Southwest Slow Cooking

Not sure why some reviews say this cookbook doesn't provide them with authentic dishes or that there's too much post-prep. I live in Arizona, have eaten southwest food here and in New Mexico, and compared to what restaurants serve you and what has been shared with me by folks who cook with these ingredients regularly, this book has the southwestern flavors famous in both Arizona and New Mexico. The chiles from New Mexico are the best, and here in Flagstaff we can buy boxes of whole roasted Hatch New Mexico chiles, which to me have made the difference in the way these dishes taste. We buy 50 lbs of whole roasted greens every August and freeze them, peeled or not, stems attached or removed, neither matters. I also get dried red chiles from Northern New Mexico and their flavor is spectacular. Dried red chile pods once reconstituted make fabulous dishes. You don't need canned red or green sauces if you use these. And for those who may not be able to get these products, try Penzey's Spices, they have an online store and their dried chiles rival the dried New Mexico chiles. Their Mexican Oregano is worth every penney. As for "canned this, canned that..." comment, we all have the ability to choose and you can choose to use fresh ingredients. The ladies who put this cookbook together offer shortcuts using canned ingredients because we can't all get the fresh stuff Mexico and some of America's big cities offer. I personally have tried multiple recipes in this book and shared with lots of friends and we all agree, these are some of the best dishes any of us have ever had. The two Posole recipes are to die for. So is the green chile and so many others. I agree there are garnishes that require work, but if you are already prepping the night before to make the dish, why not prep your garnishes as well? Having limes on hand, chopping some cilantro and cabbage and radishes and having those ready does mean you can come home to dinner. I also don't precook any of the meats where the recipe calls for it. I just turn the crock pot on high and put in the liquid and cover, then finish getting ready for work and last thing I do is dump the ingredients (from bowls prepped the night before) into the hot liquid and stir, turn to low and go! For those who have no imagination, and have forgotten that any cookbook is an open invitation to make changes to make it your own, the way you like, changing fresh to packaged and vice versa, no cookbook will be good enough.

This cookbook has plenty of beautiful pictures to capture the cook's interest. Its strongest quality is the narrow focus on Southwestern cuisine--a welcome deviation from the ususal canned soup and chicken crock pot cookbooks. There are many flavorful, restaurant quality recipes which are clear and easy to follow. Many recipes in this book do not require browning of meat before adding it to the slow cooker. This is a plus if you want a collection of recipes that involve dumping items in the crock before running off to work. And if you host football parties and the like, some of these dishes would just be perfect for a manly, meat-loving crowd. I would describe the recipes as flavorful and not overly spicy (though if you want to kick up the heat, you can do so). I am able to make these dishes in a standard 4 quart crockpot. A few of them I think you could make in the cute little 1 1/2quart crockpots. The ingredients are not difficult to find in my grocery store. I now keep canned habanaro chilies and green chilies in my pantry. To the extent you are called upon to roast particular types of peppers, you can save prep time the next time around by roasting several peppers and freezing them. I like to plate these dishes on large serving platters, spread out grandly with a salad and a few blue corn tortilla chips, just like a fine restaurant meal.

This is a great cookbook. Almost every recipe I have tried has been terrific. The authors are very good at combining spices. I also appreciate the fact that the recipes have been adapted to be as healthy as possible. For example, they give hints on how to roll enchiladas without frying the tortillas first. All your favorite Mexican recipes are here, adapted to the slow cooker, as well as some new ones. The authors visited a cooking school in Mexico, and it shows!

Southwest Slow Cooking is an enjoyable recipe book featuring dishes meant to be slowly brought to fruitition. Each one proffers mouth-watering southwestern flavors, from Hot Artichoke Dip to Rosemary Chicken to Chile Relleno Casserole and more. Each recipe is concisely presented in a half-page or single-page, and many are illustrated in full color. Tips, tricks, and techniques such as using cheese and jicama to balance the heat when eating barbecue pork as a sandwich, also abound.