Crockpots - New Again & Weekend Cookbook Challenge #10

Another blogging event - this one, the Weekend Cookbook Challenge, was started by Sara of I Like to Cook. It's always a fun exercise and gets me to renew friendships with cookbooks that somehow have been neglected on my bookshelves. This time around, Mary from The Sour Dough is hosting and the theme is neglected kitchen gadgets/appliances.

I have more than my share, but interestingly enough, my daughter Joanna has been thinking about getting a crockpot for a while and when she was in back in December of last year I made a crockpot lasagna that really made her want to get her own. When I bought this crockpot years ago, there were two teenagers and their friends eating dinner at our house. Once the girls went off to university, it was just the two of us and every recipe I had said it would feed 8 or more people. One crockpot cookbook said that you had to fill the pot at least 3/4 of the way. Not having a big freezer, I really had no desire to cook something that we would be eating over and over again for a week. (I sold my huge freezer when the girls left home, since it stayed pretty much empty most of the time. Now of course, I wish I had one, although not quite so big, but I digress). So the crockpot only came out when I was having a buffet style party or delivery of some soup or stew when I volunteer at Fife House.

So I offered to give Joanna my crockpot, but it's too big and too bulky to take on a plane to Halifax (unless, of course you leave all your clothes behind). When I was visiting her in Halifax, she made a mushroom pot roast in a small crockpot her mother-in-law gave her. And we bought her a new cookbook to go with it (although now she's thinking of buying a bigger crockpot herself).

The recipes in the book Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook looked so good, and many of them would serve 4-6, NOT 10, so I had to buy one for myself. So this week's challenge paired an old - hardly-ever-used appliance with a brand new cookbook to come up with those great looking and very tasty chicken wings. I must admit, though, the wings looked more like boiled chicken when they were done and I stuck them under the broiler for 5 minutes to crisp them up. We munched wings, infused with lots of flavor and licked fingers - who needs napkins when the sauce is so delicious. Best of all, it made enough for us to have ONE repeat meal....just enough left overs to enjoy, not enough to get sick of!

It's great served with rice and a simple salad or as finger food for your next party.

Recipe

Crockpot Peking Chicken Wings

So, what seldom used kitchen gadget/appliance are you thinking about? You can email Mary - snddsn1ATfmail.co.uk to join the fun before November 3rd.

Related links: Food and Drink recipes Weekend Cookbook Challenge crockpot chicken