Two easy slow cooker recipes.

Here are three easy but not quick trophy H recipes to add some zip to your cooking life. They also make great gifts to give to other food fans. Slow cookers or crock pots as they used to be called are not just for pot roast anymore. Here are two simple ideas even a new cook can master.
Mushroom pate. Puree a kilo of fresh mushrooms in a food processor or a blender with a bit of red wine or vegetable stock. If you don’t have a machine, get someone who loves you or works for you to chop the mushrooms as finely as possible. I used morel mushrooms for this the last time because they were in season but you can use any kind of mushrooms. This is actually a time where even those tasteless white button mushrooms can be utilized or try a combo of mushrooms. Put the mushroom blend in a slow cooker and add some salt and a good amount of black pepper. I sometimes add a teaspoon of fresh chopped rosemary but you can leave out the herbs and just go with the mushrooms and salt and pepper.
Turn the cooker on low and leave the lid off to allow the liquid to evaporate. Scrape down the sides with a spatula every half hour or so and give the mix a stir. When most of the liquid is gone, after about 4 hours, you are left with a mushroom concentrate perfect for adding to sauces, marinades or just eating as a spread on your favorite toast.
I used this pate to stuff chicken breast two ways. I put a layer under the skin and I made a pocket incision in the side and filled that with a mixture of the mushrooms, chopped black olives and capers. I served this with a side of fried polenta with herbs to MrD.
The extra pate freezes well or you can store it in the fridge for about a week before a blue mold starts and you have a whole new fungus food group but you are likely to eat it all before either of those things are required.
My second trophy H recipe is even easier and just as useful. Blend together equal amounts of maple syrup and regular, not your 25 year old 150 dollar balsamic vinegar, in a slow cooker and let cook on the low temperature with the lid off. I usually make this at night time and just leave it simmer away until the morning. You don’t even have to stir this. You are left with a truly trophy glaze that works on everything from chicken to ice cream and lasts for months in your refrigerator. Store the maple balsamic glaze in one of those squeeze bottles so handy for plate decorating.

Morel Mushroom BBQ Sauce

1/3 cup smooth Dijon mustard
1/3 cup tomato paste
½ cup banana or regular ketchup
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup equal parts Balsamic and malt vinegars
¼ teaspoon ancho chili powder
½ cup precooked morel mushroom paste
½ cup precooked chopped morels

Stir all ingredients together and cook uncovered in your slow cooker on the low temperature setting for about 2 hours. Excellent for grilled leather, feather, fin or even veggies.