flavor
One-Pot Recipes
Easy slow cooker suppers to warm your bones
WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY KATE MORGAN JACKSON
There is nothing more comforting on a chilly March day than filling up your slow cooker
with ingredients in the morning and then coming home in the evening with supper all ready
to serve. Slow cooker chicken and dumplings features a flavorful combination of tender
chicken and sweet vegetables, along with pillowy, soft dumplings. And what could be
better than the fall-apart tenderness of a perfect slow cooker pot roast?
It’s warm and wonderful, and perfect for a cold winter’s night.
Perfect slow cooker pot roast
SERVES 4-6
INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons canola oil
1 boneless beef chuck roast (around 3 pounds or so)
½ cup flour
½ cup red wine, divided
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
8 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 large onion, peeled and cut into eighths
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary, rolled between your hands to
crush the leaves a little
2 slices fresh bread, processed in food processor into
crumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
14
SPRING 2019 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
DIRECTIONS
• Heat canola oil in a large deep skillet over medium
high heat. Sear roast for 5 minutes per side. Remove to
slow cooker.
• Reduce heat under skillet to medium and add ¼ cup
of flour. Stir for a minute, then pour in red wine and
whisk until smooth. Add tomato paste, chicken broth,
mustard and Worcestershire and stir until simmering.
Pour over beef in the slow cooker, lifting up the beef to
let a little of the sauce get underneath.
• Add carrots, onion, garlic and rosemary to the cooker.
Cover and cook on low for eight hours.
• Sometime in that 8 hours, make the breadcrumbs by
sautéing them in the olive oil over medium high heat in
a medium skillet until golden and crispy. Set aside.
• After 8 hours, remove the beef and shred with two
forks into large chunks. Scoop out the veggies with a
slotted spoon and put in a bowl, tossing out the
rosemary.
• Turn the slow cooker to high and add the remaining
flour, shaking it in through a small fine mesh strainer, if
you have one. Stir until the sauce is slightly thickened.
Taste and season with salt and pepper.
• Return the beef to the cooker and stir it around until it
is well coated with sauce.
• Spoon beef into warmed bowls, add veggies and
garnish with bread crumbs and parsley.
Slow cooker
chicken and
dumplings
SERVES 6-8
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds boneless,
skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 celery stalks,
cut into 1-inch pieces
4 carrots, peeled and
cut into 1-inch pieces
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
¼ cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
(I like the boxed Pacific
and Imagine varieties.)
½ cup white wine
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons melted butter
DIRECTIONS
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large
skillet over medium high heat.
Sear the chicken on each side until
it is brown, around 4 minutes per
side. Transfer to slow cooker.
• Add remaining oil to skillet.
Add onions, celery and carrots
and cook until slightly tender,
about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with
¼ cup of flour and poultry
seasoning and stir until coated.
• Mix in wine and one cup of the
broth and stir until simmering.
Pour everything into the slow
cooker. Add remaining broth,
cover and cook on low setting
for 6 hours.
• After 6 hours, remove chicken
from cooker and shred into bite-
sized pieces with two forks.
Return chicken to cooker and stir.
• Make dumplings by mixing 2
cups of flour, salt and baking
powder together in medium
mixing bowl. Stir in milk and
butter until combined. Drop ¼
cup of dumpling dough around
the edges of the slow cooker
where the heat is highest (you
should have about 8 dumplings)
and cover. Continue cooking on
low for another hour.
• Serve in soup plates and enjoy!