Slow cooker question and recipe request

[grumblebee]

My parents gave me a slow cooker for Christmas and I have fallen in love with it! There is nothing better then coming home from a long day of classes to my apartment filled with the smell of homemade chili, beans or soup cooking in my crockpot.

Anyway, the only meat I eat is fish and seafood but I have been reluctant to make anything in the slow cooker using either. (usually I make veggie and bean based items in the pot) It seems to me that fish and seafood would be too delicate to be able to cook succesfully in it. However, lately it's been cold and snowy and I've been wanting to make some nice fish chowder or seafood stew and was thinking of using my slow cooker for it. I dont want to waste good fish/seafood though so I thought I would ask here first.

So my question basically is can one make a good fish or seafood dish using a slow cooker without the fish turning into complete mush? Has anyone here made anything in a slow cooker using fish or seafood? If so, what? (recipes would be nice!) Also, if you have any good vegetable or bean based slow cooker recipes I would love to hear those too! I usually make chili or vegetable stew... any other ideas? Something with lentils maybe?

Thanks in advance!

 

[GB]

Well I don't have an answer about the fish. My guess is that most fish would be too delicate for the crockpot, but that is just a guess. Perhaps some recipes would lend themselves to putting all the ingredients in except for the fish and then when you get home put the fish in for the last half hour or so. Just a thought.

Here is a lentil crockpot recipe that I love. It does have meat in it, but I do not see any reason you could not just omit it. The flavor will not be the same, but I am sure it will still be delicious.
It only calls for 1 stalk of celery, but I love celery and use a lot more. I use anywhere from 4 stalks to a whole bunch.

Crockpot Lentils and Sausage



1 (16 ounce) package dry lentils
1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth
21.5 oz water
1 carrot, chopped
2 pounds kielbasa (Polish) sausage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 stalk celery, chopped



1 Rinse and drain lentils, but do not soak. In a slow cooker, stir together the lentils, tomatoes, broth, water, carrot, sausage and celery.

2 Cover, and cook on High setting for 3 hours, or Low setting for 6 to 7 hours.

3 Stir well before serving.

 

[Corey123]

Fish cooks much faster than chicken.

I'd see no need to do it in the slow cooker.

But you can do most meatless recipes in it. For instance, you can also do vegetarian-style Boston Baked Beans in it. Just leave out the salt pork and use olive or canola oil instead. Or vegetable soup.

I plan to do it that way the next time i make baked beans.


~Corey123.

 

[mish]

I lost my whole post. Grrrr.

Mostly I prepare roasts in the slow cooker. Re veggies: I have some for eggplant, stuffed peppers and spaghetti squash, if you are interested. And a tuna noodle casserole, but my guess is it will be mushy.

Here are a few links:

http://www.thatsmyhome.com/slowcooker/seafood.htm

http://www.recipegoldmine.com/crockpotsoup/crocksoup.html

http://www.recipegoldmine.com/crockpotveg/crockveg.html

 

[Corey123]

There are also little cheap paperback slow cooker cookbooks at your local supermarket.

You can usually find them near the checkout counters. They usually run for
about $4.00 or so.


~Corey123.

 

[grumblebee]

Thanks for the help, guys... and Mish, those links are great - thank you! I found this recipe at one of the websites and it looks like it could be good and should be simple. I will try it and let you know how it works out...

Thanks again..

 

[mish]

Thanks for the help, guys... and Mish, those links are great - thank you! I found this recipe at one of the websites and it looks like it could be good and should be simple. I will try it and let you know how it works out...

Thanks again..

You are very welcome, grumblebee. The chowdah looks mighty good.

 

[Claire]

I, personally, wouldn't cook fish or shelfish in a crockpot all day. BUT, that said, you can cook the entire dish in the crock pot, then when you get home from work, turn the heat up and add the fish/shellfish. It will cook in a few minutes, the time it takes you to take off your shoes, put up your feet, and have a glass of wine.

 

[Corey123]

Agreed.

But for seafood gumbo recipes which require any seafood to be added last anyway, that can usually be done upon returning home.

Since all seafood requires only a short cooking time, if added early, it will become so tough like rubber! Or it will break up and become mush. Adding it about 10 or 15 minutes before serving is usually good enough.


~Corey123.

 

[SueBear]

sounds yummy!!

I lost my whole post. Grrrr.

Mostly I prepare roasts in the slow cooker. Re veggies: I have some for eggplant, stuffed peppers and spaghetti squash, if you are interested. And a tuna noodle casserole, but my guess is it will be mushy.

This is an old msg post that I stumbled across however I'd love to get that recipe for stuffed peppers if you don't mind posting it

Sue