Slow Cooker Salmon Meatloaf

Earlier this month, my boyfriend and I had decided to include more fish in our diet. I was glad because I love fish and decided that I wanted to have good slow cooking fish recipes. While glancing through Judith Finlayson's The Healthy Slow Cooker, I found a recipe for salmon meatloaf. I thought the concept was interesting and since I had everything on hand, I gave it a try.

The Recipe

1 tbs oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 branches of celery, finely chopped

8oz of mushrooms, finely chopped

1/2 tsp tarragon (I didn't have any, so I substituted for thyme)

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3 eggs

2 tbs fresh lemon juice

2 213g (7 1/2 oz) cans of salmon 

1/2 c fresh parsley (i didn't have that either)

3/4 c breadcrumbs 

warm tomato sauce, for serving (optional)

1.In a skillet, heat oil on medium heat. Add the onion, celery and mushrooms. Cook and stir once every so often for about 5 minutes, or until the celery is tender. Add tarragon and pepper, cook for a minute while stirring. Remove from heat

2.In a large bowl, beat the eggs and lemon juice. Add the salmon (she suggest leaving the bones and skin in, I removed both; there is nothing I hate more than picking out skeleton pieces in my plate). Break the salmon in pieces with a fork. Add the mushroom mix from the last step, the parsley and the breadcrumbs. Mix well. If you see the mix is too wet, add in one tbs of breadcrumbs at a time. (I added at least 3 tbs and then got tired of adding some in, and thought good enough).

3. Fold a long piece of aluminium (she suggests 2 feet long) in half, lengthwise. Place it in the bottom of your slow cooker and bring the edges of the paper up the sides of the recipient. Make a loaf with your salmon mixture and place it on the bottom in the middle of your slow cooker.

4. Cook it on low for 4-5 hours or on high 2-2.5 hours, or until the loaf is cooked. With the help of the aluminium foil, lift and slide your loaf to a serving plate and cut the loaf. Add the tomato sauce, if using.


The Verdict


This tasted nice, a bit like seafood stuffing. I had made a sauce with cream cheese, thyme and chicken broth to go with it, which was a winner. I would make it again but not if I was receiving fancy company for the sole reason that it didn't hold so well and looked like cat food.  My boyfriend said it didn't look THAT much like cat food, but it's the first impression I had. Perhaps if I had continued adding breadcrumbs, I would not have had this issue.

I liked that it didn't take much time to cook, so if ever I ran out of time in the morning to make supper, I could always count on this . But its short time could also be a problem e.g. if you have to prepare your meal before leaving for work.

I also liked that it uses up canned salmon. I always have some, but I can't say that I have many recipes that uses it in comparison to fresh salmon.  So all in all, I think it's an interesting and useful recipe,  but I won't be feeding it to the Queen of England.

Delicious Chunky Beef Chili

This recipe was taken out of Donna-Marie Pye's Canada's Best Slow-Cooker Recipes. I found this book at my local library while searching for various slow-cooking books. My book is in French so I will be freely translating the recipe. I bet I translated the name wrong as well, but this recipe is a keeper so bare with me.


The Recipe

1 tbs oil
2lb stew meat in 1cm cubes (I used blade roast since it was on sale)
2 tbs chilli powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp salt
2 medium onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 branches of celery, diced
19 oz can of diced tomatoes
19 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3 oz of tomato concentrate ( I used half a little can of tomato paste)
1 red pepper, diced (I used green)

1. In a large skillet, heat your oil on medium heat. Add the beef and brown for 7-8 minutes, until it is slightly golden on all sides, Add the spices and cook for 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to you slow-cooker.

2. Add the onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes (be sure to add the juices as well), and stir. Place the lid and cook on low for 8-10 hours or 4-6 hours on high. Add the green bell pepper and cook for an additional 20-25 minutes on high.

According to the author, adding the pepper at the end makes it taste better and leaves it crunchier, which I will agree to. She also specifies to use a good quality chilli seasoning and not to replace the chilli with cayenne  (which i also agree to ;) )

The Verdict


Granted, browning the meat prior to slow cooking seems like a bit of a hassle at 7 am while you are trying to get everyone to eat breakfast, get dressed and out the door, but  the smell that came from that skillet when all the spices were in was well-worth it. I just couldn't wait for the evening to chow it all down. I must say that the meat was very tender and quite tasty, which is a something that I find lacking in other meat recipes where the additional step isn't required

I liked that this recipe didn't use ground meat and provided me with an opportunity to liven up my blade roast. I had bought three the previous week while it went on sale, and the idea of my regular stew 3 times in a month bored me to death. Plus, having such a "cheap" cut come out so well is extra icing on the cake.

Another plus is the availability of the ingredients. I usually have all of them lying around and if I don't, the local grocery store will for a good price. The spices above are versatile and most likely will get used in other dishes.

We ate a ton with sour cream and cheese and still had leftovers. My partner in crime told me he normally didn't like chilli, but that he thought this one was amazing. We also ate all the leftovers and were excited about having leftovers, so thumbs up!

The Goal of My Blog

First of all, I am not professional cook. I'm a stay-at-home mom that really enjoys cooking and trying out recipes. In our era of pre-packaged edibles, fast-food restaurants at every corner and countless recipes found at the tip of our fingers, the question " What's for dinner mom?" has never had more possible answers. But, all family budgets quickly find their limit and in this current economy home-cooking is more and more appealing.

There is a frugal tip that states that one should not try more than one new recipe per week, as to not cook something tasteless or plain-out gross and have to throw it away. I find this a bit boring and quite frankly, if I'm going to be adding more rice in my diet to cut on the food budget, it better taste awesome and come in different forms, or I'll get bored and run for the phone to call up the pizza-joint on my third bowl of rice in a week. This is where my love for recipe searching comes in handy. There is nothing more pleasant for me than sitting with a cookbook and reading it cover to cover.

I have often been given cookbooks from family and friends, bought some in garage sales and I have also bought some full-price. Some of them have had wonderful recipes, some not. It's hard to judge a recipe by a staged picture and a list of ingredients when you aren't a professional. It's also hard to judge an entire book from one failed recipe or one great meal, which is why I have chosen do write my blog recipe by recipe.

Yours truly
Cynthia Bee