Read The Great American Slow Cooker Book Online
Authors: Bruce Weinstein
The Great American Slow Cooker Book (53 page)
2- TO 3½-QUART
½ tblsp olive oil
2 lamb shanks, about 12 ounces each
½ cup thinly sliced yellow onion
½ cup chopped carrots
½ cup chopped celery
1 tsp minced garlic
¼ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
½ cup dry red wine, such as Shiraz, Syrah, or light Pinor Noir
2 tblsp no-salt-added tomato paste
½ tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
4- TO 5½-QUART
1 tblsp olive oil
4 lamb shanks, about 12 ounces each
1 cup (about 1 small) thinly sliced yellow onion
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
2 tsp minced garlic
½ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dry red wine, such as Shiraz, Syrah, or light Pinor Noir
¼ cup no-salt-added tomato paste
1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
6- TO 8-QUART
2 tblsp olive oil
8 lamb shanks, about 12 ounces each
2 cups thinly sliced yellow onion
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
1½ tblsp minced garlic
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups dry red wine, such as Shiraz, Syrah, or light Pinor Noir
½ cup no-salt-added tomato paste
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, then pour in the oil. Swirl to coat, then add the lamb shanks. Brown on all sides, about 12 minutes per shank. (Only brown as many as will fit comfortably in the skillet at a time, adding more as space opens up.) Transfer the browned shanks to the slow cooker.
2
Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic to the skillet, still set over the heat. Cook, stirring often, until the onion begins to turn translucent, about 3 minutes.
3
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker. Pour the broth into the skillet, raise the heat to high, and stir until simmering, scraping up any browned bits in the skillet. Pour the contents of the skillet into the slow cooker.
4
Whisk the wine, tomato paste, thyme, salt, and pepper in a bowl; pour over the contents of the slow cooker.
5
Cover and cook on low for 9 hours, or until the meat has pulled back from the bone and is fork-tender.
TESTERS’ NOTES
•
To balance the more assertive tastes in this stew, get all the browning flavor in the skillet into the slow cooker—an extra step, sure, but clearly worth it.
•
This is a hearty, French-inspired preparation, stocked with plenty of vegetables. You can even make it ahead, debone the meat, stir it back into the stew, and save it in the freezer as a terrific stew for some future evening.
Serve It Up!
For a
Wax Bean Salad:
Blanch wax beans in boiling water for 1 minute, then drain and refresh under cool tap water. Toss them with diced tomatoes, sliced green olives, minced shallots, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and ground black pepper.
Boredom at the plate leads to mindless overeating. If you want to lose weight, you have to eat a wider variety of things—otherwise, you’ll be eating more of the same ol’ things to find any satisfaction. So here’s to veal and rabbit, two slow cooker meats we might not consider all that often.
Veal is sweet and tender, about the best meat in the supermarket. We suspect everyone who’s had osso buco knows that, although they may not have known they were eating veal. You can skip the guilt that comes with eating veal now that there are small-production veal farmers with calves in the fields. Pastured veal is not white but pink; the meat is mellow and marbled, perfect for the slow cooker. rabbit, by contrast, is more assertive, rich and mineraly, like a cross between pork tenderloin and dark-meat turkey. But don’t expect to pick any buckshot out of your teeth: today’s rabbits are raised on farms.
That said, there can be a problem with both veal and rabbit. They’re not the most popular meats in the supermarket, so they have a tendency to sit on the shelf. If you’re in doubt, ask the butcher to open a package for you, especially when you’re buying rabbit. Take a whiff; make sure it’s not off.
After that, cooking rabbit and veal is all about the braise. When it comes to veal, all that talk about good browning technique gets tossed out of the window. You don’t want to brown the meat very much—just get it beige with a few brown bits. Too much browning, and the overall flavor will become too bitter and assertive. And no, we don’t have a recipe for veal scaloppini; it would be a waste in the slow cooker. Instead, we have multiple recipes for veal stew meat and veal shanks, as well as several recipes that call for a whole rabbit cut into eight or nine parts.
So eat more things. You’ll find yourself more quickly satisfied and you may even eat less in the long run. No guarantees, though. These dishes are pretty tasty.
with artichokes and lemon
A LITTLE
•
PREP TIME:
25 MINUTES
•
COOK TIME:
6 TO 8 HOURS
•
KEEPS ON WARM:
2 HOURS
•
SERVES:
2 TO 8
2- TO 3½-QUART
1 tsp unsalted butter
1 tsp olive oil
1¼ pounds bone-in veal shoulder roast
⅛ tsp salt
⅛ tsp ground black pepper
¼ cup peeled small fresh pearl onions, or frozen, thawed
¾ cup trimmed and quartered fresh baby artichokes, or frozen quartered artichoke hearts, thawed
½ tsp finely grated lemon zest
½ tsp minced fresh rosemary leaves
½ tsp minced garlic
About ½ cup slightly sweet white wine, such as Pinot Gris
4- TO 5½-QUART
2 tsp unsalted butter
2 tsp olive oil
2½ pounds bone-in veal shoulder roast
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
½ cup peeled small fresh pearl onions, or frozen, thawed
1½ cups trimmed and quartered fresh baby artichokes, or frozen quartered artichoke hearts, thawed
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 tsp minced garlic
About 1 cup slightly sweet white wine, such as Pinot Gris
6- TO 8-QUART
1 tblsp unsalted butter
1 tblsp olive oil
4 pounds bone-in veal shoulder roast
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 cup peeled small fresh pearl onions, or frozen, thawed
3 cups trimmed and quartered fresh baby artichokes, or frozen quartered artichoke hearts, thawed
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary leaves
2 tsp minced garlic
About 2 cups slightly sweet white wine, such as Pinot Gris
1
Melt the butter in the olive oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Season the roast with salt and pepper, set it in the skillet, and brown it on all sides, not letting it get too dark but allowing it to get some decidedly beige patches, about 10 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker.
2
Add the pearl onions; stir them around the skillet until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Pour into the slow cooker.
3
Add the artichoke hearts, lemon zest, rosemary, and garlic, sprinkling all these on and around the roast. Pour in the wine until it comes about a third of the way up the roast. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours in a small slow cooker, 7 hours in a medium cooker, or 8 hours in a large cooker, or until the meat is fork-tender.
4
Transfer the roast to a cutting board; let stand for 10 minutes before carving into slices and chunks
against the grain
.
TESTERS’ NOTES
•
Since a shoulder roast is a fairly large cut, it may not fit into your specific slow cooker model. Take the width and length measurements of your crock before you head to the store. If nothing fits with room to spare for the braising liquid, consider veal shoulder chops as a substitute.
•
If you use fresh baby artichokes, peel off almost all the outer leaves, taking the artichoke down to the heart before quartering it.
Serve It Up!
Slice Yukon Gold potatoes into quarters; toss them with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a heavy roasting pan; and bake at 375°F until crunchy and brown, between 45 minutes and 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
A LITTLE
•
PREP TIME:
30 MINUTES
•
COOK TIME:
8 HOURS
•
KEEPS ON WARM:
4 HOURS
•
SERVES:
2 TO 8
2- TO 3½-QUART
2 tsp olive oil
1 pound bone-in veal shoulder chops, cut into 2-inch chunks
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¾ cup full-bodied, mildly sweet red wine, such as California Zinfandel
¾ cup drained no-salt-added canned diced tomatoes
1½ tblsp no-salt-added tomato paste
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 4-inch rosemary sprigs
4- TO 5½-QUART
1 tblsp olive oil
2½ pounds bone-in veal shoulder chops, cut into 2-inch chunks
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 cup full-bodied, mildly sweet red wine, such as California Zinfandel
2 cups drained no-salt-added canned diced tomatoes
¼ cup no-salt-added tomato paste
1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce
4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
2 4-inch rosemary sprigs
6- TO 8-QUART
2 tblsp olive oil
4½ pounds bone-in veal shoulder chops, cut into 2-inch chunks
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups full-bodied, mildly sweet red wine, such as California Zinfandel
2¾ cups drained no-salt-added canned diced tomatoes
⅓ cup no-salt-added tomato paste
2 tblsp Worcestershire sauce
7 whole garlic cloves, peeled
4 4-inch rosemary sprigs
1
Set a large skillet over medium heat for a few minutes; swirl in the oil. Season the veal chunks with salt and pepper, then add some to the skillet, working in batches as necessary; lightly brown on all sides, turning occasionally, 6 to 8 minutes. Use tongs to transfer the chunks to a slow cooker and keep browning more.
2
Raise the heat to high; pour the wine into the skillet. Bring to a full boil, stirring once in a while to scrape up any browned bits. Continue boiling until the liquid in the skillet has reduced by half, between 3 and 6 minutes. Pour the wine reduction over the veal.
3
Stir the tomatoes, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl until the tomato paste dissolves; stir into the ingredients in the slow cooker. Nestle the garlic cloves and rosemary into the sauce.
4
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until the sauce is very aromatic and the veal is tender when pierced with a fork. Discard the rosemary before serving.
TESTERS’ NOTES
•
Although veal is traditionally browned in butter, olive oil adds a brighter, slightly sour flavor, a better contrast to the sweetness in the wine.
•
When you cut up the veal, try to keep a bone in each chunk—at least where possible.
•
You won’t want to miss those garlic cloves. They’ll have softened enough after cooking that you can smear them onto pieces of crunchy bread.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Veal shoulder chops, cut from above the front legs, offer marbled, delicate meat. There can be plenty of bones in the chops—or just a few, depending on how they were butchered.
A LOT
•
PREP TIME:
1 HOUR
•
COOK TIME:
10 HOURS
•
KEEPS ON WARM:
3 HOURS
•
SERVES:
8
6- TO 8-QUART
1 cup dry vermouth
½ cup chopped dried apricots
½ cup golden raisins
½ pound russet potatoes, peeled and shredded
6 ounces carrots, peeled and shredded
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried sage
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
4 pounds boneless breast of veal, a pocket-like slit made into the thick side
2 tblsp olive oil
1 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
2 fresh sage sprigs
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 bay leaf
1
Stir the vermouth, apricots, and raisins in a small saucepan; bring to a simmer over high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the fruit has softened. Uncover the pan, raise the heat to medium-high, and boil until the liquid has reduced to a glaze, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool for 30 minutes.
2
Pour the contents of the saucepan into a bowl; stir in the potato, carrot, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper. Stuff the potato mixture into the pocket in the breast of veal (see Testers’ Notes for how to make the pocket). Sew the opening of the pocket closed using a sterilized trussing needle or even a large tapestry needle and butchers’ twine.
3
Heat a large skillet over medium heat for a few minutes; swirl the oil in the skillet. Add the stuffed veal and brown on both sides, 6 to 8 minutes per side. Transfer the stuffed veal to the slow cooker, pour in the wine, and tuck the sage sprigs, garlic cloves, and bay leaf into the liquid around the meat.
