid. (Courtesy of Fresh Off the Grid) "One of the tips that we would give is to keep things simple and stick to the sort of recipes or at least cooking techniques or methods that you're familiar with," van Vliet said. The couple tries to stick to meals that call for 10 ingredients or fewer, or take about 30 minutes to cook. For breakfast, that's a skillet hash with seasonal vegetables, some eggs and maybe bacon. Lunch and dinner could be chili mac, a one-pot mac and cheese with seasoned ground beef and vegetables. "We try to do stuff that's kind of from scratch, but not a total headache," McDuffie said. But just because a meal is simple, that doesn't mean it can't be romantic. Follow the lead of world-renowned Argentine chef Francis Mallmann, author of "Mallmann on Fire: 100 Inspired Recipes to Grill Anytime, Anywhere," if you want to be a real bon vivant while you're roughing it. "I wrote a little story for a newspaper the other day in which I said that I woke up in the morning, went by the kitchen and I got two onions in the pocket of my jacket, two potatoes in the other one, some garlic, a little olive oil, parsley in my top pocket of my blazer and went out to the forest and had incredible lunch," he said. The forest lunch was simple, and that was perfect. "I think that that's the beauty about cooking outside," Mallmann said. "You don't need that certain idea of big fires and whole animals." [Is it safer to fly or drive this summer? 5 health experts weigh in.] Prep and marinade before you head to camp A little investment in your meal prep can go a long way once you start cooking at your campsite. Not only will your meals turn out better, they'll be easier to execute. McDuffie and van Vliet chop their ingredients and prep side dishes like rice to streamline their cooking process at a campsite. They also make cocktails in batches at home, seal them in Mason jars and pack them in a cooler for later imbibing. For Jimmy Ly, chef and owner of New York restaurants Madame Vo and Madame Vo BBQ, the best camping meal — marinated grilled chicken cooked over a portable charcoal grill — starts the night before he heads out on a trip. To marinate five pounds of chicken, Ly's family recipe calls for 2 cups soy sauce, a half cup of sugar, 15 cloves garlic minced, 3 tablespoons of MSG, 4 tablespoons of white pepper, 3 tablespoons of garlic powder and a half cup of water. "It's best to do overnight," Ly said. "The longer the better. You preserve more flavor." It's a recipe that comes from a remarkable family history, when eating outside wasn't done for leisure, but survival. "This was the go-to recipe for my dad when he was escaping the [Cambodian] war," Ly said. "They were living in the forest, hiding from soldiers, and anytime they found meat this was their go-to marinade." The recipe that got his family through such a difficult time has brought Ly joy to cook, both camping and at home, since he learned how. On camping trips as a kid, his mother would pair the marinated chicken with wonder bread and her homemade mayonnaise. [Bars offer cocktail kits to escape the coronavirus state] Pack standard kitchen essentials, and don't forget the cast iron On Derek Wolf's Instagram page Over The Fire Cooking, you'll find plenty of pictures of big, juicy pieces of meat or hearty breakfasts cooking outside in a cast iron skillet. It's one of Wolf's essential pieces of gear for cooking and camping. "I highly recommend like a 12-inch skillet, something that's relatively formidable," Wolf said. "It's definitely not a copper skillet that they use in professional kitchens, but it's going to do everything that you want it to." A rib-eye about to be basted in butter infused with rosemary and garlic from Over the Fire Cooking. (Courtesy of Over The Fire Cooking) For beginner-friendly cast iron camping meals, Wolf suggests shrimp or skirt steak with chimichurri sauce with some vegetables on the side. McDuffie and van Vliet make campsite cobblers and crisps using chopped seasonal fruit, topped with a crumble of oats, sugar, flour and butter cooked over the fire in a cast-iron Dutch oven. Once you're done cooking, cast iron clean up is very simple. "When it comes to cleaning cast iron, it's literally just hot water and elbow grease," Wolf said. "I'll just glaze it with a little bit of oil at the end to kind of rebuild another layer of seasoning." Along with the cast iron, Wolf brings long tongs, a wooden spoon, a cutting board, a knife and a natural tumbleweed-style fire starter. "I tend to steer clear of any form of lighter fluid at all, mostly because I feel like it stays in the flavor of the fire for a very long time," he said. Wolf always tells camping newcomers to buy wood near the campsite to avoid bringing foreign diseases that can spread to surrounding trees, even through smoke. Skirt steak with chimichurri sauce from Over the Fire Cooking. (Courtesy of Over The Fire Cooking) If you're going to be camping regularly and want to make sure you never leave any essential cooking tools behind, McDuffie and van Vliet recommend making a kit reserved for camping only. "We try to have duplicates of things that we have in our kitchen, but they're just for our camp box," McDuffie said. "You can do that really cheaply by going to Goodwill and picking up a duplicate of a can opener, a bottle opener, these things that you just don't want to drive out to the woods and be like, 'Oh, honey, you remembered XYZ, right?' " [Here's what experts want you to know before taking a road trip during the pandemic] Pack your cooler wisely, and in order of your meal plan If you want ice-cold beers or Ly's chicken while you're camping, you need to bring a cooler on your trip. The key to keeping it cold as long as possible is how you pack it. McDuffie and van Vliet have this down to a science. First, they make sure their cooler is cold before they start packing it — they don't just grab it from the hot garage and throw in ice. The same goes for the items going inside. "You really want to use a cooler to keep things cool, not to cool things down," McDuffie said. The couple packs chilled items in the order they'll be used to avoid rummaging everything around, exposing the cooler's contents to warm air. Things you'll use right away can go on top, while ingredients for meals later in your trip should go in the bottom. How long your cooler will retain its cool depends on the model you have. McDuffie and van Vliet say the high-tech ones can last half a week, but your standard one should get you through a couple of days when used properly. Read more: Is entirely contactless travel possible? I planned a trip to find out. This store sells off travelers' lost luggage. Here are the best and weirdest finds. Airlines tried social distancing on board. For many, that experiment is ending.

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