Gourmet Vegetarian Slow Cooker - Lynn Alley [31]
POTATO, ARTICHOKE, AND MUSHROOM STEW WITH KALAMATA OLIVES
Serves 4 to 6
The ingredients in this simple vegetable stew are made to order for the long, slow heat of the communal oven or the slow cooker. Flavors meld, juices blend together, and the whole thing is a fragrant, pleasurable afternoon’s work.
½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms
3 pounds small red or white rose potatoes
1 (12-ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts or 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup dry white wine
2 cups Tomato-Mushroom Sauce
1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
¼ cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary or basil
Rinse the dried mushrooms, then soak them in a small bowl in about 1 cup of water for 30 minutes. Lift out the softened mushrooms, leaving any grit behind, and squeeze the excess liquid out of them.
Wash the potatoes thoroughly. If they are large, halve or quarter them. Add the potatoes, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, garlic, wine, and tomato sauce to the slow cooker insert.
Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or until the potatoes are tender and the flavors are blended. About 30 minutes before serving, add the olives, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
Serve in a bowl garnished with the chopped rosemary.
SUGGESTED BEVERAGE: Try a glass of northern Greece’s signature grape variety, Xinomavro, if you can find it, or Kir-Yianni’s Akakies, a delicious Greek rosé.
STUFFED PEPPERS FLORINA
Serves 4 to 6
Florina peppers are named for a city in western Macedonia (Greece), a part of the Greek countryside in which peppers are an all-important agricultural crop. They have a thick, red, sweet, firm flesh and are perfect for stuffing. I was first served them at the table of Mrs. Fany Boutari, the gracious matriarch of Greece’s premier winemaking family. While Florina peppers are not easily found in the United States, you can buy them roasted and bottled, or you may be lucky enough to find some red Anaheim chiles that will work. In a pinch, you can use good old green Anaheims or the bigger poblanos, as I do. They won’t be quite as sweet, but they will be good.
4 to 6 red or green fresh Anaheim or poblano chiles
¼ onion, finely chopped
2 cups cooked rice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cumin
⅓ cup currants
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic Salt to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
To roast the chiles, place them on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil about 8 inches from the broiler. Broil them until the skin blisters and turns black on both sides. (Do not burn the chiles themselves.) Remove the baking sheet from the oven and quickly cover the chiles with a clean dish towel. Let them sit, covered, until they are cool. Using a paring knife or your fingers, carefully peel off the skins, then slit one side and remove the seeds and veins.
In a bowl, combine the onion, rice, cinnamon, cumin, currants, dill, and parsley and mix thoroughly with a fork. Using a garlic press, press the garlic into the rice mixture. Add salt to taste and mix well.
Oil the slow cooker insert with the olive oil.
Fill each pepper with as much of the rice mixture as it will hold, then carefully put the chile back together and lay it in the bottom of the slow cooker insert.
When all the chiles are in the slow cooker, sprinkle them with the feta cheese, cover, and cook on low for about 2 hours, or until the chiles are tender and the stuffing is hot all the way through.
Tip: I often make a double batch of the stuffing and then freeze half of it in a plastic bag. That way, it is available for instant stuffed veggies (it works in eggplant, tomatoes, and zucchini). Use within a month or two.
SUGGESTED BEVERAGE: Three Rs: retsina, rosé, or red.
MOUSSAKA WITH ARTICHOKES, TOMATOES, AND POTATOES
Serves 4 to 6
Moussaka is a quintessential Greek dish, and one that every American knows. Usually a delicious dish of layered