Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever (31 page)

This delightfully rustic dish makes the most of tastes of the Mediterranean. Colorful peppers and red onion highlight a braising liquid flavored with red wine, orange zest, oregano, and tomatoes. This dish makes a terrific weeknight dinner. Serve it with pasta or crusty bread to soak up the sauce.

1½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1½ teaspoons dried oregano

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

6 veal chops, 1 to 1½ inches thick

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

2 medium red bell peppers, seeded and cut into ½-inch slices

2 medium yellow bell peppers, seeded and cut into ½-inch slices

1 cup full-bodied red wine, such as Chianti or Barolo

One 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes, with their juice

Grated zest of 2 oranges

½ cup beef broth

1 cup chicken broth

make a paste with the salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small bowl. Rub the veal chops evenly with the paste. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the chops a few at a time and brown on both sides.

transfer the veal to the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Add the onions and bell peppers to the same skillet and sauté until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the wine to the skillet and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Transfer the contents of the skillet to the slow-cooker insert. Add the tomatoes, orange zest, and both broths and stir to combine.

cover and cook on low for 4½ to 5½ hours, until the chops are tender. Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving.

serves 6

Each of the three stews here has a different flavor, but they are all prepared using essentially the same technique, just with a few different herbs, spices, and vegetables. Since most of us don’t have veal stock in the freezer, a good approximation is a mixture of one part beef broth and two parts chicken broth. If you absolutely want to use veal stock, there are many mail-order companies that will ship it, and many gourmet retailers carry it as well.

A chicken dish called
poulet sauté dauphinois
, made famous by American chef, writer, and icon James Beard, has been prepared in the French region of Provence for years. Beard shocked his devotees by adding forty whole cloves of garlic to the stew, which became mellow, smoky, and sweet when simmered for a long period of time. In this slow-cooker meal, we’ll use veal stew meat, rather than chicken, which gives the dish a richer flavor and pairs well with cheesy mashed potatoes.

½ cup all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2½ pounds boneless veal shoulder or shank, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried thyme

½ cup dry white wine or vermouth

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup beef broth

1 bay leaf

40 cloves garlic, peeled

mix the flour, salt, and pepper in a large zipper-top plastic bag. Add the veal, toss to coat, and shake off any excess. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the veal a few pieces at a time and sauté until browned on all sides.

transfer the browned meat to the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. When all the veal is browned, add the tomato paste, thyme, and white wine to the skillet and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add both broths and stir to combine.

pour the contents of the skillet over the veal in the slow cooker, add the bay leaf and garlic, and stir to distribute the ingredients. Cover and cook the veal on low for 6 to 7 hours, until it is tender. Remove the veal from the cooker with a slotted spoon.

mash the garlic cloves and stir them into the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Return the veal to the cooker and serve the stew.

serves 6

Flavors of the Umbrian region of Italy define this braised stew, fragrant with sage, white wine, sweet Italian sausages, and artichoke. Serve this over pasta, polenta, or mashed potatoes for a hearty dish to soothe the soul.

12 baby artichokes, stems trimmed, cut in half and any tough leaves removed

1½ teaspoons salt

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teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2½ pounds boneless veal shoulder or shank, cut into 1-inch pieces

6 cloves garlic, sliced

8 Italian sweet sausages

6 fresh sage leaves, plus finely chopped leaves for garnishing

1 cup dry white Italian wine, such as Pinot Grigio

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup beef broth

place the cleaned and trimmed artichokes in the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Sprinkle the salt and red pepper flakes evenly over the veal.

heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the veal a few pieces at a time and brown on all sides. Transfer the browned veal to the cooker. Add the garlic and sausages to the pan and brown the sausages on all sides.

add the 6 sage leaves and the wine and cook, stirring, until the wine is evaporated by about one-fourth. Transfer the contents of the skillet to the slow cooker. Add both broths and stir to combine.

cover and cook on low for 4½ to 5½ hours, until the veal and artichokes are tender and the sausage is cooked through.

remove the solids from the cooker with a slotted spoon. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce the liquid to about 1½ cups. Cut the sausage into ½-inch rounds.

arrange the artichokes, sausages, and veal on a serving platter and spoon the sauce over the top. Or, return the meat, vegetables, and sauce to the slow cooker set on warm, and serve directly from there. Garnish with the finely chopped sage leaves before serving.

serves 6

There is nervous laughter in my cooking classes when I show students bright red paprika and tell them that if theirs is brown or if it’s the same jar they bought when they moved into their first apartment, it’s time to get rid of it. Paprika isn’t just for sprinkling on potato salads and deviled eggs. It’s a flavoring, and nowhere is this more apparent than in this traditional Hungarian dish fragrant with paprika, tomato, and bell peppers. The flavors in this dish are rounded out with the addition of sour cream at the end.

Paprikash is traditionally served with either dumplings or spaetzel-style noodles.

5 strips thick-cut bacon, cut into

½-inch pieces

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon hot paprika

2½ pounds boneless veal shoulder or shank, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup sweet paprika

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 large green bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 large red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 large yellow bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

One 15-ounce can crushed plum tomatoes, with their juice

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup beef broth

1 bay leaf

1 cup sour cream at room temperature

cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp and transfer it to the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Remove all but 3 tablespoons of the drippings in the pan.

mix the flour, salt, and hot paprika in a large zipper-top plastic bag. Add the veal to the flour mixture, toss to coat, and shake off the excess. Heat the bacon drippings over mediumhigh heat.

add the veal a few pieces at a time and brown on all sides.

transfer the browned veal to the slow-cooker insert. Add the oil to the skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the sweet paprika, marjoram, thyme, and bell peppers and sauté until the bell peppers begin to soften, 4 to 5 minutes.

add the tomatoes and both broths to the skillet and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Transfer the contents of the skillet to the slow-cooker insert. Add the bay leaf and stir to combine the ingredients.

cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 4½ to 5½ hours. Remove the bay leaf. Taste the stew and adjust the seasonings. Stir in the sour cream and serve the stew immediately.

serves 6

If I had to choose a favorite meat, it would be pork. I love the way pork absorbs flavors, whether it’s fruit juices or garlic, herbs, and spices. I love the way pork becomes tender and juicy in the slow cooker, whether it’s pork shoulder for pulled pork, or pork chops and sauerkraut, or braised pork osso bucco. Pork is a terrific choice for the slow cooker any night of the week.

There are two different cuts of pork shoulder available in the market; one is the Boston shoulder, which weighs about six to nine pounds with the bone in, and the other is the boneless picnic shoulder, weighing in at between three and five pounds. Whatever it’s called, it’s a succulent piece of meat that has a lot of fat (great for keeping the meat moist), and it needs to be braised or slow roasted. According to the pork producers’ Web site, the names and weights can vary, and we found that to be true of the pork we tested (testers in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, and Florida )—some regions call these cuts different things because different names appeal in different areas. Furthermore, pork raised in California weighs in differently than that raised in the Midwest, where the feed mixture is different. There is no real standard weight here, but the averages given are just as close as we can get.

The quintessential barbecue flavors of pork and barbecue sauce combine in this dish for some lip-smacking good eats. Pile the meat onto soft rolls and serve with a side of slaw and some baked beans. Any leftovers will freeze well for up to 2 months.

½ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

½ cup soy sauce

2 cups ketchup

1 teaspoon garlic powder or garlic salt

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

One 5-pound boneless pork shoulder roast, fat trimmed

Barbecue sauce for serving

whisk the oil, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic powder, onion, and Worcestershire together in a mixing bowl. Pour into a large zipper-top plastic bag. Place the pork in the bag with the marinade, seal the bag, and turn the pork in the bag to coat. Refrigerate overnight, turning the bag once or twice. Pour the entire contents of the bag into the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker.

cover and cook on low for 10 hours, until the pork is fork tender. Remove the pork from the insert, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Skim off any fat from the top of the sauce with a spoon and discard.

shred the meat with two forks and return it to the sauce. (At this point, the pork may be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 months). Warm the pork in the slow cooker on low if desired. Serve with additional barbecue sauce.

serves 10–12

Pork shoulder is a favorite for the slow cooker, and this south-of-the- border entrée will have your family celebrating Cinco de Mayo even in December! Serve with warm flour or corn tortillas, or ladle it over steamed rice. The pork is meltingly tender and accented with salsa and sweet corn.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon chili powder (I prefer ancho chile powder, but an all-purpose blend is fine as well)

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder meat, excess fat removed, cut into 2-inch pieces

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup prepared salsa (medium, or hot if you like a bit more heat)

½ cup beef broth

One 16-ounce package frozen corn, defrosted

Flour or corn tortillas for serving

heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cumin, chili powder, and garlic and sauté until the garlic and spices are fragrant, about 1 minute.

sprinkle the meat with the salt and brown the pork on all sides in the seasonings. Transfer the pork to the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Add the salsa and broth to the skillet, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom.

transfer the contents of the skillet to the insert and add the corn. Stir to combine. Cook on on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours, until the meat is tender. Serve the pork with warmed tortillas.

serves 6–8

slow-cooker savvy

Some treatments for pork shoulder are no-brainers, so try these when you need some magic from your pantry to flavor a 4- to 5-pound pork shoulder:

• 3 cups prepared barbecue sauce; cook on high for 6 hours (reduce the sauce on the stovetop after cooking)
  
• 3 cups prepared teriyaki sauce; cook on high for 6 hours and serve in flour tortillas with hoisin sauce and green onions
  
• 3 cups prepared salsa; cook on high for 6 hours and serve for fajitas
  
• 3 cups prepared Caesar dressing; cook on high for 6 hours