Comments on: Dinner With My Family #12: Slow Cooker Jamaican Red Bean Stew

By: Emily

Emily — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:16:23 +0000

oh my – wish I read the comments first! I put dried beans in the pot this AM and followed the recipe – I thought it wasn’t enough liquid, but went to work and now I have a bunch of mushy veggies and no liquid left!

By: NewReader

NewReader — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:46:03 +0000

I made this today, on the stove top since I don’t have a slow cooker. I made two changes to Trent’s version: I added a handful of frozen peas at the end because I felt like it needed something green, and I thickened the sauce with some cornstarch near the end. It tasted great! I served it over brown rice. Next time I’m going to add some fresh ginger, that was the only tweak I thought of.

By: Sheri

Sheri — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:26:58 +0000

Carnivores, read this . . .

I made this recipe today, with the following changes. It turned out well: husband loved it, kid thought it was pretty good. I will probably make it again.

Carrots (3-4) and sweet potato (1) in the bottom of crockpot, then 4 bone-in chicken thighs (skin removed). Red beans (1 can) + diced tomatoes (1 can). Brown one large diced onion in oil, add garlic cloves crushed with 1 T. salt, then about 1 T. flour to make a quick roux. Add to top of the pot, plus sauce made of coconut milk (1 can), 3/4 c. stock, and spices (including 1 t. red pepper flakes).

Simmer on low for about 8 hours. Adjust salt and add fresh minced parsley close to the end. Serve over rice.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:44:05 +0000

Looks good! Might incorporate some of the tips. Getting hungry now!

By: Marta

Marta — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 02:12:15 +0000

This looks great! Can’t wait to try it!

By: jim

jim — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 19:03:49 +0000

Looks really good. I may try it, but use red beans instead of kidney beans. I like them a lot better.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 18:11:41 +0000

I’m planning on making this for my family this week. Keep these easy, healthy recipes coming! I have loved all the recipes I’ve tried.

By: marie

marie — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 15:28:56 +0000

I really wish you would put more pictures for the meal series. It would make it easier to visualize what you are doing.

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 11:22:00 +0000

The recipe looks great but I’m also glad to see the comments about the stove cooktop. I recently bought a new stove and am thankful that I did some research about burners. I opted for the old style and from reading here, I am glad I did. Now I only wish that I had gone for the old “turn the dial” and things work. I hate the electronic push button style controls.

By: Riki

Riki — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 11:13:19 +0000

I just made this recipe with a few tweaks:

- I cut down on the beans and added cubed ham; next time I’ll saute the ham and onions in the garlic and onions before adding it to the slowcooker.

- The recipe as written is a SOUP, not a stew (confirmed by Trent’s photographs), therefore I added some flour to thicken and give it a more stew-like consistency.

- I just unplugged the slow cooker a few minutes ago and it smells lovely. I plan to serve it over rice. Next time I might add the rice directly into the stew.

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 09:20:42 +0000

This would be better if the onions were caramelized before starting. The dark golden color and the enhanced taste are worth the effort. Has potential especially when served over some rice.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 08:43:13 +0000

Great recipe: I never use curry powder, I substituted 2 tsp of tumeric, 1 tsp of ginger and 1tsp of mace. Instead of canned tomatoes, used fresh. Soup is wonderfully color and pungent. Used dessicated coconut instead of the cream, adds a nice flavor plus some texture. This is going to become a standard. Thanks for the inspiration!

By: Deb

Deb — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:09:47 +0000

I can’t believe people cue in to the cook-top. What’s the most important issue here? A recipe! Myself, I’m getting a chef’s knife!

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 21:59:16 +0000

Sounds good,although now that warm weather has hit our area, we probably won’t be making many soups or stews for awhile.

Also, if you don’t have a crockpot, you can use a stewpot with a lid in the oven (assuming someone will be at home while it’s cooking), or prepare it stovetop. In that case, since it isn’t cooking as long, it will be even better reheated as leftovers.

By: zoe

zoe — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 21:54:16 +0000

Great post! I’ll definitely be trying this one – it looks very tasty.

By: lurker carl

lurker carl — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 20:40:44 +0000

A clean or dirty cook top isn’t the issue. Using the cook top as a work surface will eventually lead to bigger problems. Think in terms of breaking the ceramic, melting pots and utensils, burns, fire and such. It’s single purpose is to heat pots of food, so beware if you have any other uses in mind.

By: Des

Des — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:47:02 +0000

@Riki – It depends on the glass top. The glasstop stove we had when I was growing up could be scraped with a razor blade just fine. However, the one we have now has a texture to it that doesn’t work with a razor blade. I have no idea what benefit the texture serves (other than to trap the burnt food) but the only way I have found to get it totally clean is to soak a washcloth in soapy water and leave it on the burner over night. Then in the morning, I use Barkeepers Friend and a TON of elbow grease. With this method I can clean a couple inches of burnt burner before my arm gives out and I have to try again the next day. I’ve pretty much given up all hope of keeping it totally clean.

By: Wayward

Wayward — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:41:00 +0000

This sounds really good, Trent! I’ve yet to find a slow cooker meal that I really like, but this sounds yummy, and since it’s a stew I’m hoping it’ll work well. Thanks!

By: Riki

Riki — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:49:26 +0000

My parents have a glass cooktop stove and we’ve never had problems. The secret? My mother scrapes the glass clean with a razor blade. EVERYTHING comes off and the stove has never had a scratch or stain. The speciality cleaners never worked for us.

Trent’s stove seems to have stubborn stains/marks around the elements but I bet they would come off with the razor blade in a heartbeat.

By: New Reader

New Reader — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:13:06 +0000

I don’t have a slow cooker, but this looks like it would translate well into an easy stove top stew. I’d just saute the garlic and onion in olive oil, add all the other ingredients, and simmer for about 45 minutes while I tend to other business. I like meals that cook themselves, my total prep time would be about 15 minutes, and dinner would be on the table in about an hour. Nice.