HOW TO CONVERT CONVENTIONAL RECIPES TO CROCKPOT RECIPES

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You can adapt many conventional recipes for the slow cooker, particularly an oven or stove-top recipe that has some moisture in it (such as water, broth, wine, sauce, and canned soup).

As a rule, you should cut all liquid amounts in half when adjusting for the slow cooker.

Remember, too, that the LOW heat setting is approximately 200 degrees, and HIGH heat is about 300 degrees.

For every hour you’d cook something in the oven or on the stove, allow 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH.

(When in doubt, turn it on LOW and leave it all day or overnight.)

PEANUT BUTTER POOCHIE TREATS

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1 ½ cups white flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 cup hot water
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup yellow cornmeal

Place both flours in a medium mixing bowl. Blend with a whisk.

Add hot water and mix.

Add peanut butter and mix until blended. Knead for 3 minutes.

Sprinkle half of the cornmeal evenly over a sheet of waxed paper. Place dough in the center.

Sprinkle remaining cornmeal evenly over the top of the dough.

Roll to 1/4” thickness. Cut with 2 1/2” cookie cutters or cut into rectangles.

Place on a sprayed baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. (For harder treats, bake for 40 minutes.)

makes 24-30 treats

ONION-BAKED PORK CHOPS

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1 envelope golden onion soup mix*
1/3 cup plain dry bread crumbs
4 pork chops, 1” thick (about 3 lbs)
1 egg, well beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, combine soup mix and bread crumbs. Dip chops in egg, then bread crumb mixture, until evenly coated.

In a lightly greased 13”x9” baking or roasting pan, arrange chops.

Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes or until done, turning once.

CARAMEL OATMEAL CHEWIES

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1 ¾ cups quick OR old-fashioned oats
1 ¾ cups flour, divided
¾ cup packed brown sugar
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt (optional)
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter OR margarine, melted
1 cup chopped nuts
2 cups (12 oz pkg) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup caramel ice cream topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine oats, 1 ½ cups flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl; stir to break up brown sugar.

Stir in butter, mixing until well blended.

Reserve 1 cup oat mixture; press remaining oat mixture onto the bottom of a greased 13”x9” baking pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until light brown; cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with nuts and chocolate chips.

Mix caramel topping with remaining flour in a small bowl; drizzle over chocolate chips to within 1/4” of pan edges.

Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack; chill until firm.

Cut into bars.

S’MORES-STUFFED CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

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2 sticks (8 oz) softened butter
1 cup sugar
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbs vanilla
3 ½ cups flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
24 graham cracker quarters (6 fill sheets broken at perforation)
3 chocolate bars, broken into rows of 3 squares (or any other chocolate candy you like)
12 large marshmallows, cut in half lengthwise

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

Put the butter and sugars into a large bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Take a graham cracker quarter and top it with 3 chocolate squares, 2 marshmallow halves and another graham cracker quarter. Take a scoop of cookie dough, flatten it out a little, and place the s’more on top of it, and around the s’more, adding more dough to the ends to cover any holes.

Place the mounds of dough-encased s’mores onto you prepared baking sheet (they’ll spread quite a bit, so only put three cookies per baking sheet to give them room) and bake for 15-17 minutes or until the cookies’ edges are golden and the centers are cooked through. Let cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack or serving plate.

CHICKEN RUSTIGO

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4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 (10 oz) pkg fresh mushrooms, sliced
¾ cup chicken broth
¼ cup dry red wine OR water
3 tbs hearty deli brown mustard
2 med tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tbs oil, divided

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbs oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat heat. Cook chicken 5 minutes or until browned on both sides. Remove and set aside.

Heat remaining 1 tbs oil in same skillet until hot. Add mushrooms. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Stir in broth, wine and mustard. Return chicken to skillet. Add tomatoes and artichoke hearts. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, covered, 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the center.

Combine cornstarch with 1 tbs cold water. Stir into skillet. Heat to boiling. Cook, stirring over high heat about 1 minute or until sauce thickens. Serve with orzo pasta, if desired.

4 servings

CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE CHOWDER

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1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1” pieces
1 (10 oz) pkg frozen broccoli cuts
1 cup carrots, sliced
½ cup onion, chopped
½ cup whole kernel corn
1 (4 ½ oz) jar sliced mushrooms, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp dried thyme leaves
1 (14 ½ oz) can chicken broth
1 can cream of potato soup
1/3 cup half and half

Combine all ingredients except half and half in a slow cooker.

Cover and cook on LOW 5 hours or until veggies are tender and chicken is no longer pink in the centers.

Stir in half and half.

Turn slow cooker to HIGH.

Cover and cook 15 minutes or until heated through.

6 servings

MELTING CHOCOLATE

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It seems an easy task to just melt some chocolate. But chocolate is a clever and finicky ingredient:

If you must add liquid, chocolate needs more than 1 tbs moisture per ounce of chocolate to melt smoothly. Too little liquid will cause the chocolate to seize up and look curdled.

Do not put a lid on a pan of melting chocolate or the condensation will drip down into your chocolate and will cause it to seize.

If chocolate seizes, remove the pan from the heat and try whisking it in 1 tsp of light vegetable (canola, corn, safflower, soybean, or sunflower) oil for each ounce of chocolate. This should smooth it out.

Use low heat, preferably a double boiler with the simmering water level in the bottom pan at least 1/2” below the top pan.

In actuality, a lot of people now melt chocolate in the microwave. Chop the chocolate first into pieces so it melts evenly and quickly. If you must use HIGH power, do so for only 30 seconds and then stir. MEDIUM power is safer; melt from 30 seconds to 1 ½ minutes, depending on the amount of chocolate you are melting. Open the door and stir the chocolate a couple of times as it melts. Microwaved chocolate will retain its shape, so stir it to see if it has really melted.

CHICKEN AND GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

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1 lb fresh green beans, cooked
½ pint sour cream
1 can cream of celery soup
1 box chicken stuffing (such as stove top), prepared
5 chicken breasts, cooked
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup

Place drained beans in the bottom of a 9”x13” casserole dish.

Cut up chicken and place on top of the green beans.

Combine soups and sour cream.

Pour over chicken.

Spread prepared stuffing over the entire mixture in the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

OREO DECADENCE BARS

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1 (8 oz) pkg oreo crunchies
2 tbs margarine OR butter, melted
¾ cup white chocolate chips
¾ cup mini marshmallows
¾ cup walnuts, chopped
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine crunchies and margarine or butter in a small bowl. Sprinkle 1 cup crumb mixture over the bottom of a lightly greased 8”x8”x2” baking pan. Sprinkle with white chocolate chips, marshmallows and walnuts; top with remaining crumbs. Pour condensed milk evenly over crumbs.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Cut into bars; store in an airtight container.

Makes 16 bars