A friend of mine returned a crock pot to me recently. I mean, she gave it to me one Christmas, borrowed it before the following Easter and then kept it for 8 years. Now she bought a bigger one and has returned "mine". So . . . what works good in a crock pot? Stew is about all I ever used it for.
Get a good size point cut brisket or Boston Butt, cut up some potatoes, carrots, red onions, bell peppers, parsley, and a little garlic. Season the meat with a dry rub (Id use Tonys or Zatarains seasonings). You could also inject the meat with a maranade. fill the crock pot up with water about 3/4 the way. Turn it on med, let it go for about 4 to 6 hours.
Anything that you would traditional slow cook or simmer work well in the crock pot. The great thing about using the crock pot is you can leave it unattended. For example: You can put a pork roast in there in the morning with some water, spices, vinegar, and Worcester. Let it cook on low during the day. When you get home it will be falling apart. Shred it, add some BBQ and its great pulled pork.
The other suggestions are great, but I second this one. We do brisket or any roast, inject, stuff with garlic, rub seasoning. We add a can of cream of mushroom or celery over the top. Set it on medium to low for 4-6 hours. The smell in the kitchen is killer! We fix rice and real mashed taters for the gravy. The meat will practically cut itself, use a fork to break off tender chunks. Any leftover meat can be made into chopped BBQ for another day, as pharpe suggested. We did a stuffed pork roast last weekend. Red, fill it, set it, and leave it all day, you'll love it.
i dont use recipes, so i will try to give a kinda idea.... soak dried red beans overnight in a.m. put beans in crock pot covering with water by 2-3 above beans. saute chopped veggies (onions, celery, parsley. i go light on the celery and parsley, use primarily onions) and add to beans in crock pot. season with tonys and a couple of ham hocks. go light on the tonys cause ham hocks can be so salty. can re-season later to add more if needed or can add red pepper later. cook all day. an hour or two before serving add sliced sausage and continue cooking. thats the best i can do off the top of my head.
