Weekend Cooking: Girl's Night In Slow Cooker Night

This month the Cancer Council of Australia  are running a number of fund raising promotions, one of which is the Girls Night In. The idea is that you get a group of your friends together and have a great time, and donate the money you would have spent going out to the Cancer Council which supports people with cancer and research!

A group of my friends are getting together tonight for a Slow Cooker night, which means lots of food and drink! Part of the reason for having a slow cooker night was that I had given one to my friend as a housewarming gift, and she wanted to have a chance to use it!

One good thing is that I don't have to cook, but I was involved in choosing the recipes, so I thought I would share the two slow cooker recipes we are having. In addition to these, we are also having Jamie Oliver's French Potato bake and various vegetables, and apparently a Honeycomb Fool, which I am looking forward to trying as I haven't had it before.

The first recipe was one I originally saw on the now defunct blog Whipped Out, but they originally saw this recipe at Busy Mommy. If you check out the Busy Mommy blog, she actually has pictures up of the process, although her chicken is breast down, but the recipe is for breast up.

I have made this a few times now. The best thing is that my son loves mixing the herb mix and rubbing it into the chicken. I just have to make sure he hasn't missed any parts. The second best thing is that it is really easy to make and then just come back hours later to do the accompaniments!

Slow Cooker Chicken

1 chicken (3.5-4 lbs)
2 Tbsp Paprika
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
2 Tbsp garlic powder or 3 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Place all of your ingredients in a small bowl and stir in water by the teaspoon until a paste forms. Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray and place the chicken in, breast side up.

Coat the chicken inside and out with the paste. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours or on high 3.5-4.5 hours. Make sure the thickest part of the thigh registers at 180 degrees.




The second recipe comes from a website that I have mentioned multiple times now, Taste.com.au. When my friend and I were looking for ideas about what to cook, we both saw this and thought it looked good so it went on the list. Apparently we may have had a bit of an issue in that the butcher gave us the wrong meat, but this is what we were supposed to be eating:

Slow Cooked Pork with Chorizo and Whitebeans

1.5kg-piece boneless pork leg, trussed

olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary
2 chorizo sausages, sliced
1/4 cup (60ml) chicken stock
400g can whitebeans (cannellini), rinsed and drained
1 apple, cut into wedges
steamed vegetables and crusty bread, to serve

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat and spray with oil spray. Rub the pork with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and cracked black pepper. Cook the pork, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides. Transfer to a plate.


Place pork in the slow cooker along with the rosemary, chorizo and stock. Cover and cook according to the slow cooker manufacturers instructions (see note).

Twenty minutes before serving, stir in the whitebeans and apple. Cover and continue to cook. Transfer pork to a plate, cover and rest for 10 minutes, then slice and divide between serving plates along with the chorizo and whitebean mixture. Drizzle with cooking juices and serve with steamed vegetables and crusty bread.

Notes

Most slow cookers will cook your meal in 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low, but this varies depending on the brand of your slow cooker. Refer to your slow cooker instruction manual for the manufacturer’s individual cooking time recommendations.


If you don't have a slow cooker, cook in a casserole dish with lid on or a baking pan covered in foil. The oven temperature should be on a low heat (130°C ), cook meal for 2-3 hours, or until meat falls off fork when tested. Extra liquid may be needed, baste regularly.


So now I am off to put on something pink, go and enjoy good company and good food, whilst raising money for a really worthwhile cause!

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.