Kalua Turkey Not-in-the-Pit #2 Made in a Crock Pot, Slow Cooker baby

Crock Pot Cooking - slow but set it and forget it

As promised I am going to share a crock pot version of the kalua turkey recipe. Sure this is being posted on Christmas morning and dinner is but 8 or 10 hours away, even better if you live on the west coast, there's still plenty of time for you to whip up a batch of Hawaiian Style Kalua Turkey, you just need some turkey and a crock pot as it only takes fours hours and once you get it in the pot and plug it in, you can do other stuff, this is just way too simple.

This year I bought myself a very small 3-quart crock pot. Why? Well, why not. It looked cool with the black and white design I've not seen on other crock pots and it was only $11 brand spanking new! Although we have a small family and I love to cook and I no longer live in Hawaii, I seem to always want the flavors of home. So in this case, if you have at least a 6 quart crock pot, I would recommend this recipe for the regular larger size crock pot. I think the one I have is too small, although you could always reduce the amount of turkey breast to make this, but then again if something is going to take 4-hours; I might as well make more and freeze it for another time. I made some potato and corn chowder the other week with my baby crock pot and it was filled to the rim with what I thought was a small recipe. I’m so used to eating and cooking for lots of people like my parents did that it’s a challenge for me to cook for myself as my family have taste buds that are not of the Hawaii flair.

That said, this blog helps me live out my life of cooking for others and sharing some of the experiences of home.

This recipe comes from Pikake21 at Food dot com, it looks like the typical kalua pig and cabbage recipe which is ‘onolicious with hot sticky rice but I would wait to put the cabbage in the last hour before serving not from the beginning as it would make for more texture that I personally prefer in my dish or you could leave the cabbage out completely.

The difference between this version of Kalua Turkey and the imu (underground oven) and the regular oven in my prior post, "Kalua Turkey Not-in-the-pit #1 Kitchen Oven" - is that it will most likely be very wet. The oven versions are cooked with heat and steam and although the meat is moist it's usually not sitting in it's juices like the crock pot version. That said, it's still a tasty version of the pit.

Kalua Turkey without the pit #2 Make it in a crock pot, slow cooker

Ingredients

• 5 -8 lbs turkey breast
• 5 tablespoons liquid smoke
• 1 head shredded cabbage
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Place turkey in crockpot and cover half-way with water.
2. Add seasonings then cook until tender and falling off the bone.
3. Remove meat from bones and place meat in crock pot with cabbage.
4. Simmer in crockpot for 4 hours.

Check out my other recipes at: Orlando Cooking Examiner

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Sus' Easy Crockpot Salmon Chowder

Here's a yummy looking dish from fellow techie, blogger and my guest contributor: Sus Schmitt

Sus: No, I don’t eat much fish. Even with my Norwegian background, I’m not much of a fish eater. Grandpa Nils would be in shock. (He was raised in a small fishing community.)  I love salmon recipes, though, especially this salmon chowder.

The original recipe is from Taste of Home. Here’s how I prepare it in a Crockpot (slow cooker) with slight variations to make the chowder lower fat, but just as tasty. Also, since this variation is cooked in a Crockpot, I cut back on the seasonings a bit.

Salmon Chowder, photo courtesy of Sus Schmitt

First, I plan to bake the salmon for dinner one night.  I just sprinkle 2/3 of a large filet with mesquite seasoning and bake it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until the fish is no longer dark pink.  I save the unflavored 1/3 of the cooked salmon for chowder one or two days later.

Ingredients:

On your chowder-making day, turn your Crockpot to high and add:

• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken broth
• 1 cup diced, raw, unpeeled red potatoes
• 1 cup shredded carrots (I use the store-bought shredded carrots and cut them up a little finer)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried dill weed

Sauté in a little olive oil:

• ½ cup chopped celery
• ½ cup chopped onion
• ½ cup chopped green bell pepper (you could try a red bell pepper)
• 1 minced large garlic clove

Add the vegetables to the Crockpot and cook at least 2 hours.

Thirty minutes before serving, turn the Crockpot to low and add:

• 1 can (14-3/4 ounces) cream-style corn
• ½  cup half-and-half cream
• 1 ½ cups reduced-fat milk
• 1-3/4 to 2 cups fully cooked salmon chunks with fat and skin removed

Yields 8 servings. Serve with or without cheese crackers.

This chowder also is delicious as a leftover, so don’t worry about making 2 quarts of it. (I served it to a visiting friend several months ago. She was quietly worrying as I dished up “fish soup” for lunch, but one sip won her over.)

About Sus Schmitt

Sus Schmitt serves as a Technology Ministry Developer for Women’s Resources at Cru. Her goal is to equip Campus Crusade for Christ staff to have more effective ministries through learning technological skills. Her main medium to do this is through her blog, eQuipping for eMinistry.  Sus also maintains a personal site, Mike and Sus.org and an evangelistic site, The Sovereign.  You can find her on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest. Sus is enjoying her new role as a “nana” to a cute, little boy.