Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever Book

I already have about three slow cooker (crockpot) cookbooks in my kitchen library. But this is the best of them all. The recipes in this volume provide entree to a rich set of dishes. As Rachael Ray says: "Yum-o."

The introduction provides context. The book notes one advantage (Amen!) to slow cookers. When one comes home at the end of the day, the aromas greeting one upon entering the house are great--and most welcoming! Slow cookers work by providing low and slow heat over a period of time. The author notes several advantages: convenience, time savings, money savings, and nutritional benefit. I learned some tricks from the introduction, too. I have probably used too much liquid, based on my current recipe set; this volume suggests backing off. There are the usual suggestions as to what one ought to have in the pantry and kitchen to support optimal use of the slow cooker.

As always, though, it is the recipes that should be at the heart of a cookbook.

Here are a few examples:

Creamy onion soup. Yum. I love French onion soup, and this recipe is the first time I've seen a crockpot recipe that is delicious. Simple ingredients and simple instructions (a great combination, as far as I'm concerned!).

Creamy broccoli soup. I have several broccoli soup recipes, some of which are more interesting than others. This is a nice dish, using such ingredients as butter, an onion, carrots, broccoli, baking soda, broth, black pepper, and heavy cream (stirred in at the end of the process).

Other neat soups--Cajun chicken gumbo, potato and leek soup, chili recipes.

Some pasta recipes look nice (haven't tried these out yet), including Lasagna alla Bolognese, Penne lasagna, Old-fashioned mac and cheese.

Meat dishes? Braised chicken with Nicoise olives, Tarragon chicken, Frank's hot chicken wings (a rendering of the Anchor Bar's signature dish), Corned beef with Guinness, Pork chops with sauerkraut and apples, Zinfandel-braised leg of lamb. . . . And so on.

Anyhow, this book is a lot of fun! I look forward to exploiting its recipes further in the future.