Slow Cooker Revolution: One Test Kitchen, 30 Slow Cookers, 200 Amazing Recipes (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
I am usually quite impressed with the work and research that America's Test Kitchen puts into their recipes, and the efforts in this book seem to reflect that diligence. But I am not sure that I want to put in the same amount of effort to prepare these recipes. When I think of slow cookers, I expect them to reduce my time/work in the kitchen. This collection of recipes, however, often seems to require double duty: lots of cooking on the stovetop with an additional time in the slow cooker. I kept wondering why not just cook everything in a Dutch oven for a couple of hours instead of the slow cooker. I guess I could do the stovetop steps in the morning, and then the slow cooker will have the food ready for me at the end of the day. The truth is, however, that like many people I just don't have time in the morning (as well as having limited time in the evening).In any case, out of the 200 recipes, I picked only four to try. Many times I just didn't feel the extra work was worth the effort to convert a recipe to one for a slow cooker. This is an excellent cookbook for those new to the slow cooker. I've never really done much slow cooker cooking before because in the past I felt like everything that came out of the slow cooker tasted like mush. Terrible consistency and bland flavor. This cookbook offers some good tricks to help solve those problems. The emphasis on cooking some ingredients in advance (like onions and spices and sometimes browning meat) really helps raise the level of flavor. Also important is the attention to spices and fresh herbs. So far I've made chicken and dumplings, Moroccan chicken stew, New Mexican red pork chili, and Moroccan beef chili with chickpeas and raisins. I've also made two of the accompanying sides: "sweet and cakey" cornbread and scallion-cheddar muffins. Both were good versions of recipes I'd made before. It's been fun to try new meals and new takes on old favorites. I am looking forward to trying some of the vegetarian meals next and will update my review when I get there.
What do You think about Slow Cooker Revolution: One Test Kitchen, 30 Slow Cookers, 200 Amazing Recipes (2011)?
I'd eat most everything in this cookbook, but probably wouldn't make any of the recipes.
—mags
Tested recipes that actually work. Full review to come.
—swamy
My best slow cooker book. It hasn't steered me wrong.
—Jazz
