150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Finlayson, Mark Shapiro (Photographer)

From the Publisher

Slow Cookers are the ideal appliance for today's lifestyle because they make meal preparation so manageable. An indispensable assistant, a slow cooker will help you prepare delicious food that requires a minimum of attention, while ensuring a maximum of success. But the recipes are key. In The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes, you'll find superb recipes that will exceed your expectations for not only preparing everyday meals, but also for entertaining -- from casual Friday nights to even the most challenging special occasions,

Everyone wants food that is easy and flavorful, whether it's an old favorite that evokes fond memories such as Classic Boeuf Bourguignon, Shepherd's Pie with Creamy Corn Filling or Pineapple Upside-Down Spice Cake. New taste sensations that reflect today's globalized world can be found in Pumpkin Soup with Shrimp and Lime, Stuffed Pot Roast in Cumin-Flavored Gravy or Thai-Style Coconut Flan. Old standards or new classics, The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes has an abundance of appetizing and dependable recipes.

150 Recipes -- 50+ Color Photographs

Dependable Tips and Techniques

Appetizers to Desserts

Make Ahead Ideas

Parent Council Reviews

What a delight! This attractive, yummy-sounding recipe book uses an old stand-by for busy mothers. This up-dated slow cooker idea book can change your meal preparation time and attitudes. My family loved all the recipes we tried. 2001, Robert Rose Inc., $22.95. Ages Adult. Reviewer: C. Henebry SOURCE: Parent Council, September 2001 (Vol. 9, No. 1)

Product Details

• Table of Contents
• Forewords & Introductions
• Read an Excerpt
• View a Recipe

Table of Contents

Forewords & Introductions

To me, it makes perfect sense that the slow cooker, invented in the 1970s as an appliance for making baked beans, is enjoying a lively revival in the early years of the new millennium. Not only is it an invaluable tool for helping busy people manage their complex lives, it enables us to prepare delicious food with a minimum of attention and maximum certainty of success. Since discovering the slow cooker, I wouldn't make pot roast, beef brisket or short ribs and many kinds of stew any other way. Slow, moist cooking breaks down the tough connective tissue of less tender cuts of meat and allows the seasonings in complex sauces to intermingle without scorching. Moreover, the appliance does its work with virtually no assistance from me once I've prepared and assembled the ingredients and turned it on.

During the week, when we're often under pressure to meet the demands of scheduled evening activities, the slow cooker enables us to enjoy hot home-cooked meals just like those my mother used to make. The aromatic soups and stews that simmered on her stovetop are my idea of comfort food and they are deeply connected to my sense of family and home. I also love making steamed puddings and other old-fashioned desserts such as cobblers or "betty's" in my slow cooker. Not only are the results superb, it's unlikely the desserts will burn and I don't have to worry that the water bath required for many custards will evaporate, which happens all too easily in the oven.

As a convert to slow cooking, I decided to write a cookbook for a number of reasons, all of which revolve around my desire to communicate its potential to produce great-tasting food that people with eventhe most discriminating palates will savor. Naturally, I wanted to stress the slow cooker's value as an appliance that allows today's busy families to create nutritious and satisfying home-cooked food by sharing my recipes for everyday favorites, such as Shepherd's Pie with Creamy Corn Filling, Hot Italian Meatball Sandwiches and Pineapple Upside-Down Spice Cake. But once I discovered that my slow cooker was a great tool for entertaining, I also felt compelled to highlight its value as a hostess' helper, particularly since the appliance is so heavily identified with family-style cooking. Because I can get the preparation done for some dishes early in the day -- or even the night before -- the slow cooker also frees me up to entertain more often, including the occasional weeknight. For special occasions, I've made East-West Pot Roast with Shiitake Mushroom Gravy or Osso Buco with Lemon Gremolata. More relaxed evenings have produced dishes such as Southwestern Turkey Pot Pie with Cornbread Cheddar Crust or Great Goulash with Potato Dumplings. Since they are so easy to make, it's hard not to finish the meal off with a warm dessert such as Delectable Apple-Cranberry Coconut Crisp or Old-Fashioned Gingerbread.

Although I love my slow cooker as a helpmate, I also wanted to write a cookbook that would appeal to contemporary tastes by broadening the range of flavors and ingredients traditionally associated with slow cookers. Today, many food products, such as dried mushrooms, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, coconut milk, curry powder and different varieties of chili peppers, are sold in most supermarkets. Not only can these ingredients enhance the flavor of slow-cooked foods, they also broaden the range of dishes that can be successfully prepared in the slow cooker, allowing for recipes with an international flair such as Caribbean Pepper Pot Soup, Pork Roast wit Chili-Orange Sauce, Turkey Breast Madras and Thai-Style Coconut Flan. Since many contemporary consumers are trying to reduce the quantity of meat they consume, for health and other reasons, I've also used a wider range of principal ingredients, such as fish, seafood and vegetables, found in recipes such as Snapper Vera Cruz and Eggplant and Tomato Gratin. Given the healthful properties of legumes, I've also expanded the range of recipes using dried beans and lentils beyond the traditional bean pot to include Indian, Middle Eastern and Italian influences, among others, in recipes such as Split Pea and Lentil Curry with Crispy Onions, Savory Chickpea Stew with Roasted Red Pepper Coulis and Tuscan-Style Beans with Rosemary.

Not surprisingly, since it has traditionally been associated with making soups, stews and beans, the slow cooker is usually linked with "winter" food. While it does a great job with these dishes, I've also found the slow cooker to be of value in warm weather, when turning on the stove and heating up the kitchen has no appeal. In the summer, when we're usually grilling meat or fish on the barbecue, I most often use my slow cooker to prepare a flavorful cold soup, such as Pumpkin Soup with Shrimp and Lime, or an extra vegetable, such as Cumin Beets or Creamy Mexican Beans, which is a great accompaniment to grilled steak. It's also wonderful for making desserts that are prepared ahead and thoroughly chilled, such as Crunch Almond Crème Caramel or Chocolacinno Cheesecake.

In writing this book, I've tried to include a wide range of recipes that will appeal to many tastes and requirements -- from great family food to more sophisticated recipes for entertaining. I hope you will try the recipes and that you will enjoy them as much as I -- and my family and friends -- have. Happy cooking!

Judith Finlayson

Read an Excerpt

This simple dish reminds me of my student days when, feeling very sophisticated, we often dined out at an inexpensive Hungarian restaurant, close to the campus. Chicken Paprikash with dumplings was the house specialty and it has remained a sentimental favorite ever since. For convenience, I've simplified the sauce and dispensed with the dumplings. I like to serve this with hot buffered noodles and a salad, instead. -- SERVES 6

Make ahead:

This dish can be partially prepared the night before it is cooked. Complete Step 2, heating 1 tbsp (15 mL) oil in pan before softening onions. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, brown chicken (Step 1), or if you're pressed for time, omit this step and place chicken directly in stoneware. Continue cooking as directed in Step 3.

• 1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil
  
• 3 lbs (1.5 kg) chicken pieces, skin on breasts, removed from legs and thighs
  
• 2 medium onions, finel chopped
  
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) sweet paprika
  
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
  
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) cracked black peppercorns
  
• 2 tbsp (25 mL) all-purpose flour
  
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) condensed chicken broth (undiluted)
  
• 1 can (1 0 oz/284 mL) condensed tomato soup
  
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) sour cream
  
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) half-and-half cream
  
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) finely chopped dill
  
• Hot buttered noodles
  

1. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken, in batches, and brown on all sides. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware.

2. Reduce heat to medium. Add onions and cook until soft. Add garlic, paprika, salt, pepperand cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Sprinkle flour over mixture, stir well and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and cook for 1 minute, until almost all evaporates. Remove pan from heat, stir soup into mixture.

3. Pour mixture over chicken. Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours or on High for 3 hours, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a fork.

4. In a bowl, mix together sour cream and cream. Add to chicken along with dill. Stir well and serve over hot buttered noodles.
   

View a Recipe

Easy Chicken Paprikash

This simple dish reminds me of my student days when, feeling very sophisticated, we often dined out at an inexpensive Hungarian restaurant, close to the campus. Chicken Paprikash with dumplings was the house specialty and it has remained a sentimental favorite ever since. For convenience, I've simplified the sauce and dispensed with the dumplings. I like to serve this with hot buffered noodles and a salad, instead. -- SERVES 6

Make ahead:
This dish can be partially prepared the night before it is cooked. Complete Step 2, heating 1 tbsp (15 mL) oil in pan before softening onions. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, brown chicken (Step 1), or if you're pressed for time, omit this step and place chicken directly in stoneware. Continue cooking as directed in Step 3.

• 1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil
• 3 lbs (1.5 kg) chicken pieces, skin on breasts, removed from legs and thighs
• 2 medium onions, finel chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) cracked black peppercorns
• 2 tbsp (25 mL) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) condensed chicken broth (undiluted)
• 1 can (1 0 oz/284 mL) condensed tomato soup
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) sour cream
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) half-and-half cream
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) finely chopped dill
• Hot buttered noodles

1. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken, in batches, and brown on all sides. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware.

2. Reduce heat to medium. Add onions and cook until soft. Add garlic, paprika, salt, pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Sprinkle flour over mixture, stir well andcook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and cook for 1 minute, until almost all evaporates. Remove pan from heat, stir soup into mixture.

3. Pour mixture over chicken. Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours or on High for 3 hours, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a fork.

4. In a bowl, mix together sour cream and cream. Add to chicken along with dill. Stir well and serve over hot buttered noodles.