Need crockpot potato recipe!

[tammylc]

There is a very good chance that I will not have an oven in which to cook my first Christmas dinner in my new house. A neighbor has kindly offered to let me use hers, but I'm trying to limit the number of things I have to wander back and forth to make.

And as if that weren't enough, I'm 5 months pregnant and sick with a cold, and feel like death warmed over. Chances are I'll feel better by Thursday, but I'm not counting on anything! So please excuse the uninspired menu, but well, my mom isn't very adventurous, and I'm not up to cooking a gourmet meal in this state.

Anyway, our main course will be ham, and nothing goes better with ham (in my book, anyway) than scalloped potatoes. As I was searching for recipes, I came across one for the crockpot, and thought that was a perfect solution for my mostly ovenless state. But I am dubious of recipes retrieved from the random realms of the Internet. Does anyone have a recipe for cooking scalloped potatoes in a crockpot? Preferably one that does not involve any cans of cream soup or packages of velveeta (ubiquitous in the realm of random internet recipes).

Thank you.

[fresco]

Do you have a covered outdoor grill, by any chance?

Failing that, I can't see why scalloped potatoes wouldn't work in a crock pot, or a covered cast iron skillet, for that matter. If you like some crunchy texture (on the bottom, at least) , I'd go with the cast iron.

[helenjp]

You can even "roast" a chicken in a crockpot. I don't have one in Japan, but I REALLY liked the results when I tried it in NZ. No water...just crockpot plus chicken. Well maybe some salt, eh?

[fifi]

You can even "roast" a chicken in a crockpot. I don't have one in Japan, but I REALLY liked the results when I tried it in NZ. No water...just crockpot plus chicken. Well maybe some salt, eh?

WHOA! Now THAT is an idea. I never thought of that before. In your typical crockpot, is that on high or low? Do you oil it, season it, what else?

[Dana]

Don't expect any browning on a crock-pot chicken. All the juice gets trapped in, so the bird is VERY moist, almost to the point of being mushy. It works ok is you need cooked chicken meat for enchilidas or some chicken casserole or something like that, otherwise, the crock pot method, IMHO, is not the best. Just through the sucker in the oven and be done with it. As for the original question, I don't know why you couldn't use your favorite scalloped potato recipe, and just cut back on the milk/cream by 1/3 or so, and bake on high till done. I guess Christmas is over now, and the point is moot.

[tammylc]

Well, I didn't have a favorite scalloped potato recipe to start with, so I didn't have a jumping off point. I got sent one recipe via PM, which I also found online. I made a few modifications but it turned out really well.

3 leeks, halved, sliced and sauteed in butter

4 large russet potatoes, sliced

2 tbsp flour

Salt

Pepper

Nutmeg

1/3 c butter cut into small pieces

2/3 c half and half

Cook the leeks (probably can skip this step, but it makes the house smell good). Mix the flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg together. Put a layer of potatoes in the crock pot. Top with some of the leeks. Sprinkle with some seasoned flour. Add some butter pieces. Repeat until all the potatoes are gone - top layer should just be potatoes and butter. Pour over 2/3 cup half and half. Cook at high for 1 - 1 1/2 hours (until boiling), then reduce heat to low for a couple/few more hours, or until you need to serve the potatoes.

I have a medium sized crockpot that is tall and skinny, so I didn't feel like the 2/3 c was enough liquid and added some extra (total of 1 c). In retrospect, I don't think that was necessary. Also, the original recipe didn't call for any flour, just relying on the potato starch for thickening, maybe? But I couldn't make the leap of faith and threw some in anyway. I also added the leeks, because I like onions of some sort in my scallops and the original didn't have any. The original recipe said to cook on high for 3-4 hours, but they would have been badly overdone if I'd left them on high any longer than I did.