55 replies to this topic

[Cheater]

Ron,

Which ones, specifically please?

[Zippity]

Au jus gravy mix
Dry ranch dressing mix
Pepperoncini peppers or hot banana peppers, drained
 
Of course, they may well be sold here, but under different names.
 
I'll do some research. 
 
The recently-opened US2U store specializes in foods and products from the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Expats are flocking to the shop. 

[Zippity]

I'm heading out to buy the ingredients for this recipe (I will use chicken instead of beef), and thought that I should Google the items so that I would know what to look for.

 

Blow me down. I typed in "au jus gravy mix" and this is one of the first images to pop up on my screen.

 

 

I'll report back how it turned out later tonight or tomorrow.

 

 

[Roy Lievanos]

This looked so tempting I had to try it. We found the exact items as in Ron's post and began cooking time just before we went racing.

After losing a possible second-place finish, we packed up and headed home wondering how the roast turned out. This was a change from the usual pizza and beer.

Once home we went directly to the roast. It surprised me the amount of liquid it made.

It was awesome. The peperoncini gave it just the right amount of kick. A good change from the usual pizza and, well, I still had a beer.

Greg, thanks for posting the receipe.

[Zippity]

SWMBO has said that I can cook this dish again!!
 
Even though I bought chicken breasts instead of thighs, used a brown chicken gravy instead of the au jus gravy, substituted a different type of sweet pepper, the dish turned out beautiful  
 
I served it on a bed of mashed kumara (a NZ sweet potato) to which I added a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and some salt and pepper.
 
Some freshly-steamed broccoli topped off the meal.
 
Thanks, Greg.

[Pappy]

Thanks, Greg.

Thanks for what? 
 
You came up with a whole new recipe. Please post it. 

[Cheater]

Glad you liked it, Ron.

Doesn't surprise me you didn't follow the recipe exactly.

I remember what you did when I sent you one of the very first copies of the T-Flex Tome many years ago... LOL!

[Pablo]

Even though I bought chicken breasts instead of thighs

 

The chicken recipe variant Greg posted in #24 calls for breasts, not thighs.  

[Zippity]

I got my recipe from Pinterest.
 
The more I looked, the more I found.
 
Sadly, many products commonly found in the USA are not available here in NZ.
 
Tastes differ.

[Pablo]

My Mississippi Chicken was just like the Mississippi Pot Roast -

 

- prep time under a minute.

- absolutely melt-in-your-mouth fantastic.

- leftovers this morning will be chicken pieces on a flour tortilla with melted cheese and sour cream on top. 

 

My yacht club cook buddy was raving about it like a wild man. 

 

​ Thanks, Greg. 

[Pablo]

I tried an experiment on the MS pot roast - four hours on high, instead of eight hours on low. It still turned out "OK" but not nearly as good.

 

Instead of the moisture condensing on the lid, then dripping down and saturating the works, it was dripping down and sizzling off. No bueno.

[Cheater]

Good to know, Pablo.

[JimF]

This thread has been useful to me in an unusual way. I seldom use my slow cooker due to rather poor results.
 
But... this recipe sounded good so I tried it. 3 lb. roast, 7 hours on low. Same result I get every time. Decent flavor but dry, tough pot roast. So I thunk to myself, what the heck! Why are my results so poor when everyone is raving about this? So I tried it again with chicken. About 2-1/2 lbs chicken breast, set on low. Didn't use the peperoncini because I ate up the rest of the jar after the first go. This time, I checked the chicken after 2-3/4 hrs. It was already at 170* I stopped it immediately and had much better results with the chicken. Still a little overcooked but not too bad. After I took the chicken out, I added maybe a half cup broth and some chopped onion and a bit more butter to the drippings to make a sauce. This was pretty good.
 
So, it turns out that all these years, it never occurred to me that my slow cooker must just run hot. I think I've been overcooking stuff basically forever and that's why my results have been so poor.
 
Duh!!!

[Pablo]

Maybe the wires were connected wrong at the switch - lo is hi and hi is lo?

[JimF]

I don't think so because I've had rotten results both ways. I'm going to run out to Safeway to get some thighs and try it again tonight. This time I'll pull 'em at 155* and I think I'll just buy another crock pot when I get near a Walmart or somesuch place.
 
Honestly, I'm not a very good cook. I tolerate my cooking because most times it's just me and I'm generally only interested in "filling the hole". Thus... I have fairly barbaric tastes in food.

When my semi-GF comes to visit, she does the cooking because she's waaaaay better than me. And we both know it!!!

[Pablo]

If I may, take a lesson from my experimentation mistake - do not deviate from the recipe.
The chicken recipe calls for breasts, not thighs.
 
The only change I would make to either of the two recipes is, I don't agree with a complete bottle of pepperoncinis on the chicken. I recommend 10 of them on top, NOT all of them in the jar.
 
Jim, I'm sure you'll eat the rest of the jar soon enough. 

[JimF]

OK... good advice. Safeway sells breasts, too. And of course, a new jar of pepperoncinis. Gonna try a little sour cream in the sauce after the meat comes out.

[Zippity]

Chicken breasts tend to cook drier than thighs. 
 
I cut my breasts into two pieces in an attempt to cook the meat wetter. 
 
I cooked my dish on "low" for four hours, then switched to "auto" (high) for the last two hours - it all turned out well.
 
Slow cookers (or Crock-Pots as we call them out here) are great for cooking hearty winter soups...

[JimF]

I hear you! I think that if I cooked chicken for for a total of six hours... I'd be one step shy of chicken jerky. That's not a fault of the recipe at all, it's a fault of my crock pot and my own inability to identify the problem.

When I get back from Safeway this afternoon, I'll be trying out whichever chicken that I get and monitoring the internal temp very closely. I'd really prefer that I could cook the chicken to say 155* over a period of say six hours rather than two or three. I think it would come out way better that way.

However, my cooker just is not right for this task. Eventually (like... pretty soon) I'll be trying out a new one.

[Zippity]

Jim,

 

How do you measure the internal temperature of your chicken while it is cooking?

 

If you lift the lid off the cooker just once, you have defeated the whole intent/purpose of the slow cooker.  

 

Just sayin'. 

[JimF]

I get you and don't disagree. However... remember I said I am a lousy cook? I'm not kidding about that!
 
I used a probe to detect the internal temp. Last time out, I used the probe well after the point when I should have first checked. As a result, and at least in this case, I was too late. I think my cooker is too hot and will try another.
 
Meanwhile, this is a good starting point and worth pursuing assuming one has their (stuff) together, which I clearly don't.

[Tim Neja]

Remember Jim – All slow cookers are NOT created equal. Sounds like yours is way too hot!! Just junk it and try a different one, they're not expensive!

[JimF]

Yeah! I get'cha and will probably pick up another one this weekend.

[Pablo]

I love these recipes sooo much, I'm doing the chicken again as we speak.
 
This time I got smart and bought some stuff to make brunch with the leftovers.
 

[Bill from NH]

Where's the "Pablo" brass tag?