Its been requested of me to come up with recipes designed with a crock pot in mind.  They were specifically requested by some fitness minded individuals looking for a way to get good tasty protein into their diet easily, so following that idea none of these recipes will contain starch

What will make these recipes special is that they will be designed to be simple, hopefully as simple as “put in pot, turn pot on, walk away” Ronco style.

Here’s the total list of the recipes in this article. Use the anchors to go to them directly!

• A Texas Chili
• A Cajun dish: Etouffee
• A Beef stew recipe
• Chicken soup

The first recipe will be on that I’ve done before, Texas Chili

–The List–

• -Stew Beef, every grocery store will have this. Its the little bits left over after cutting steaks off the primal cuts, its usually very cheap and already cut so no work needed, get two pounds for this recipe
• -Onion, color doesn’t matter, get one large onion (or two medium)
• -Canned Chipotles in Adobo, one small can, check the Hispanic section of your grocery store
• -Garlic, how you get it is irrelevant, I prefer to get the whole peeled cloves and skip the whole garlic smelling hands part, 8 cloves total
• -Diced Tomato, I prefer the fire roasted kind for a little extra flavor, one large can
• -Dark Beer, any will do, no Guinness, one bottle for the pot, five bottles for you and your boys
• -Optional – Cilantro This isn’t needed, but you’ll appreciate it if you get it, one bunch of fresh cilantro

—Dried Spices:

• Cumin
  Oregano
  Cayenne Pepper
  Chili Powder
  Onion Powder

–Do Work Son!–

1. Dice or slice the onion
2. Mince or thinly slice the garlic
3.  Open the chipotles and fish out as many as you like, more will be hotter, chop them up until almost “dissolves” to where you cant see solid parts anymore
4. Take all the ingredients (except the cilantro) and put them in the crock pot. Top the pot up with water. Turn it on low and walk away.
5.  You might have to add more water as time goes by and it cooks out. Let this simmer on low until the meat is tender (I would estimate at least 4 hours) Once you reach this point, uncover the pot and let it simmer until the water cooks out and it thickens up.
6.  Chop the cilantro and sprinkle over your bowl before devouring

The next dish will be a Cajun dish, Etouffee. Recipe

Normally this dish would be served over rice, but can be served almost like a stew without it.

–The List–

• -Onions, color doesn’t matter, get 2 large onions
• -Green Bell Peppers, 2 large peppers
• -Celery, you’ll need about 6 ribs
• -Scallions, two bunches
• -Meat, chicken, seafood, and andouille are all good choices. I’m going to write this as if it was made with andouille, chicken, and shrimp
• -Canned Clams, This is more for flavor rather then body, though they will add flavor as well, get one medium sized canned (you can use the frozen whole, vacuum packed baby clams if you can find them)
• -Garlic, 6 cloves
• -Cajun Seasoning, blackening seasoning is basically the same thing, any brand will work
• -Seafood Stock, This is optional simply because it might be hard to find, if you’re feeling froggy ask and I’ll give you a recipe for fish fumet to make this
• -Gumbo File, this might be hard to find for some, but if you can find it its well worth it
• -**Optional – Roux All Cajun stews are made with a ‘brick’ roux, it lends a lot of flavor, if you wish you can make this on the side and add it in at the end. See the note below. You’ll need half a pound of butter and 1.75 cups of flour for that

–Do Work Son!–

1. Turn your crock pot on its highest setting
2. Slice the sausage, smaller pieces means more sausage per bite
3. Add the sausage to the crock pot and let it cook by itself
4. Dice the onions, peppers, and celery
5. Mince or thinly slice the garlic
6. Dice the chicken and clean the shrimp (take off the legs and tails if they have them)
7. By now a good amount of fat should have come out of the sausage, if not give it 5-10 more minutes
8. Once rendered, add in all the ingredients, EXCEPT for the shrimp. For the canned clams you will want to add the meat AND juice.
9. Season with the Cajun, the File, salt, and pepper
10. Cook on low until the chicken is cooked through
11. **Note: If you’re going to add roux ignore step 11 and see the note at the end for making and using roux
12. Turn the crock on high and let it boil, you want to cook out the water to give it a more stewlike consistency, rather then soup (unless you like it soupy)
13. Once cooked down turn the crock off and add in the shrimp. Put on the lid and walk away for 10 minutes, stir the pot and check the shrimp for doneness (they will be red and the meat white)

**Note: For making roux, you’ll need a stove and a skillet or pot, melt the butter and then whisk or stir in all the flour. Turn the heat on low and keep moving the roux around so it doesn’t burn. Cook the roux for about fifteen minutes or until it turns dark brown (but not black). Cool the roux down by spreading it thinly on a plate, then add the cooled roux to the hot Etouffee. Bring it to a boil while stirring, it should thicken up nicely.

Next up is an American and English classic, good old beef stew.

This will be a simplified version with fewer ingredients. Adding starch like carrots and potatoes would be traditional but will be omitted for this variation.

–The List–

• -Meat, most grocery stores will sell “stew beef” big tough, cheap chunks of cow will do too, but you’ll have to cut them into pieces yourself, you’ll want about three pounds
• -Onions, color is irrelevant, two large will do
• -Celery, about 7 or 8 ribs
• -Rosemary, fresh is best, dried will work, fresh you’ll want about 5 good sized “branches” for dry about 2 tablespoons
• -Carrot, normally this would be a main part of the dish but in this instance it’ll just be for flavor, one average sized carrot
• -Garlic and Bay Leaves, these are optional, if you don’t add them its not the end of the world, three of each, cloves and leaves respectively
• -Red Wine, don’t break the bank, an $8 bottle will do, you’ll want about 1.5 cups, get your girl drunk with the rest
• -Beef Broth, any brand will do, I prefer low sodium so I can adjust the seasoning myself, get four quarts
• -Worcestershire Sauce, you’ll want about 1/4 of a cup, don’t buy off brands, Lea and Perrins or better
• -Sriracha or Crushed Red Pepper, this is a secret ingredient for my beef stew, just a hint of either to give subtle background spice
• -Diced Tomato, one small can

–Do Work Son!–

1. 1) Slice the celery into 1/4″ crescents, dice the onion 1/4″, and cut the carrot into the smallest pieces you can (grating the carrot will work too)
2. 2) Slice, rough chop, or smash the garlic cloves
3. 3) Put all the ingredients EXCEPT the meat into the pot, DO NOT add all the beef broth, leave enough room so that the meat will fit, don’t bother stripping the rosemary, throw it in stems and all
4. 4) Season the cooking liquid, make sure to taste it, you want it to be just a little bit to salty as it is right now
5. 5) Add in the meat (make sure to cut it into pieces if you didn’t get it pre-cut or don’t cut it and make pot roast) and turn the pot on low
6. 6) Let this cook, covered, until the beef is tender, keep topping it up with beef broth (or water if you run out) as it cooks down
7. 7) Once the meat is tender, cook uncovered until the liquid reduces and you have a nice thick consistency
8. 8) Check the seasoning again, I prefer mine with a strong hint of black pepper

**Note: Make sure to fish out the rosemary stems

Finally another American classic, chicken soup.

Normally you would add dumplings, noodles, or rice to this to give it starchy body, but for this recipe we’ll omit those (email me if you want a good dumpling recipe)

**Note: This will be the most involved recipe and will take the better part of two days (with cook time) I’ll address how to ease this in the procedure

–The List–

• -A whole chicken, god damn right a whole chicken, get the “broiler/fryer” type
• -Onion, get three large yellow or white onions (red will stand out and look funny)
• -Celery, you’ll want 10 ribs
• -Carrot, just like the stew this will only be for flavor, two average carrots
• -Thyme, Fresh is best, dried will work, fresh you’ll want about 12 stems (roughly half the average pack you’ll find in a grocery store) for dry about 4 tablespoons
• -White Wine, this is optional, add just half a cup
• -Chicken Broth, I prefer low sodium, get 2 quarts
• -Parsley, one bunch, I prefer flat leaf but any will do

–Do Work Son!–

**Note: start this at night, before you go to bed

1. Roughly chop ONE onion, ONE carrot, and FOUR ribs of celery
2. Put the whole chicken (make sure you pull out the neckbone and giblets from the inside) and the chopped vegetables into the crock pot. Add in one quart of chicken broth, then fill it the rest of the way with water
3. Turn it to the lowest setting possible, put on a lid and let it cook overnight
4. The next day fish out the chicken and pick apart the meat, make sure you don’t have any bones or skin
5. This step is optional. Take the cooking liquid and strain out the vegetables and any other solid parts, put in the fridge and let it get cold, a disc of fat will form on the top. You can now lift off and throw out the fat, leaving just the liquid
6. Dice the onion, carrot, and celery
7. Add in the chicken meat, the vegetables, the wine, thyme and the other quart of chicken stock. If you’re using fresh thyme if you can, find something to tie the stems together with, this’ll make it easy to get them out at the end
8. Top the pot up with either water, or the saved cooking liquid from the night before (or both if necessary)
9. Cook on low until the carrots are soft
10. Season, I prefer a strong hint of black pepper

Want more crock pot recipes, or want a recipe simplified, drop me a line via the comments section.