Slow Cooking It Thai Style

Since getting my slow cooker, I've wanted to try a curry in it.  I knew I wanted something vaguely Thai in a chicken masaman sort of way, but otherwise I winged it. I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

What You'll Need

Supplies

Slow cooker                                                          Large cast iron skillet

Cutting board                                                        Small mixing bowl

Knife for chopping                                                Measuring cup

Measuring spoons                                                 Fork

Ingredients

2 small onions                                                        1/2 tsp ginger

2 potatoes                                                               1 tsp minced garlic

1 can coconut milk                                                 salt and pepper to taste

1 cup chicken broth                                                3-4 chicken breasts

1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder                                        Olive oil

2 Tbsp peanut butter                                              Green onions

Now Let's Make Thai Chicken Masaman

Start by prepping your vegetables. Cut the tips off your onions on one side and remove the peel. Slice the other end off. Slice the onion in half, and slice each half into thirds, keeping the pieces together. Turn the onion and slice across your previous cuts to finish chopping your onion, which should be fairly coarsely cut.

 These are onions...

Next, scrub your potatoes to remove any dirt (you can also peel them, if you'd prefer). Slice each potato in half lengthwise. Then, slice the potato into quarters, again lengthwise, keeping the slices together. Turn the potato and slice along your previous cuts to coarsely chop the potato.  

 Sorry for the blur; it's hard to photograph and chop at the same time. Ponder that.

Place both the onions and the potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Pour some olive oil in your cast iron skillet and heat to medium.  While your skillet heats, trim any excess fat from your chicken breasts.  Quickly brown the chicken in the pan on all sides. 

Place the breasts over the top of the potatoes and onions. I like to nestle them in the veggies a little rather than setting them on top as this allows them to steep in a bit more moisture while cooking.

Oddly, I find partially cooked chicken less than appetizing

Open your can of coconut milk and pour it into the small mixing bowl. Measure out 1 cup chicken broth and pour in with the coconut milk. Add 1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder, 2 Tbsp peanut butter, 1/2 tsp ginger, and 1 tsp minced garlic to the bowl. Liberally dash with black pepper and add salt (I used a little less than 1 tsp). Using your fork, whisk the ingredients together until liquid is smooth. 

 Avoid a real whisk unless you want to gum it up with peanut butter...

Pour the coconut milk mixture evenly over the top of the chicken breasts.  Cover and set slow cooker to low for 5 hours.

Serve with jasmine rice (I like to toss my rice with some golden raisins), and garnish with green onions.  Enjoy!

Mmmmmmm...

 

Slow Cooker Surprise

Okay, okay, so it's beef stew, which is not all that surprising, really.  The main point is that I finally got a slow cooker, so you can expect lots of those recipes in the future. I want to try a chicken curry, next I think...  This recipe is definitely a whatever you've got on hand sort of recipe. I pretty much made it up as I went, but it sure turned out tasty!

What You'll Need

Supplies

Slow Cooker (at least 4qt)                                                                  Large mixing bowl

Cutting board                                                                  Spoon

Knife for chopping                                                          Measuring cups

Ingredients

1/2 large white onion                                                      Marjoram

1 large potato                                                                  Rosemary

1 lb stew meat                                                                 Thyme

1/4 cup flour                                                                   1 can green beans

1/3 red bell pepper                                                          1 can diced tomatoes

Baby carrots                                                                    1 tsp minced garlic

Chili powder                                                                   2 cups beef broth

Bay leaves                                                                       Salt and pepper

Now Let's Make Beef Stew!
Start by prepping your vegetables. Roughly chop 1/2 white onion and the potato (which you've totally scrubbed, right?). Place the two vegetables in the bottom of your slow cooker.

This layer prevents your meat from cooking its fat.

Next, place your 1 lb stew meat in the large mixing bowl, breaking it up with your spoon. Measure out 1/4 cup flour and pour it into the bowl with the meat. Stir the meat, allowing the flour to thoroughly coat each piece of stew meat. Add the stew meat to the slow cooker on top of the potatoes and onions.

The flour will help the meat brown (since we're not searing) and will thicken the stew 

Dice the 1/3 red bell pepper and add it on top of the meat. Also add a couple handfuls of baby carrots.

I know, I'm getting crazy technical here.

I like to add my spices next so that they're midway through the layers and cook into everything. Liberally dash chili powder around the mixture in the slow cooker. Next add bay leaves, I did a couple dashes of crushed leaves, because that's what I had on hand. If you're using whole leaves 2 should do. Add about 1 tsp marjoram, 1 tsp rosemary, and 1/2 tsp thyme. (I was not that precise, so feel free to loosen up a bit and do some dashes and pinches instead).

Herby

Open and drain the can of green beans and add it to the pot. Add the diced tomatoes along with there juice (aka don't drain those).

Top it all off with 2 cups beef broth, 1 tsp minced garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.

Hmmm... broth appears to be camera shy...

Cover and cook on low for 10 hours. At 10 hours switch setting to keep warm (I got off late the night I cooked this, so it cooked for 2 extra hours, which is why there's not as much liquid in the photo; it was still delicious.) Serve with a hearty bread and enjoy.  If you can't make it the morning of, whip it up the night before, and store it in the fridge, then transfer to the slow cooker in the morning.