<p>Thanks, Kathie! Mom decided she can handle the stuffing, but she relented on letting us bake the pies (Mrs Smith’s - pretty easy). </p>
<p>Mom’s recipe actually originates in Queens NY (or perhaps from her German grandmother). It’s more traditional than your MIL’s interesting recipe, but we do love it and sometimes fight over the leftovers.</p>
<p>I’m still enjoying the Hamilton Beach 3-in-1 crockpot. (This week I made the Rosemary Chicken reciped from the HB cook booklet - my diabetic friend could eat it). But for my Dad and wife we sent a crockpot gift with the clip-on lid. That seemed really handy for them bringing hot food to church.</p>
<p>Sad but true… it was easier to look for my candied carrot recipe (post #38) than to find it in my kitchen. I highly recommend it as easy, colorful Thanksgiving side dish.</p>
<p>A friend recently came to stay for a while and brought his Hamilton Beach slow cooker. It isn’t the 3-part one referenced in other posts, it is a largish one with a black crockery removable insert. </p>
<p>I’ve used it a number of times, and find it very good for pot-roast-like dishes such as stracotto. I’ve made chili in it too.</p>
<p>It only has two settings: low and high. I’ve found that I usually have to use the high setting for stracotto.</p>
<p>I’m reviving this crock pot thread – I like roasted vegetables, and my husband pointed out that it uses a lot of electricity to roast a few potatoes / onions / beets whatever for a few hours.</p>
<p>Could I use a roaster or crock pot for this purpose? Are roasters the same concept as a crock pot anyway? Has anyone tried those devices that enable you to slow cook three things at once?</p>
<p>I’m looking for a size that would accommodate meals for four.</p>
<p>I love roasted vegetables, but what I mean by that is vegetables tossed in olive oil, sea salt, fresh black pepper and garlic, and roasted in a single layer at 475 or 500F in a shallow metal pan. The coking time is normally well under half an hour. For root vegetables it will be a little longer, but definitely under an hour. Several months ago I read about lining the pan with aluminum foil, and preheating it in the oven so that when the vegetables hit it they instantly begin to sear.</p>
<p>Since the whole point of this cooking method is to avoid ANY steaming, and since the slow cooker is really designed for braising, I would say that it is precisely the wrong implement to use for roasted vegetables. </p>
<p>I guess it depends what you mean by “roasted.”</p>
<p>Consolation, what you describe is also what I generally mean by roasted vegetables.</p>
<p>I find potatoes take more like 45 minutes.</p>
<p>Roasting beets is a different undertaking – I wrap them in foil and they do take well over an hour to “roast,” although I suppose what one is actually doing is baking them.</p>
<p>Another vegetable I recently attempted to roast (to put into a lasagna) was eggplant. I found that also took quite a long time, especially as I was trying to do this without a lot of olive oil (and you know that eggplant can easily soak up a great volume of oil).</p>
<p>I suppose there are two separate types of cooking here – roasting something so that it is brown and crispy (as with potatoes), and roasting something so that it is cooked through (the beet and eggplant examples, cabbage could probably also fall under this type of roasting).</p>
<p>In both cases, it is a “dry” type of cooking, unlike braising which is using liquid to slowly cook and soften meat.</p>
<p>Patsmom - I have one similar to this.</p>
<p>[Crock-Pot</a> SCCPVL605-S 6-Quart Programmable Cook & Carry Oval Slow Cooker, Stainless Steel: Amazon.com: Home & Kitchen:](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPVL605-S-6-Quart-Programmable-Stainless/dp/B0061TWKWU/ref=sr_1_7?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1354378744&sr=1-7&keywords=crock+pot+slow+cooker+6+digital]Crock-Pot”>http://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPVL605-S-6-Quart-Programmable-Stainless/dp/B0061TWKWU/ref=sr_1_7?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1354378744&sr=1-7&keywords=crock+pot+slow+cooker+6+digital)</p>
<p>my favorite thing about it is that if you select for example 4 hour cook on high or 6 hour cook on high it will then automatically set it to Warm which i would think would be great for your issue with things over-cooking when you set it to high all day.</p>
<p>I also have this one here which is smaller </p>
<p>[Hamilton</a> Beach 33275Y 3 Quart Slow Cooker, White: Amazon.com: Kitchen & Dining](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33275Y-Quart-Cooker/dp/B0018A8TH2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354378193&sr=8-3&keywords=hamilton+beach+slow+cooker+3]Hamilton”>http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33275Y-Quart-Cooker/dp/B0018A8TH2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354378193&sr=8-3&keywords=hamilton+beach+slow+cooker+3)</p>
<p>and works very well also,</p>
<p>I think the Hamilton Beach brand cooks a bit better but I love the setting on the Crock Pot brand where it turns to Warm automatically. I also have the kind with the travel clips or whatever they are called and it makes it nice for transporting from place to place</p>
<p>Re the eggplant: I’ve tried various methods of preparing eggplant as a pasta substitute for lasagne, since I cannot use pasta due to my enforced low carb diet. I’ve found that slicing the eggplant, tossing it with a little olive oil, and laying it out in a single layer on the preheated, foil-lined sheet as above works well, as does spraying a foil-lined sheet with pam, laying out the slices, brushing them lightly with olive oil or even spraying them lightly with pam, and running them under the broiler. (They may or may not need to be turned.) I tried doing this without the additional oil on top and the results were not quite as good, but it can be done.</p>
<p>The eggplant still exudes quite a lot of liquid when cooked in the lasagne, I must say.</p>
<p>There’s a Barbara Tropp recipe for shredded eggplant with spicy meat sauce that I love. For that one, you just prick the whole eggplant and bake it at high temp for about 20-30 minutes, and when cool peel and shred.</p>
<p>I agree re potato timing, although I have not been able to eat a potato since 2010, alas!</p>
<p>I just looked up the Barbara Tropp recipe, and I make a similar dish that has pretty much the same ingredients but uses the conventional method of sauteeing the eggplant. </p>
<p>Also has a sweet red pepper in it.</p>
<p>I agree, I love that dish!</p>
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<p>fendergirl, that’s the same model I have. Mine switches over to warm after it finishes the 4 hour or 8 hour cycle, too. I don’t ever set it to HIGH all day because I know the food would burn. The problem is that both the LOW and WARM settings are also too hot. It seems like this is a common problem with newer slow cookers in all of the reviews I read. :(</p>
<p>patsmom, My sister (a lawyer and a serious cook) told me that the newer slow cookers are too hot because of fears about lawsuits stemming from undercooked food. It’s a shame, because the lower temperatures of the old models gave much better results.</p>
<p>^^ Yes, that’s what I heard, too. I wish manufacturers would give the public credit for being smart enough to use their products properly without all the silly safety warnings.</p>
<p>Sharing this link for slow cooker information. These girls have recipes and hints galore. I’ve enjoyed some of their recipes. You can register for a regular email, along with a recipe with shopping list… Some of their tips are helpful.</p>
<p>[Home</a> - Crockin’ Girls](<a href=“http://crockingirls.com/]Home”>http://crockingirls.com/)</p>
<p>That link is great. </p>
<p>It reminds me… any good crockplot recipes using leftover cranberry sauce? It seems I saw one once but did not save it.</p>
<p>That link is great. </p>
<p>It reminds me… any good crockplot recipes using leftover cranberry sauce? It seems I saw one once but did not save it.</p>