Most of us have a love-hate relationship with our slow cookers. We like the convenience, but we despair when every dish seems to taste like the last one. The dish is steamed and so are we.
A good cookbook could change all that. We'd have the kind of comfort victuals that the pioneers used to cook over an open fire, but with the convenience of slow cooking with electricity. No wood to chop here.
When an enticing Rick Rodgers book came into the Post-Gazette many months ago, we set it aside. Eventually, we got back to it, so today we give you "The Slow Cooker Ready & Waiting Cookbook: 160 Sumptuous Meals That Cook Themselves" (William Morrow & Co.; $12 paperback; 1998).
What Rodgers did for me was to explain why so many recipes for slow-cookers (colloquially known by the Rival brand name of Crock-Pot) that I had tried fell short. The book also disabused me of the notion that "Sumptuous Meals That Cook Themselves" weren't going to do the work without a cook -- me.
So, if you're looking only for a dump-and-go recipe, you may have to go elsewhere. If you're looking for "sumptuous" (that word again) recipes that really taste good and have the added attraction of emitting odors that will entice passers-by all day long, look no further.
In the book, Rodgers writes that friends' reactions on slow cookers were divided down the middle. Half said it was their best friend in the kitchen. "Others stated vehemently that they had tried to use a slow cooker years ago, hated it, and either threw it out, stashed it in the darkest corners of the garage, or turned the crockery insert into a planter."
Why such diametrically opposed opinions?
Rodgers asked the anti-slow cooker contingent to send him recipes. "The message was clear: Don't ignore the basic standards of good cooking just because you're cooking with a slow cooker."
He cites a dump-it-all-in recipe for Coq au Vin as an example. "What about browning the chicken so the caramelized skin can add flavor and body to the sauce? (Where is the skin?) What about some chicken broth for the sauce? Isn't the sauce thickened? How about some herbs?"
Rodgers writes that "Ready and Waiting" shows how to use the slow cooker, whose "best feature is its unique constant cooking temperature. Throughout this book I have adapted favorite recipes that require slow, slow simmering. ... In addition, if the oven is being used to roast a turkey or bake a cake, the slow cooker can prepare side dishes that take well to long cooking. When you are entertaining, the slow cooker can take some of the pressure off: it keeps dips hot or serves as punch bowl for beverages that are served warm."
Why a slow cooker? Rodgers cites several reasons.
The slow cooker needs virtually no watching or tending while it cooks, allowing you to concentrate on other chores or recipes.
The slow cooker allows you to be out of the kitchen for long periods -- even all day for some recipes.
The slow cooker tenderizes less expensive, tough cuts or meat, making the best stews possible.
The slow cooker's lengthy cooking allows flavors to mingle better than conventional methods.
The slow cooker makes many dishes, especially those that tend to stick to the bottom of the pan, better than do other appliances.
Large cuts of meat, such as leg of lamb or boneless prime rib, are best oven-roasted, he writes. "Save the slow cooker for what it does best -- stews, chilis, smothered vegetables and puddings!"
And so we did. We tried several recipes, including his take on making homemade chicken (or beef) broth. "Since slow cookers don't boil on the low setting, and they allow the meat and vegetables to slowly release every drop of flavor, they make flawless stock," he writes. "I never salt homemade stock, because if it reduces during cooking, the salt flavor will intensify."
We have a few quibbles with the book. It has one of those irritating bindings that don't allow the pages to lie flat, and I don't particularly like the lists of ingredients hanging out to the right side, with the instructions to the left. Maybe that's only a lefty's complaint.
But these are small things.
My husband, Ace, loved the Chicken, Tomato and Tortilla Soup. He especially grooved in on the crisp tortilla strips. Though we skipped the guacamole salsa in the interest of calories, we did enjoy garnishing with grated Romano cheese. This is a meal in a bowl.
And I couldn't resist Rodgers' Hot Fudge Spooncake, which I knew I'd have to share with the neighbor kids -- or I'd eat it all myself! That evening (and I'm almost ashamed to tell you this) I found myself licking the chocolate from the lip of the Crock-Pot.
Related Recipes:
Hot Fudge Spooncake
Double-Strength Chicken (or Beef) Stock
Chicken, Tomato and Tortilla Soup
Suzanne Martinson can be reached at bsjmar2@aol.com.
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