First off, Happy Chinese New Year Eve!
Soon it'll be the year of the mighty dragon and our mothers will be saying to us:
You should have a baby this year because it's the year of the mighty dragon.
Since I posted yesterday about the possible scandal of whose hands are in Rachel Ray's Look+Cook book, today's post is scandal-free. Today, I'm talking about the slow cooker. I don't know about you, but that was one of the first appliances we put on our wedding registry. I had never used one before but the thought of "setting it and forgetting it" was awesome! I hope have haven't infringed on any trademark with that quote.
We have a Crock-Pot, and everyone who sees it always makes a comment that it's HUUUUGE. It's "family size", ok? Plus, I like to make a BIG batch, eat it for like four meals straight, and save myself prep work and my hubby from doing lots of dishes.
I've only found one really good recipe out of the manual/cookbook that came with the Crock-Pot. It's for Carolina Pulled Pork, and the meat is moist, easy to pull apart, and goes great with vinegar on a toasted bun. But other than that, other recipes just make my house smell like really weird onions, so I've kinda put it away.
However, America's Test Kitchen put out a book last year called Slow Cooker Revolution, and I immediately had to have it! I find any recipe by America's Test Kitchen is foolproof because they've actually tested the recipe several ways to get the best results. So get their book if you want more use out of your slow cooker. They have recipes for stews, soups, casseroles, braises, sauces, desserts, and more.
But here's a tip for beef stew, and possibly other types of stew, from the book: To ensure vegetables get soft, but don't disintegrate into mush, wrap veggies in foil pocket and place on top of stew during cooking.
PERFECTO! We had the yummiest beef stew in a long while. Since I have a toddler at home, I didn't add any spice to it, but I sure do love a spicy beef stew. I topped mine off with some sriracha.
Got any slow-cooker secrets to share?
If you have this book, whadya think?
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gong xi fa cai!!
ReplyDeletei have found some decent recipes on the crockpot lady's blog: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ i also purchased both of her books when borders went out of business. my meals have been very hit or miss - i have a huge 6qt crockpot that tends to dry out meat, even when i have it on low. the only recipe that i've made that G has said, "this is really good!" is a stuffed pepper recipe that i found in Woman's Day magazine. I'll email it to you sometime this week :)
Please do! And I think I saw a stuffed pepper in my cookbook as well. I might be tempted to do a side by side taste test!! Haha!! Happy New Year!
DeleteOver the past few months, I've been trying out the recipes at http://crockingirls.com. So far, I've determined that nothing I've made from their site is going to win me any culinary awards, but their recipes are pretty good, quick, and easy which is fabulous for us working mamas.
ReplyDeleteHappy Chinese New Year! Wishing you health, happiness, and prosperity in the Year of the Dragon!
Yea, no culinary awards either. "Good, quick and easy" are GREAT attributes for recipes for working mamas. Another great phrase is "can be made beforehand". Haha!!! Happy New Year to you too!!
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