Spiced Figs with Yoghurt

I must admit I am only a recent fan of figs especially fresh figs. So when I came across this recipe for spiced figs from 'I Love My Slow Cooker' by Beverly LeBlanc I was completely inspired. Instead of dried figs I used fresh figs from the markets. I adjusted the cooking time from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. I served the figs on top of vanilla yoghurt. This would be a great addition to muesli as well. Alternatively you could serve them hot with ice cream for dessert. I stored my figs in an air tight container in the fridge as they will keep for up to a week .

Ingredients
150ml apple juice
1/2 cup soft light brown sugar
1tbsp clear honey
1 cinnamon stick
a pinch of ground cloves
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways, or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
24 figs
1 tsp lemon juice (optional)

Put the apple juice, brown sugar and honey in the slow cooker. Stir until the sugar and honey dissolve, then add cinnamon stick, cloves and vanilla pod.

Cover the cooker with the lid then cook on HIGH for 45 minutes. Add the figs, re-cover and cook for a further 30 minutes until they are soft but holding their shape. Serve with figs hot over ice cream or chilled with yoghurt.

Bill's Coconut Pancakes with slow cooked Berry Compote

A favourite pancake recipe of mine, that I will often cook on the weekend for brunch, comes from Bill Granger and includes dessicated coconut. His original recipe serves it up with banana and passionfruit on the side.
This combination works well but I wanted something that I could do in the slow cooker and have stewing while making the pancake mixture.
I decided to experiment with a berry compote and the flavours were far stronger than anything I have done in a saucepan.
You can use either frozen or fresh berries. Just remember that frozen berries will water down the mixture.

I placed half a packet of frozen rasberries, 2 punnets of fresh blueberries and half a jar of rasberry jam in the slow cooker.
I then put the lid on and set the cooker on low for 3 hours.
After 3 hours,  the lid was removed, with the cooker still set on low and the mixture thickened up.
You can leave the heat on for as long as you like, depending on how thick you want the mixture.
Serve and enjoy!
Here is the link to the recipe for the pancakes:

http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/2793914-Coconut-Pancakes-with-Banana

Caramelised Mushrooms

I have always loved mushrooms for breakfast but never really thought about making them in the slow cooker. For this recipe I usually cook the mushrooms and the balsamic glaze in the frypan. I just took the same recipe, doubled it and threw all ingredients in the slow cooker. As I was going through this process I was reminded of how much they really do shrink! I thought the process may water down the mushrooms but they turned out quite delicious.

This is how you can do it:

Fill a slow cooker to the top with swiss brown mushrooms, some halved and some whole.
Srinkle over the mushrooms around 2/3 cup of brown suger and about 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.
Place a few small knobs of butter across the top.
Turn the slow cooker on low and leave for around 6 hours.
Be warned, the mushrooms will shrink.

I served these on toasted sourdough with ricotta, oregano and grilled proscuitto which worked well together.

Rice Pudding

This delicious dish can be served cold as part of a brunch. I tweaked the recipe slightly and used coconut milk as well as dairy milk. This made it slightly sweeter but just as tasty. Fruits such as strawberries, passionfruit and peaches go nicely with it.

Ingredients

¾ cup long grain white rice

3 cups milk, 2 coconut 1 dairy

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1 pinch salt

2 tablespoons butter, diced

Method

In a colander, rinse the rice thoroughly under cold water.

Put in lightly greased slow cooker.

Add remaining ingredients, except for butter and stir to combine.

Sprinkle butter over rice mixture.

Cover and cook on High for 2 ½ 3 hours until the rice has absorbed the liquid.

Serve warm or cold.

The brunch!

The three slow cookers - Paprika, Cardamon and Saffron - have today successfully hosted a brunch for friends on a sunny public holiday! It seems to have been a great success.

Slow cookers are not necessarily associated with brunch dishes, but we were able to use ours to whip up a few gems. There was a spiced fig compote poured over yoghurt, caramelised mushrooms layered with ricotta and oregano on sourdough, chilli jam dripping on corn fritters and guacamole and rich jam keeping double cream company on blueberry scones. Delicious!

These and more recipes from today's brunch will be posted on the blog over the next few weeks!

Are there any other brunch favourites that are slow cooker friendly?

Happy brunching!