crockpot Archives - The Midnight Baker

Hoisin Pot Roast

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 11 Jul 2020 23:00:53 +0000

Bring out your crockpot and keep the kitchen cool with this delicious hoisin pot roast.

Beat The Heat

Never think of using your slow cooker in the summer? It’s something you should think about because you can make great dinners without heating your kitchen. This is especially good if your family is craving good old comfort food. Comfort food is one of those year-round things so this is where your slow cooker comes in handy.

So if your family is craving some delicious pot roast, here’s a great recipe for one that’s very easy, uses a minimum of ingredients and tastes fantastic.

Hoisin Pot Roast?

I bet you never thought of hoisin sauce and pot roast together.

Admittedly, it’s not the standard flavoring used in most pot roasts, but that’s exactly why you should be thinking of the two things together.

Hoisin sauce is well known as an Asian condiment and it’s readily available in any supermarket. You’ll find it where the soy sauce is kept. It’s thick and sweet, but not overly so. It also has a pleasant slight tartness and that is a perfect medium for the bold flavor of beef.

In fact, the cooking liquid is just hoisin sauce and a bit of water. You can’t get much simpler than that.

The Meat

This roast is tastiest when made with either chuck or rump roast as they are the most flavorful cuts. Other cuts may be used, but you’re wise to keep to the two that I mentioned.

If you plan to use chuck, the cook time is dependent on the shape. For instance, if you have what looks like a thick steak, then your pot roast will be done quicker than 8 hours. On the other hand if it’s shaped like a lump, it will require the full 8-10 hours of cook time.

The Recipe

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Hoisin Pot Roast

Easiest pot roast recipe ever and everyone will love it

Prep Time5

Cook Time8

Course: Dinner, Main, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: slow cooker recipes for beginners, unusual pot roast recipes, using hoisin sauce

Servings: 6

Calories: 688kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

4 lb beef chuck rump or bottom round roast
1 medium onion chopped
3 plums pitted and cut in half, see NOTES
1 cup hoisin sauce
3/4 cup water
1 tbs oil

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large skillet and brown roast on all sides.
Lay chopped onion in the bottom of a slow cooker--a 5 quart/5 liter or larger.
Place browned roast on top of the onions then mix the hoisin sauce with the water and pour it over the roast. Top roast with plums.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, high 4-6 hours. Times are approximate depending on your slow cooker as they all differ slightly.

Notes

You can substitute prunes for the fresh plums, but use only 3, cut in half.

Nutrition

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Slow Cooker Potato Chowder

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 00:00:36 +0000

Serve this potato chowder soup with a crusty roll and green salad and call it dinner.

Makes A Great Dinner

Well, after a short spell of spring-like weather, we’re back to cold and snow here.

With weather like that, my thoughts turn to a hearty and filling soup for dinner. This potato chowder surely fills the bill.

Serve it with a nice green salad and a hunk of homemade bread (since we all seem to be doing that now that we’ve been told to stay home and supplies are limited) and it’s pure comfort food.

It’s also good-for-the-soul food and a good way to use what you have on hand.

Fast Or Slow

The beauty of this soup recipe is that it can be done low and slow or in a jiffy on the stovetop.

The stovetop method is great for when you’ve been busy or totally forgot to plan something for dinner. Frankly with a lot of us, our minds have been other places lately with this health crisis. Thankfully, it’s a dinner that can be made quickly.

You also could be taking this time away from your job to take care of chores you’ve been putting off. Cleaning the house is usually the first thing. Well, you’re covered there too. You can just throw all of this in the slow cooker then set it and forget it and be off doing your chores.

Cream Cheese

I love cream cheese so I always have several bricks on hand. If you don’t–and for many reasons, don’t go running to the store to buy it–you can substitute other things here.

Do you have Greek yogurt? Use that. It’ll alter the taste a bit because it’s tangier than cream cheese, but it will work. Milk is good too in a pinch, as is evaporated milk. Cream is even better.

But guess what? It’s pretty darned good without it!

The Recipe

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Slow Cooker Potato Chowder

Whether you use your slow cooker or make it on the stovetop, this soup is awesome

Prep Time10

Cook Time8

Course: Dinner, Main, Slow Cooker, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cream soups for crock pot, potato chowder recipe, slow cooker potato soup

Servings: 8

Calories: 267kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 lbs red or Yukon gold potatoes peeled and cubed
6 cups chicken stock
1 can cream of chicken soup can size 10.5 oz/310 ml
1 tbs fresh thyme
1 small onion chopped
salt & pepper to taste
8 oz cream cheese cubed
1/2 cup crisp bacon diced

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

SLOW COOKER:

Place the potatoes, stock, soup, thyme and onion in the slow cooker. Cover and cook for about 8 hours, or until potatoes are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add the cream cheese and stir until melted and blended. Serve topped with the diced bacon.

STOVETOP:

Follow the slow cooker instructions, except cook the potatoes, stock, etc., over a medium heat in a dutch oven until potatoes are tender. Add the cream cheese and stir until blended.

Nutrition

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Crockpot Cashew Clusters

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:00:36 +0000

Great candy for the holidays or any time! Easy to make in the crockpot.

Addictive And Easy

These are just too good for words!

I’m pretty sure everyone has made, or at least heard of, the famous crockpot peanut clusters. This is just a variation on that.

These are made with cashews–mainly because I had a lot of those–and white chocolate. I’m confident that they can be made with any nuts. Yes, even peanuts if that’s what you have on hand, but I think that this candy gets a little more interesting if you use different nuts. It’s a year-round treat so try a few variations.

An Older Recipe And A Caveat

As I said before, this is a variation on an old recipe. That old recipe has been updated with a warning (of sorts).

Newer slow cookers cook hotter than the original appliances. In my crock pot group, I’ve seen people ask from time to time why their older recipes now are overcooked or done faster in their new slow cookers. The reason is that it is now deemed that 200 degrees F (which was low on the old slow cookers) is not a safe temperature to cook at. I don’t recall anyone getting sick from meals made in the old appliances, but I’m just going to leave that there because I’ve not done extensive research on the matter. However, now the new “low” is 300 degrees F so cooking times have to be adjusted.

The original recipe has been updated to inform you of this difference. It even states that you may not get the same results. Which leads to…

Another Happy Accident

You’d think I’d have paid attention to these warnings. Especially when I’ve answered questions such as these in that group. My experience just proved I was somewhat of a ditz and didn’t take my own advice.

However, this, much like my maple meatloaf, proves that what you think is a disaster can have surprisingly good results.

First of all, most white chocolate clusters are actually white. Mine are tan. Why? Because my new slow cooker cooks hotter–DUH. My heart sort of sank when I opened the lid to see this non-white concoction. But when I tasted it, it was fantastic because the extra heat caramelized the sugars and gave this a rich, deep taste.

Another instance of something better coming from pure ditziness! Enjoy them!

The Recipe

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Crockpot Cashew Clusters

Cashew clusters make great candy for the holidays or any time! Easy to make in the crockpot.

Prep Time5

Cook Time2

Total Time2 5

Course: Slow Cooker

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cashew clusters, crockpot recipes, homemade candy, slow cooker recipes

Servings: 24

Calories: 294kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

12 oz white chocolate chips see NOTES
4.4 oz white chocolate bar I prefer Lindt, but Ghirardelli is good too.
20 oz almond bark
2 tbs coconut oil or solid vegetable shortening
1-1 1/2 cups cashews I used unsalted

Instructions

Place all ingredients, except the cashews in a 4-6 qt slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low about 1 1/2-2 hours, or until when stirred, the mixture is melted and has no lumps.
Stir in the cashews and drop by tablespoon-fulls onto parchment or waxed paper. Garnish with colored sprinkles, if desired

Notes

Use high-quality white chocolate chips. I used Ghiradelli.

Nutrition

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Slow Cooker Cube Steak

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 23:00:07 +0000

Tender and perfect beef cube steaks cooked low and slow in the crockpot.

I see a similar recipe for this a lot on my Facebook crock pot group so when I was lucky enough to find a big “family” pack of cube steaks the other day that my store had reduced, I scooped them up and planned to make a slow cooker meal with them. I might add that any meat I find with a reduction for last-day-of-sale is always top notch, so this is why I buy it!

The standard recipe I always see for this uses dry onion soup mix. I’m really not a big fan of this flavor, and the reason is really bizarre when I think of it.

The thing I don’t like about the soup mix is–and especially using it in a slow cooker–smelling it for hours on end while it cooks. I have no issues with it when it’s used in dips and such, but smelling it for hours cooking is another story. Plus it’s a very dominant flavor/scent that I don’t seem to be able to smell anything else. By the time it comes to eat whatever it is in, I’m sorta “past it” if you know what I mean.

Because of this weird thing of mine, I will try to substitute something else for it–even if it’s beef broth and regular onions.

Here I used regular onions, but I used au jus gravy mix in place of the soup mix. I’m beginning to be a fan of this flavor anytime I’ve used it with beef as a seasoning. I use a lot of gravy mixes as seasonings; rarely use them for their intended purpose!

Since I love mushrooms, I threw in a couple of small cans of button mushrooms I had on hand since I had no fresh. But if you hate mushrooms–and I know many do–just leave them out. It won’t affect the taste.

I made this in my casserole crock pot and that was a perfect use for this as I was able to lay the steaks in virtually a single layer. Also remember that cube steaks shrink–up to one half their original size, so bear that in mind when you are buying them. I had 10 fair-sized raw steaks, but this recipe will feed 4-6, depending on appetite.

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Slow Cooker Cube Steak

Tender and perfect beef cube steaks cooked low and slow in the crockpot.

Prep Time15

Cook Time8

Total Time8 15

Course: beef, Comfort Foods, Everyday Meals, Slow Cooker

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cube steak, slow cooker baking

Servings: 4 -6

Calories: 670kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2-3 lbs chuck cube steak about 8-10 steaks
2 10.75 oz cans each cream of mushroom soup (I use low sodium)
1 small onion sliced
2 8 oz each cans button mushrooms, drained (optional)
1 envelope au jus gravy mix
1 clove garlic crushed
2 tbsp oil
1/2 cup seasoned flour see NOTES

Instructions

Heat 1 tbs oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Dredge the steaks in the seasoned flour.
Brown half of the steaks (you will have to brown in shifts due to the amount of steak)
Add the remaining 1 tbs of oil and brown the remaining steaks.
Place the steaks in a 5-7 quart slow cooker -OR- casserole crockpot.
In a large bowl, mix the soup, gravy mix, garlic, onions and mushrooms (if using)
Pour over the steaks, cover and cook on low 6-8 hours, high 4-6 hours.

Notes

Seasoned flour--1/2 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Nutrition

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Northeast Hearty Bean Soup

Judith Hannemann — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 05:00:00 +0000

Northeast Hearty Bean Soup

With the recent snows and cold snaps we’ve been experiencing in upstate New York the past couple of weeks, soup, and especially hearty and filling soups have been on my mind.

I finally settled on making my hearty bean soup when I saw a huge bag of great northern beans staring at me in Aldi last week. I know many swear by navy beans, but I’ve always been partial to great northern. They’re large and, well, beany.

I have been making this soup for so long I forget exactly when I came up with this recipe. Usually I made this after having leftover bone-in ham, but it’s not necessary. You can always use chunk ham and even kielbasa. Try both. I did that this time and the flavor is superb.

This soup was always made by a pinch of this and a poke of that, but I did take note of all my pinches and pokes and wrote down the measurements and amounts this time.

I added no additional seasoning, as it was fine for my taste. I do suggest you taste this before you serve and correct the seasonings if you feel it needs any correction. Firmly resist the urge to add salt, etc. before it is done. The very long cooking will draw out the flavors of all ingredients, including the salt in the ham and the sausage. I also cheated and started out with 1 package, portion, whatever you call that little tub thing, of Knorr vegetable stock (which is seasoned). If you do have a leftover meaty ham bone, forego the vegetable stock and just use the ham bone and 4 cups of water.

Serve this with a crusty roll and it’s a meal–and then some.

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Northeast Hearty Bean Soup

Prep Time1

Cook Time8

Total Time1 8

Course: Comfort Foods, Pork, Slow Cooker, soups

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bean soup

Servings: 6 -8

Calories: 250kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 cups great northern beans plus water to cover to soak
3 carrots sliced thickly
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 stalk celery sliced
1/2 tsp OR about 5 large fresh basil leaves
about 3 or 4 bunches celery leaves
6 whole black peppercorns
1 cup diced kielbasa Polish sausage or smoked sausage
1 cup cubed smoked ham
4 cups vegetable stock

Instructions

Cover beans with water. Soak overnight. Drain beans.
Add beans to 5 quart slow cooker. Add all other ingredients. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours. Reduce slow cooker heat to LOW and cook for 10-12 hours or until beans are very soft and soup looks thick and stew-like.

Nutrition

Northeast Hearty Bean Soup

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Chili Hater’s Chili

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:44:00 +0000

Chili Hater’s Chili

Much like the dreaded meatloaf, I was never a lover of chili. My late husband used to beg me to make this for him, and I just could never bring myself to do it. Fortunately, a neighbor satisfied his chili lust by sending over a doggie bag of hers whenever she made it.

A couple of years ago, I had chili on the brain, for some odd reason, so I decided to try this again. I pinpointed my dislike for the dish–cumin. I’m not a fan of this spice at all. I was reviewing a cookbook for slow cookers and found a recipe that did NOT include this, so I gave it a go.

The results were surprising. I ate 3 servings. I offered the leftovers to Lori W. when she dropped by. She was another “chili hater,” but said she’d give it to her husband for lunch because he liked it.

I might add she called me the next day to tell me that her hubby didn’t get a single bite because SHE ate it all. Another convert!

Anyway, here it is, and it’s an excellent dish to make ahead for the Super Bowl. Leave it in the crockpot on warm and let the football fans help themselves.

You can cut the chili peppers down or out if you want. This particular recipe has a bit of heat to it…not much but some.

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Chili Hater's Chili

Prep Time15

Cook Time8

Total Time8 15

Course: beef, Comfort Foods, ever, Slow Cooker

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: chili

Servings: 6

Calories: 153kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef browned and drained
1 can dark red kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 can garbanzo beans chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 - 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 can Rotelle tomatoes chopped tomatoes with green chiles
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 large garlic cloves minced
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1-2 long dried chile peppers
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

Brown ground beef with chopped onion and minced garlic until meat is brown and onion is translucent; drain and add to slow cooker
Add the remaining ingredients to slow cooker, cover and cook on LOW 6-8 hours.
Serve with rice and top with shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Nutrition

Chili Hater’s Chili

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