Slow-cooker cookbook makes believer of reviewer

If you have been thinking about starting to use your slow cooker, then make room in your book budget for 175 Essential Slow Cooker Classics by Judith Findlayson.

Already owning an older version of Judith Finlayson’s slow cooker recipes (over 60,00 have been sold!), is the only reason to hesitate buying this book. Even if you have an older version, you will be tempted to replace it with this one. Findlayson has added 60 new recipes to this volume (bringing the total to 175) and now all vegetarian and vegan options are clearly marked. The included recipes are good for beginners and slow cooker veterans.

Her explanation of how to use the slow cooker is making a convert of me. I must admit, I have been a holdout on slow cooker love. Up until now, my husband has been the only one in our house who uses our three and one half quart oval slow cooker. My main problem with using this touted kitchen tool has been that I like to pick up the lid to taste what is happening, a practice that alters the temperature and liquid evaporation.

Finlayson opens the book with an explanation of the how and why of slow cooking which makes me more confident to use it and to let it stay shut for the entire cooking time. She carefully analyzes the size issue, explains when to separate the steps of a recipe into — the night before, the day before, using the cooker at night and why it is still important to brown meats first. She deals with food safety — don’t partially cook meats, refrigerate and then finish off in cooker the next day, being one of the most important.

She discusses the need for chopping firm veggies, such as carrots, into thinner slices, making chopped bits as uniform as possible. Now, understanding the science of it all, I can look at the recipes with an empowered eye, knowing how to make shifts that will better accommodate my own tastes while still meeting the needs of a slow cooker’s abilities with food.

For those of you who already love slow cooking, it is the range of recipes in this book that will attract you. Readers will find that Findlayson has included imaginative and exciting recipes, that I never thought could be done in a slow cooker such as appetizer tarts and “cheesecakes” and a wonderful array of Mediterranean inspired dishes. Many of these include fennel, (aka anise), and artichokes. Needless to say, my book is already full of little sticky markers on those pages. My husband will no longer have free rein over this kitchen tool. It will take me several weeks to run through all of the recipes I want to try from lamb with artichokes to chilly dilly eggplant, lentil shepherd’s pie, cheesy fennel and leek bake and barley and sausage risotto with fennel to sun dried tomato and dill cheesecake. Though I am not generally a fan of the chewy tomato, this recipe intrigues me and is the publisher’s personal favorite.

She offers a selection of “risotto” recipes, but only one or two are actual risottos. The others are barley-based (a yummy alternative). I had never thought of making risotto in a slow cooker. Good idea though, since what is annoying about the process of making this Northern Italian specialty is the need to stir and stir and stir—something not necessary with the slow cooker.

Not to worry if you are taking your chef’s knife into new territory as you peruse the ingredients of this work. The more than 100 color photos and pages annotated with tips will bring you through. One of the best features I found is how she ties one recipe to another through the tips, telling us that we can serve certain things over rice or polenta (you can try substituting grits for polenta) or a white bean puree. Rice and polenta are straightforward in prep, usually with instructions on the box. But the white bean puree? No need to worry, she provides a recipe in one place and in all other recipes where she references this as an option, there is a notation with the page number of the recipe to make it easy for actual in-kitchen use. Consummately practical. (Yes, pun intended). Worthy of a place on your kitchen bookshelf.

This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 11:39 AM with the headline "Slow-cooker cookbook makes believer of reviewer."