Yummy, Warming, Slow Cooker Toppings

It’s that time of year again in Australia….the days are getting shorter, the leaves are turning and the creeping chill of the overcast days can’t quite be managed by wearing a jumper (by jumper, I mean sweater ;)). This is the time of year when the wonderful fragrant and warming meals from the slow cooker really come into their own!

I have written about my love affair with our slow cooker before and how I credit it as having a big role in my recent weight loss….

…Since it’s time to bring out the slow cooker again I though I'd share some great ideas for making the meals even more delicious.

I just love these recipes because they remind me of my Grandmas cooking. She passed away when I was only 5 years old, but I remember loving her more than anything. I remember the wonderful smells of her kitchen and I remember just loving Grandmas special dumplings. I know these recipes are a little old-fashioned now but my family just loves them. I think it’s time to bring them back into fashion!

1. Herb and cheese dumplings in the oven

These are by far my favorite slow cooker topping. You need to transfer the your cooked casserole into a oven proof dish….but baking the dumplings in the oven creates a gorgeous brown crust. The soft scone like dumplings soak up the slow cooked juices….. And just transports you to that happy place…..

2 cups self-raising flour

60g chilled butter, chopped

1 tbs chopped fresh chives

2 tbs chopped fresh continental parsley

¾ cup grated cheese

½ cup milk

1 egg lightly whisked

Place flour in a bowl and use your fingertips to rub the bitter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the chives, parsley ½ cup cheese. Pour in the egg and milk and use a knife with a chopping motion until the mixture is evenly incorporated and holds together. Transfer your slow cooked meal into a large casserole dish. Roll the dough into golf ball sized dumplings and arrange around the top of the casserole dish. Sprinkle the dumplings with the left over cheese and cook at 200degreed Celsius for 25 minutes

2. Dumplings straight in the cooker

These dumplings are much softer than the oven dumplings and are really easy to add just to the top of the slow cooker.

85 g self-raising flour

25g butter

Fresh herbs e.g. chopped flat leaved parsley, chives or rosemary

Salt and pepper to taste

50ml milk

Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Roll into balls (about the size of golf balls)  with floured fingers. Arrange on the top of your slow cooker stew. Cook for 40mim/hr on high until dumplings are cooked through.

3. Sponge topping

This recipe is from Grumpy Daddy’s mum. The kids grandma makes slow cooker meals extra special by topping them with this delicious light topping….and any recipe that asks for a ‘well’ in the center makes me feel all nostalgic and must be good…right?!

1 cup plain flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs (separated)

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

Sift flour and salt into large bowl and make a well in the center

Beat the yolks with the milk and pour into the flour

Add the melted butter and stir until smooth

Beat the eggs whites until stiff and fold into the mixture

Add to the slow cooker and cook for 2 – 2 ½ hours on high with the lit tilted just a little.

4. Puff pastry pies

My kids just love the concept of a ‘pie’ They will ravenously devour chicken hot pot or a beef or lamb stew presented this way

Transfer slow cooked stew to one large casserole dish or smaller individual ramekins. Top with a piece of shop bought puff pastry. Cut a cross in the middle and fold back the pastry a little to let the air escape. Brush the puff pastry lightly with milk. Bake at 180 degrees until the pastry is crisp and golden brown.

You can use these topping with your favorite slow cooked meals….this is one of my favorites….or you can try some of my others in the slow cooker tab on my blog header.

The perfect fragrant slow cooked cinnamon beef

500g gravy beef cut into 3cm cubes

2 brown onions chopped

2 carrots chopped

2 sticks celery chopped

2 bay leaves

4 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 can tomatoes

½ cup red wine

1 cup chicken or beef stock

1 cinnamon stick (or 1 teaspoon cinnamon)

1 sweet potato chopped into 3 cm pieces

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup frozen peas

Combine all ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for about 8 hours, stir in frozen peas ½ hour before required

My Beloved Slow Cooker

I get the impression that people tend to either love, or hate slow cookers or crock pots….But I am definitely in team slow cooker!

 I received the slow cooker as a Christmas present from my Mum about 2 years ago, just prior to the start of my weight loss campaign (you can read how I lost 30kg here). Initially I thought it was too old-fashioned and  It took me a little while to get going, with more than one completely failed experiment!! But now I am in love!

I think there are tremendous health benefits to using the slow cooker. I love that the slow cooker enables you to make tasty, health meals based on vegetables and meat with little added fats and extra, empty carbohydrates. I often adapt most recipes I find to replace half the meat content with vegetables such as carrot, celery and onions. I mostly use tomato based sauces which are high in the antioxidant lycopene. I also tend to use a variety of spices such as paprika, cinnamon and turmeric and others which are also a good source of antioxidants.

 Using the slow cooker also fits well with my family’s sporty schedule. Often we arrive at home quite late from swimming, gymnastics or soccer training. To open the door and have the yummy smell of dinner waiting for you is a such a comforting feeling. In winter I’ll often set up the bread maker to have fresh hot bread ready at the same time. When the kids and I walk through the door, half frozen and wind-blown from being out on the soccer field, the aroma takes our breath away!

I usually prepare the meals for the slow cooker straight after I have got the girls away to school. Buster (4) just loves to help me. He takes his job very seriously and is the official adder of ingredients to the cooker and the official stirrer, but his favorite job is using the pepper grinder…I think it makes him feel all grown up, like mummy and daddy!

On Swimming nights, my daughter Flash (8), Buster and I arrive home from swimming training at about 6pm and Flash is ‘starving!’.  However, my other daughter, Muscles and GrumpyDaddy  will not arrive home until about 7.20pm- as muscles has gymnastics training most nights until then. If I don’t get food into Flash, she’ll most probably die J (according to her). To stop her incessant asking for food and her filling up on snacks before dinner I just usually give her and Buster an ‘early dinner’ The slow cooker makes this possible as I just take out her portion and serve it with some pasta, bread or rice from the rice cooker. The slow cooker keeps the food nice and warm for the rest of the family to have dinner later.

I find that the tender meat and vegetables from the slow cooker are very easy for the kids to eat and I know they are getting essential of iron from the meat and vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from the vegetables. To boost the vegetable content I usually add green vegetables to the slow cooker about 30min-1 hour before serving and I turn it up to high. Typically I’ll add broccoli, sliced zucchini or mushrooms (Flash’s favorite). Adding a cup of small diced frozen vegetables at this time also adds colour and interest to the dish. I also like to stir trough fresh herbs from my little herb garden just before serving to freshen up the dish. Typically I would use baby spinach, Italian flat leaf parsley or coriander. Fresh herbs such as these are reportedly high in antioxidants and vitamins.

Often, coming home from a hard day of child wrangling , I am just either too exhausted or just couldn’t be bothered to start a full dinner from scratch. Having dinner prepared in the slow cooler, ready to eat is the perfect antidote to stop myself from the temptation of ordering takeaway meals. If I could nominate the thing that has made the biggest contribution to turning my families eating habits healthier and helping me loose and maintain my weight, I would defiantly say it is my beloved slow cooker.

Please see some of my favourite recipes here in the slow cooker recipes tab.