[AngelBabe]

Ingredients:
1 – 2 tsp olive oil to saute the kale (only 1 teaspoon for the Ninja, but 2 teaspoons to saute on the stove.)
5 oz. baby kale
non-stick spray or oil (to spray the slow cooker if you don’t use the Ninja)
6 oz. roasted red pepper (from a jar), diced fairly small
1/4 cup sliced green onion
4-5 oz. crumbled Feta
8 eggs, well beaten
1/2 tsp. spike seasoning (or other all-purpose seasoning blend)
fresh-ground black pepper to taste
low-fat sour cream for serving (optional, but good)

Instructions:

Wash kale if needed, and spin dry or dry with paper towels.  Heat the oil, either in the Ninja Cooker on the Stovetop/High setting or in a large frying pan on medium-high.  When the oil is hot, add the kale and saute until it’s softened into a flat layer, about 3-4 minutes in the Ninja Cooker and slightly less in a pan.  If you’re using a regular slow cooker, spray it well with non-stick spray or oil and transfer the cooked kale to the slow cooker.  If you’re using the Ninja Cooker, turn to Slow Cook/Low setting.

Drain red peppers and chop into fairly small pieces.  Slice the green onions and crumble the Feta.  Add the chopped red pepper and sliced green onion to the slow cooker with the kale.  Beat the eggs well, pour over other ingredients in the slow cooker, and stir so all ingredients are well-combined.  Season with spoke seasoning and black pepper, then sprinkle on the Feta.

Cook on low for 2 – 3 hours, or until the frittata is well set and cheese is melted.  (I cooked mine for 2 hours and 45 minutes and it was perfect, but I got distracted with a phone call and it may have been done slightly sooner than that.  I think the Ninja cooks a little hotter than other slow cookers, so it may take slightly longer if you don’t use the Ninja Cooker.)   Serve hot, with a dollop of low-fat sour cream if desired.

This will keep well in the fridge for several days and can be reheated in the microwave.

[AngelBabe]

Slow Cooker Poached Salmon

Serves 4 to 6

2 cups water
1 cup dry white wine
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
5-6 sprigs fresh herbs, such as tarragon, dill, and/or Italian parsley
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 pounds skin-on salmon (or 4-6 fillets), preferably farm-raised
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Lemon wedges, coarse sea salt, and olive oil for serving

Combine water, wine, lemon, shallots, bay leaf, herbs, peppercorns and salt in the slow cooker and cook on high for 30 minutes.

Season the top of the salmon with salt and pepper and place in the slow cooker, skin side down. Cover and cook on low until salmon is opaque in color and flakes gently with a fork. Start checking for desired doneness after 45 minutes to an hour and continue cooking until preferred doneness is reached. (Salmon can be held on the warm setting for several hours.)

Drizzle salmon with good-quality olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

1 member liked this post.

Sophia

[AngelBabe]

The Dos and Don’ts of a Slow Cooker ? Xx
Choose the right cut: Chuck roasts, short ribs, pork

shoulders and lamb shanks (think fatty and tougher meats)

become meltingly tender with the moist, low heat of a slow

cooker. Leaner cuts like pork tenderloin tend to dry out.

Likewise, dark meat chicken — thighs, drumsticks, etc. —

will remain juicier than white meat breasts.
Keep the lid closed: Each peek you take during the cooking

process will add an additional 15 to 20 minutes of cooking

time. And curb the urge to stir; it’s usually not necessary and

tends to slow down the cooking.
Care for your crock: The ceramic insert in a slow cooker

can crack if exposed to abrupt temperature shifts. In other

words, don’t place a hot ceramic insert directly on a cold

counter; put down a dishtowel first. The same goes for

using a filled insert you’ve stowed overnight in the

refrigerator: Let it come to room temperature before putting

it in a preheated base.
Browning boosts flavor: You can certainly just pile food into

the slow cooker, turn it on and get tasty results. But when

you take a couple of minutes to brown your meat and saute

your vegetables before adding them to the crock, you’re

rewarded with an additional layer of deep, caramelized

flavor. (This is doubly true with mince meat.) Want a thicker

sauce? Dredge the meat in flour before browning.
Don’t use frozen food: Loading a slow cooker with icy

ingredients will keep food in the danger zone where

bacteria can flourish (40 to 140 degrees F). So make sure

your meat and vegetables are fully thawed before turning

the cooker on. The exception: Prepackaged slow-cooker

meals sold in the freezer case are fine to use as long as

you follow the package’s directions.
Avoid overcrowding: For the best results, fill a slow cooker

between one-half and two-thirds full. Go ahead and cook

big roasts and whole chickens; just make sure you use a

large crock and that the lid fits snugly on top.
Trim fat: For silky sauces and gravies, take a minute or two

and cut the excess fat from the meat. Skip this step and you

risk ending up with oily, greasy cooking liquid. When

possible, remove chicken skin too.
Layer wisely: For even cooking, cut food into uniform-size

pieces. Place firm, slow-cooking root vegetables like

potatoes and carrots at the bottom of the crock and pile the

meat on top.
Set the heat level: A general rule of thumb is that cooking on

the low setting (170 degrees F for most models) takes

about twice as long as cooking on high (280 degrees F on

most models). Keep in mind that some cuts of meat and

recipes are better suited to one setting over the other. (See

tips on choosing the right cut, above.)
Add dairy last: Sour cream, milk and yogurt tend to break

down in the slow cooker, so stir them in during the last 15

minutes of cooking.
Watch the wine: Because the cooker is sealed, the alcohol

in wine doesn’t evaporate out as it would in a regular pot or

skillet. Just a splash goes a long way.
End on a fresh note: A sprinkle of fresh herbs or squeeze

of lemon juice at the end of simmering can brighten flavors

and cut through the richness of long-cooked recipes. Other

excellent finishing touches: hot sauce, citrus zest, grated

Parmesan, good-quality olive oil or even sauteed garlic.
Adjust for high altitude: For high-altitude cooking, add an

additional 30 minutes for each hour of time specified in the

recipe. Legumes take about twice as long as they would at

sea level.
Unplugged means unusable: Forgot to turn on your cooker

(or accidentally tried to “cook” your meal on warm)? Any

food that sits between the temperatures of 40 and 140

degrees F can harbor bacteria. Toss the contents and start

again.

[AngelBabe]

There are a number of dos and don’ts for this handy little

machine. most common slow cooker mistakes and our best tips on how to avoid them.
1. Raw meat and the slow cooker.
There’s no doubt that slow cookers are wonderfully

convenient and can truly transform a piece of meat. To get

the most delicious flavor out of your meal, it’s best not to

add raw meat straight in the bowl of the slow cooker.
→ Follow this tip: Brown meat on the stove top before

adding it to the slow cooker. It adds a wonderful

caramelized flavor you won’t get from the slow cooker, and

it seals in the meat’s natural juices.
( of course raw meat can be added, but it will have a

different flavour)
2. Don’t use the wrong type of meat.
Ok, so there aren’t technically right and wrong cuts of meat

to make in the slow cooker. But there are certain cuts that

work way better than others. It’s best to stay away from lean

and more expensive cuts, like chicken breast, and save

them for grilling, stovetop or oven cooking. When lean meat

is cooked for a long time can get super tough.
→ Follow this tip: Slow cookers are ideal for tougher, fattier

and inexpensive cuts of meat, like stew meat and shoulder

cuts. The longer cook time breaks down the tough

connective tissue, and you end up with tender, juicy meat.
3. Don’t open the lid during cooking!
It’s mighty tempting to lift the lid to see what’s going on

inside, or even to take a taste. Try to avoid this. Slow

cookers work by trapping heat and cooking food over a long

period of time. Every time you remove the lid the slow

cooker loses heat, and it takes a while to heat back up.
→ Follow this tip: Unless you really have to, there’s no need

to remove the lid. And, if you do open the lid keep it as brief

as possible.
4. Don’t add too much wine or liquor. ( or vineger )
Unlike cooking on the stovetop or oven, where the heat is

much higher and food often simmers without a lid, wine and

liquor don’t boil down and reduce in a slow cooker. So,

instead of subtle wine undertones, you may end up with the

harsh flavor of “raw” alcohol, which is far from appetizing.
→ Follow this tip: Use wine or liquor to deglaze the pan

after browning the meat, then add it to the slow cooker. The

high heat will cook off the alcohol. You can also skip the

liquor altogether.
5. Don’t add dairy products too soon.
Adding dairy products, like milk, cheese, sour cream or

yogurt, too soon will cause them to curdle.
→ Follow this tip: Wait until the very end of cooking when

food has come off the boil to add any dairy products to the

slow cooker. stir in well , you can then reheat if you wish

6. Veg needs to have an initial burst up to boiling, in order to

start the breakdown of cellulose. Once this has happened

both veg and meat will happily cook on low. Try either

bringing veg up to boil separately, or putting slow cooker on

high for first 2 or 3 hours. Potatoes, onions, celery and

carrots all need to reach 100°c before they can start to

soften, meat can simmer away at a much lower

temperature.

7. Leftovers/ precooked/ frozen ready meals, should not be

reheated in the slow cooker, my advice would be any

lefovers chill asap, use from fridge within 3 days, or heat

from frozen,only reheat once, to boiling right through ,on the

hob, oven or microwave

[AngelBabe]

enjoying breakfast

Attachments:

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[AngelBabe]

Good catchup with a friend this morning even if we both felt like death warmed up

[AngelBabe]

The Major Oak

Took few weeks ago when grandson was down

 

and another random tree in sherwood forest

Attachments:

1. 

   majoroak.jpg

2. 

   m1.jpg

[AngelBabe]

Vegetarian Indian Spiced Squash and Lentil Curry
Ingredients

Vegetable Oil
1 large onion, diced
5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 medium red chilli, deseeded, finely diced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons tomato puree
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
350g red lentils, rinsed and drained
1.4 litres of hot vegetable stock
500g – 600g Butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and diced to approx 3cm pieces
Juice and zest of 1 lime
100g baby spinach leaves
1 large handful of coriander, chopped
Instructions

1. Heat a suitable pan over a medium heat; add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil and sauté the onion until golden, approx 5 minutes. If you have a  slow cooker, use the pot to sauté your onions.
2. Add the ginger, garlic and chilli and cook for a further 30 seconds.
3. Reduce the heat, add the spices, stir well and continue sautéing for a further 2 minutes.
4. Spoon the mixture into the removableslow cooker bowl.
5. Add the puree, tomatoes, lentils, stock, and squash, mix well, cover with the lid and cook on High for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.
6. To finish, stir in the lime juice and zest, spinach leaves and coriander. Serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt and some warmed flatbreads.

[AngelBabe]

Beef stew with dumplings
serves six
per serving
Calories:
526
Protein:
38g
Total fat:
28g
Saturated fat:
12g
Total carbs:
27g
Fibre:
4g
This stew does not require you to brown the beef, which makes it ideal for a slow cooker.
Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 medium parsnips, cut into 2.5cm (1in) pieces
2 medium carrots, cut into 2.5cm (1in) pieces
1 large leek, cut into 1cm (½in) slices
3 tbsp tomato purée
1 kg (2lb 2oz) braising steak, cut into 4cm (1½in) chunks
Plain flour, to dust
200 ml (7fl oz) red wine
600 ml (1 pint) beef stock
3 fresh rosemary sprigs

For the dumplings
Ingredients

125 g (4oz) self-raising flour
60 g (2½oz) suet
1 tbsp dried parsley

Method

Put the oil, vegetables and tomato purée into the bowl of your slow cooker. Dry the beef pieces with kitchen paper and dust with the plain flour (tapping off excess). Add to the slow cooker together with the wine, stock, rosemary and some seasoning. Stir to combine.

Cover and cook on high for 5hr or until the beef is tender.
After 5hrs of cooking, make the dumplings. Sift the flour into a large bowl and stir in the suet, parsley and lots of seasoning. Add 100ml (3½fl oz) cold water and stir to make a soft (and slightly sticky) dough.

Remove the lid and discard the rosemary sprigs. Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of dough, gently roll into a ball and place on top of the stew, spacing apart. Recover and cook for 1hr more. Check the seasoning and serve with mashed potatoes.

[AngelBabe]

Pete wrote:

What is a cup ?

just  a cupthat you drink out of depending on the quant you want either a mug or a smal teacup but be sure to use the same size cup for all the ingredients

[Author]

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