Art of the Slow Cooker Book

Cookbooks are always a bit hard for me to review, as I have a tendency to do my own thing with the actual recipes (I see recipes as a guideline and usually end up subbing ingredients for either what I have on hand or to a taste preference). Since I'm one of those people that actually reads all that stuff they put in the front of the book, as I like to read different philosophies and approaches to cooking, that's usually what I review. A lot of times the techniques covered in these intro sections are just as interesting to me as the ingredient lists/recipes.

The front section is actually sort of important in this cookbook. Not only does it cover the usual "why" and the "how" and basic philosophies, but some important points about food safety as well. It's worth the time to read thru this section before jumping into the recipes.

I'll also admit to not having been a huge fan of "slow cookers/crock pots". I grew up in a house where it was standard (my parents' oven broke when I was about 10 and it was never fixed... so food was grilled, cooked on the stove top or was cooked in the slow cooker... and most were not very tasty... and probably one of the reasons I'm a bit obsessed with cooking tasty/healthy food). So when I got a crock pot for Christmas, I was a little apprehensive (I've had one in my closet that I received as a wedding gift 20 years ago and have used it mostly to keep soups warm when entertaining). This was the book I decided to try to expand my crock pot skills.

This is not a dump ingredients into the pot and walk away for 8 hours cookbook. Yes, the recipes are more time consuming, but taking the extra 15-20 minutes to chop and brown the ingredients is well worth the result. I've made two recipes (both very closely following the recipe as written) and the results were brilliant. I'll update as more are made (2 recipes are not a great sample size, but based on the results, I'm feeling positive about trying more).

Recipes I've tried:
Curried Coconut Chicken Soup
Made as written, with the only sub being dried lemongrass instead of fresh. I used light coconut milk and served it was some jasmine rice. Excellent result.

Marrakech Chicken Stew with Preserved Lemons
Made as written (the only exception is I used ground spices) and used only chicken thighs. This was fabulous (the author even includes not only sources for preserved lemons, but directions to make your own. However, our local Wegman's stock them).

So overall, if you are looking for some very tasty crock pot recipes where the little extra prep pays off, this has cookbook might be a good choic.