The Great American Slow Cooker Book (50 page)

1
Mix the mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, bell pepper, wine, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in the slow cooker until the tomato paste dissolves in the mix.

2
Mix the ground pork, sausage meat, pine nuts, and breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Use your clean dry hands to form this mixture into meatballs, each with a scant ¼ cup. Put the meatballs into the sauce in the cooker.

3
Cover and cook on low for 10 hours, or until the sauce has thickened a bit and the meatballs are cooked through.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
This is a complex dish, packed with herbs and spices. Classic comfort food, sophisticated flavors, and a fairly easy technique—what could be better?

•
We’ve used two kinds of pork here: the standard ground pork for its luxurious sweetness and Italian-style pork sausage for its flavorings and somewhat coarser texture.

•
For even more flavor, toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium-low heat until lightly browned, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes before using them.

SHORTCUTS
Use frozen chopped onion and bell pepper. Make sure the vegetables are thoroughly thawed—if not even at room temperature—before adding them.

Serve It Up!
Have some cooked pasta already in the bowls when the meal is ready. For more flavor, first toss the hot, drained pasta with a little crumbled goat cheese.

1
Drain the sauerkraut in a colander set in the sink; squeeze it by handfuls over the sink before dropping it into the slow cooker. Stir in the wine, apple, potatoes, caraway seeds, and pepper. Press the sausage into the mixture.

2
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the kielbasa is hot and the potatoes in the mix are quite tender.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
For the best taste, use the packaged sauerkraut in plastic bags at the deli counter, the kind that must be refrigerated in a dated package. Avoid the canned stuff.

•
There’s no need to peel the apples. Shred them through the large holes of a box grater, stopping when you get down to the tough core.

•
Use only russet potatoes. They have the right balance of starch and moisture to thicken the sauce without leaving it too wet or too dry. Shred them through the large holes of a box grater.

1
Dump the cut-up chops, onion, apricots, pumpkin seeds, and garlic into the slow cooker.

2
Stir the vinegar, cumin, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, fennel seeds, saffron, salt, and pepper into a paste in a small bowl. Scrape the paste into the cooker, then use your clean, dry hands to toss everything until the meat and other ingredients are evenly coated in the paste.

3
Clean and dry your hands again. Whisk the broth, tomato paste, and brown sugar in a large bowl until the brown sugar dissolves. Pour this mixture over everything in the cooker.

4
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until the meat is quite tender, particularly at the bone.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
An aromatic—rather than spicy—curry blend, this one complements the lamb, making a comfort-food meal quick and easy.

•
If you’re not comfortable working with your hands in step 2, use two wooden spoons, although you’ll have to use quite a bit of elbow grease to get the meat coated in the spices.

•
Lamb shoulder chops can be quite fatty, but we don’t advise trimming them because you’ll then lose the collagen and connective tissue, both of which melt into the sauce to make it richer and more satisfying.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
A lamb shoulder chop is the most economical sort of lamb chop, taken from up near the front of the animal rather than off the ribs or back near the loin. There’s a complex structure of bones in the chops, so chunk them up by trying to get a bit of bone in each piece. By the way, we don’t recommend rib or loin lamb chops in the slow cooker. They’re just too expensive to braise—and terrific quick-cookers, to boot!

Serve It Up!
For a
Grilled Corn Side Salad:
Grill ears of corn and slices of red onion until lightly browned (or use a grill pan and swab the vegetables with a little olive oil). Slice the kernels off the ears; chop the onions into kernel-sized bits. Toss them both in a bowl with olive oil, lime juice, salt, and red pepper flakes.

1
Stir the chickpeas, fennel, leeks, sun-dried tomatoes, orange juice, mustard, orange zest, salt, pepper, and garlic in the slow cooker. Add the lamb chops; toss well.

2
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until the meat is wonderfully tender and sweet.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
Canned chickpeas can range in quality: inferior brands are mushy and tasteless; better-quality ones are firm with a delicate earthiness. Here, their flavors blend with the vegetables and orange juice to tip the dish toward a southern Mediterranean flavor.

•
Use dry sun-dried tomatoes, often found in the produce section, rather than those packed in oil.

•
Choose an organically grown orange, since you’ll be using the peel. As a rule, take the zest from a fruit
before
you take the juice.

ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
Fennel bulbs must be trimmed
before
they can be chopped. Take off the feathery fronds as well as the stalks that come out of the bulb. (Both can be stored in the freezer to be added to soups, stews, or stocks.) Cut off any browned or discolored areas as well as the tough, dried-out bottom of the bulb. Slice the bulb in half from the fronds to the root, then set the halves cut side down on your cutting board. Slice them into thin strips, then turn these strips sideways and slice crosswise into the segments you need.