The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes

The approach to the slow cooker in this book is a little different than that which most would expect. Some baked beans, some chili, maybe a stew or pot roast -- it's just a matter of choosing a decent combination of raw stuff to dump into the crock, and coming home to mushy vegetables and tender, though flavorless, meat, right? Wrong. If you are looking for zero prep and mediocre dishes, find another book. Judith Finlayson attacks the slow cooker not as an alternative to other cooking methods, but as an additional tool for those of us who enjoy the occasional meal with a longer cooking time, but don't want to leave the stove or oven on all day just to use a Dutch oven. She starts by discussing things that must be considered when converting recipes for crock-pot cooking. As she mentions, browning foods in a skillet can enhance the flavor of the final results. Without proper browning, foods prepared in a crock pot can be less flavorful than the original recipes. She discusses differences which allow the enterprising cook to adjust their own recipes for crock-pot cooking, and even mentions some ingredients which do not respond as well to slow cooking methods and gives tips for dealing with them. A book of recipes is good, but the introduction should be considered a manual for crock-pot cooking. Speaking of recipes, every recipe I've tried from this book has been a smashing success. I've made her French onion soup several times. Her Shepherd's Pie recipe was flavorful and easy, her pulled pork was a delight. I used her shredded chicken as a base for her chicken enchiladas, which far exceeded my expectations regarding what was possible from a slow cooker. The best recipe I've tried so far was the Texas-style chili con carne, which was smoky and hearty, with tender meat and wonderful flavor. This book tries to balance recipe complexity, preparation time, and quality of results. As mentioned in the introduction, several recipes suggest browning meats or softening vegetables in a skillet to enhance the flavor or texture of the final product. However, there are also suggestions that help to manage the difficulty of preparing these recipes entirely in the morning. Most recipes, especially those with long cooking times, include a clear "Make ahead" sidebar which explains which preparation can be done ahead of time and placed in the crock pot in the morning. In summary: The introduction is wonderful in itself, serving as an introduction both to the book and to the method of crock-pot cooking. The recipes are diverse, covering a range of cultural dishes, soups, dips, main dishes, and desserts, and serving as an inspiration for those who wish to try coming up with a slow-cooker version of their own low-heat favorites. One reviewer gave a negative comment about measurements, and cited page 73. Curious, I pulled out my copy and checked -- I cannot find a single mention of barley, which the reviewer claimed that the instructions said to add. As the reviewer

So far I have made the carolina pulled pork, the chicken enchiladas and shaved chicken, and the savory cheese soup. All have turned out WONDERFULLY--no adjustments necessary--and her instructions work down to the letter. Although there is prep time for almost every recipe, it is usually only about 30 minutes or so. If you like to cook without a slow cooker, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm very pleased with my purchase and you will be too!

I LOVE to cook, I HATED ancient crockpot recipes. They are so bland. I bought this for myself back when I didn't have a lot of time to cook when I got home from work. There are recipes in here that have become a staple of my weekly cooking. The Mellow Chicken Curry is absolutley wonderful - sometimes I use low-fat coconut milk in place of the yogurt. The Tarragon Cream Roasted Chicken is delicious. Carribean Pork Rum Roast - Oh my gosh! Beef Burgenion (sp?), Vegetarian Chili - has a lot of ingrediants but is so worth it. Anyway - You'd be crazy not to try it. I bought one for everyone in my family for Christmas who owned a crockpot. Even when I'm not using the crockpot, I reference this book for recipe ideas. They are just so flavorful.

I cooked several recipes from this book and loved every one of them. The dishes are simply delicious. I cooked the Beef Bourguinon for my family and our visiting friends and it was a big hit. A little bit leftover got consumed over buns the next day!But, I have to admit to two personal biases: I love food with lots of flavors, and I always brown the meat before putting it into soups or stews--and this book suits me in both fronts. (I believe the author does state that one does not need to brown the meat, but that the meat tastes better if it is browned.) With the slow cooker relieving me from keeping constant watch over the food, I find the recipes in the book easy and the payback (of a great meal) more than worth the effort.I highly recommend this book.

If you're a purist about using *just* the slow cooker, even though the browning step produces more intense and balanced flavours and only one extra item to clean, this book isn't for you.If you aren't interested in a mixture of English/North American standards along with a number of spicy recipes (Korean, Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Hungarian, etc.), or if you will have a difficult time finding the ingredients because your supermarkets has a limited selection, this book may not be for you.But if you love a variety of national cuisines and can get the ingredients, you'll love this book. The Easy Chicken Paprikash (using canned soups and sweet paprika, easy to find anywhere) was amazing. The New Potato Curry (using curry powder available in any supermarket, although I made up my own mixture) was wonderful, even though I left out the fresh cilantro as I didn't have any on hand. Time required to clean the cast iron skillet for each recipe: 30 seconds. There are a lot of slow cooker recipe books out there with great recipes for beans, stews, and soups. Get one of those if all you want to make are those great standards. Keep in mind, though, that you will find similar recipes in this book, such as Bakers' Potatoes with Onions, Creamed Onions, Shredded Chicken for tacos and sandwiches (no pre-browning!), Cheesy Chicken Noodle Casserole, Homestyle Chicken with Gingersnap Gravy, Pork Ribs and Beans, Pork Chops with Onions in Mustard Sauce, Pot Roast with Tomato or Gingersnap Gravy, Beef Noodle Casserole with Cheddar-Crumb Topping, Meat Loaf, Southwestern Brisket, Shepherd's Pie, Swiss Steak, Smothered Steak, Chicken Fried Steak, Mushroom Barley Soup, Black Bean Soup, and Seafood Gumbo.But you'll also get Indonesian and Spicy Chinese Chicken, Chicken and turkey curries (spicy and mellow), Caribbean Pork Roast with Rum, Portuguese Pork with Clams, Pork Vindaloo, Morroccan Lamb, Lamb Keema and Korma, Greek Beef Stew with Onions and Feta Cheese, Korean Style Short Ribs, Osso Bucco, Potato and Cauliflower Dahl, and Caribbean Pepper Pot Soup.If you're counting, that's nowhere near 150 recipes yet. And did I mention the desserts? Flans, crips, cobblers, custards, pudding, cake and, yes, cheesecake.This is a great book. If you want to move beyond the standards, here's your chance!