Make it Monday: Taking it Slow

Get out your crock-pot, slow cook season is here! We've found 5 recipes - a lemon and garlic chicken, a roast done two ways, a hearty stew, a winter soup and breakfast to make your mornings just that much easier. We've also included instructions for making your own chicken stock.

If you don't own a slow cooker, most of these recipes can be made using a dutch oven or heavy covered pot at 250 for about 4 hours.

Slow-Cooked Pork Roast

Ingredients
3-4 pound pork roast

Kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
1 cup white wine
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
8 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon allspice berries (optional)
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Method 1
Rub the pork roast all over with salt and pepper. Bruise the sage leaves and mince or slice the garlic - anything quick - it doesn't need to be pretty. Put the roast, sage, garlic, and white wine in the slow cooker and cook for 10 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high.

Method 2
The day before, rub the meat lightly with kosher salt and black pepper. On the day you are going to cook the roast, fry the garlic until golden in a little olive oil, then remove from the pan. Heat the pan up very hot and brown the pork roast until it's very dark on all sides. It helps if you cut the pork into pieces first. Don't worry about the meat drying out - it will reabsorb all its moisture and more. Crack the allspice and fry it, along with the red pepper, with the pork just as it's finishing browning. Add everything to the slow cooker and cook for 10 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high.

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

1 (16-oz) package dried green split peas, rinsed*
1 meaty ham bone, 2 ham hocks or 2 cups diced ham
1 cup sliced baby carrots
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 ribs celery plus leaves, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
6 cups chicken broth*

Method

Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the order given, adding the broth last. Do not stir ingredients. Cover and cook on high 4—5 hours or on low 8—10 hours until peas are very soft and ham falls off the bone.

Slow Cooker Chickpea and Lentil Stew

Ingredients

1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 chile pepper, such as serrano or jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and chopped, more to taste
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 (15-ounce) cans garbanzo beans (chick peas),* drained and rinsed
1/2 cup dried red lentils
1 (28-ounce) can tomato puree
2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup pitted black olives
1/2 cup yogurt

Method

Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté the onions. Add peppers, garlic, garam masala and sesame seeds and cook until peppers begin to soften. Combine everything except the yogurt in the slow cooker and cook on low 8 to 10 hours. Add yogurt about 15 minutes before serving.

Overnight Oatmeal with Apricots and Buttermilk

Ingredients
1 cup steel cut oats
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried apricots, snipped into small pieces
3 1/2 cups water
1 cup buttermilk, milk, or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons wheat bran (optional)

Spray crock-pot with cooking spray, or rub with butter. Mix the oats, brown sugar, salt and apricots. Pour in the water, milk, and vanilla and stir. Add wheat bran, if you like. Turn on low and cover. Cook for 7-8 hours. Serve with milk and sugar.

Slow-Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken

Ingredients

3 to 4 pound chicken (labeled fryer or roaster)

Seasoning

3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 sprigs thyme, leaves stripped and minced

Poaching liquid
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon), reserve the rinds
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth

1 whole lemon, quartered
1 head garlic, cloves separated, but left in their individual skins
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary

Remove the bag of gizzards and discard (or reserve for stock). Wash the chicken thoroughly inside and out with warm water. Pat dry with paper towels.

For the seasoning: Mix all the seasoning ingredients together in a bowl. Using your fingers, gently slide your fingers between the meat and the skin, entering at either end. Without tearing the skin, separate the skin from the meat of the breast, thighs, and legs of the chicken. Grab a handful of the seasoning and rub half of the mixture between the skin and meat. If you get a good dollop under the skin, you can lay the skin back down and use your fingers to massage the outside of the skin and work the seasoning across the surface of the meat. Rub the remaining mixture inside the cavity of the chicken. Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat and coat with non-stick cooking spray. Pan-sear the chicken on all sides for 6-8 minutes until the outside is browned. Transfer the chicken to your slow cooker--breast side up.

For the poaching liquid: Combine lemon juice, soy sauce, and chicken broth. Put the pan used to sear the chicken back on medium-high heat, pour in half of the poaching liquid and let sit until just boiling. Use a spatula to scrape up any browned bits stuck to the pan. Once the pan is deglazed, pour mixture over the chicken in the slow-cooker.Put lemon rinds (reserved from squeezing the juice), one whole bouillon cube, and a few of the garlic cloves inside the cavity of the chicken. Arrange lemon quarters, the remaining garlic cloves, and the sprigs of thyme around the chicken toward the edges of the cooker. Crumble the other bouillon cube over the chicken and rub it into the skin. Place the lid on the cooker and cook on high for 4 hours. (Note: This recipe is best when done on high, but can also be done in 6-8 hours on low.) Twenty to thirty minutes before the time is done, pour reserved lemon juice mixture over chicken and add the rosemary sprigs. (Rosemary tends to get bitter and antiseptic tasting if cooked the entire time in the slow-cooker.) Remove chicken from the slow-cooker and allow it to rest on the carving board (or cookie sheet) for about 20 minutes. The meat actually continues cooking during this resting period and the juices will redistribute through the meat. When ready to serve, tear off the skin and discard. Use your fingers to pull off the legs--the bones should come apart with a gentle tug, but if they don't, use a carving knife to wedge them apart. Keep using your fingers to work over the chicken, placing the meat on a serving platter and reserving the bones for another use (like home-made chicken broth). Serve immediately.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stock

Put in one chicken carcass, preferably one with a little meat still on it. Add a couple of carrots, chopped into large pieces but not peeled, some cut-up stalks of celery, one quartered onion, and a bay leaf. You can also add some thyme, basil and peppercorns, if you like. Add water until the crock is 3/4 full, and cover. Set on low for 10 hours, or high for 5 hours. At the end taste and add salt, if you want to. Let cool in the crock for about half an hour, until it's cool enough to handle, then strain out and discard the vegetables and bones. Refrigerate until cold, skim off the fat, then put in individual baggies and freeze.