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(More customer reviews)Background (why you might care what I think): I love/live to cook without deadlines and time limits, but I am also extremely busy, so I finally bought a slow cooker to save time, sure, but also to time-shift my prep time, so that my family could eat Boeuf Bourguignon on Wednesdays, at 7pm, without also having to go visit their daddy in the psych ward at 8pm.
All of the slow cooker books I found at first called for (always): frozen vegetables; (often) cans of soup; (far too often) "liquid smoke." Sure, I tried them, and some were certainly teenager-pleasing, and weirdly interesting in their own way, but I would prefer a little less convenience in exchange for more authentic recipes.
So, this book delivers exactly that. As I write, my family is collapsed in a heap after GORGING on Ms. Brody's bourguignon. It took me a full hour to prep, but next time I'll save 20 minutes and considerable mess by browning the meat before marinating (I'll also double the recipe!) Over time, I'll doubtless make other changes until I get the recipe exactly the way I want it, but that is true of any recipe in any cookbook. Too many duck recipes? This is a cookbook, not the Constitution! I've made two of the duck recipes so far, with no sighting of an actual duck anywhere, and I've been delighted with both.
So, this is a nice little book, full of welcome ideas. However, when one can get (say) 400+ pages of Daniel Boulud for about the same price, it becomes a rather expensive, slim volume. I have lived with it for a month now, and I am nonetheless quite happy with it. What follows are some of my further observations:
The "Pantry" section is excellent, probably the core of the book. The black bean and chickpea recipes effortlessly deliver fresh-cooked beans ready for use in anything. For example, the total working time to transform a pile of raw chickpeas into an catering-size vat of hummus is about 15 minutes.
The infused oil recipe is a bit hit-and-miss. However, the idea itself is great. The addition of an oil thermometer and a partially-closed lid quickly transforms the cooker into an accurate scientific apparatus, capable of very precise, effortless infusions. Try infusing olive oil with lemon zest next time you need your senses stimulated (then use the oil in a bread recipe, next time you need your whole house stimulated :-)
If your cooker is big enough (oval, preferably) The lamb stew with potato and feta crust can be economized and much improved by using a well-trimmed 1/2 leg. Let it cool when done, then shred the meat off the bone by hand.
The Chicken Merlot with Mushrooms is wonderful, with the mushrooms still crisp after cooking for 4 hours. Rather too much liquid, though (true of many of the recipes here).
The Morroccan Chicken with Prunes & Couscous is my favourite so far, but it would better served with plain couscous and a separately-cooked side dish, as the flavour is otherwise too intensely uniform.
Only one significant gripe (apart from the price): The layout designer sometimes sacrificed utility for artsiness, unnecessarily spreading some recipes across three pages, with little or no indication that there is more to come.
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When someone says "slow cooker," do you think of pot roast or chili? Now you can think Slow Cooked Salmon, Caramelized Onion Soup, falling-off-the-bone Lamb You Can Eat with a Spoon, and Flourless Pear Anise Soufflé. If these dishes whet your appetite, it's time to take that slow cooker out of the closet, plug it in, and get ready for Slow Cooker Cooking.Lora Brody knows her appliances. She inspired a whole new generation of bread bakers with her best-selling bread machine books. Here she pushes the slow cooker to places no one ever expected it to go, inventing fruit bases for soufflés and ice creams, reducing milk and sugar to make Dulce de Leche, and infusing oils with herbs. In addition to creating innovative takes on one-pot meals such as classic New England Boiled Dinner, Venison Stew with Mushrooms, and Osso Buco with Gremolata, here you will find recipes for ingredients that are the basis for other dishes, such as Duxelles, Braised Chestnuts, and vegetable and chicken stocks. Vegetarians will enjoy recipes such as Ragoût of Leeks, Fennel, and Celery and Virtuous Lentil Soup, and dessert lovers will rejoice when they see recipes for Hazelnut Chocolate Fondue and Coconut Rice Pudding.Creative cooking in the slow cooker doesn't mean giving up any of the convenience associated with this popular appliance. You still add the ingredients to the pot and go about your day (or evening), letting the slow cooker do all the work.Thanks to the pot's sealed insert and consistently even heat, food cooks under ideal conditions to make it tender and bring out maximum flavor. Come home to a kitchen perfumed with an aroma that promises good things to eat and find a perfectly cooked dish to enjoy.
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