October 28, 2008

Gotta Love the Slow Cooker

I know I love mine! It's one of my favorite wedding gifts, and God's gift to busy (or lazy) cooks. Isn't it the greatest feeling to come home after a long day and for your house to be filled with yummy smells? Not to mention the fact that you haven't touched a pot in 8 hours. It's like someone lovingly came over and made you dinner and it was ready the second you walked through that door. Plus, slow cookers always make way too much food, so you have leftovers that only get better as the week goes on.

In this cookbook I have, there are like 20 different beef chili recipes. I have only made one before and it turned out more like a pasta sauce instead of a chili, so this time I wanted to go for one that looked a bit more meaty. And boy was this sucker meaty! It's more like a stew than a chili really. The recipe says that you can add an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce to make it more tomatoey (I can make up words, right?). I didn't, but I liked it chunky. We served ours on top of some steamed rice, and it was a big hit. Great leftovers for days too.


Favorite Chili
Adapted from Fix-It and Forget -It

2 lbs. coarsely ground beef
2 16-oz cans red kidney beans
2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 green pepper, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbsp. chili powder (more or less depending on personal preference)
1 tsp pepper
2.5 tsp salt
  • Brown the meat, drain and set aside.
  • Place ingredients in slow cooker in the order listed and then stir briefly just until combined.
  • Cook on High for 5-6 hours, or Low for 10-12 hours.
  • Optionally top with sour cream & cheese, and serve with rice.

7 comments:

Emily said...

You know, I should really invest in a slow cooker. Although I do have my parent's, that's from the 70's.

Maria said...

We got one for our wedding but still haven't pulled it out! I need to get on that!

Culinary Wannabe said...

Emiline - You should try it out. I used my mom's old one in college (for much more fun uses than I do now :) ) and it was like ancient.

Maria - Seriously! It's really awesome this time of year, since most of the food is rather heavy. Great for the whole recession thing too cause it can make the cheapest piece of meat fall-apart-with-a-butter knife tender.

Tanya said...

That's a great slowcooker! I want one now! :) Your recipe looks awesome!

Michelle said...

Slow cooker? How about a no-cooker chili?

Well maybe that's not your style. Yours sure looks yummy! I forgot to register for a slow cooker when i got married and now i wish i had one...

Culinary Wannabe said...

Hi Tanya - I'm totally in love with it! It's the one by All-Clad, and it's best feature is that you can set the exact time that you want it to stop cooking and go to the warm setting.

Hi Michelle - Your chili sounds like the perfect thing on a hot day! I think most slow cookers turn out the same results and there are some rather inexpensive ones at Kmart if you are really interested. I would totally recommend it!

Honeyed Hashette said...

If you like this, try the Taco Soup on my blog. You can make it in the slow cooker too and SO good!