Slow Cooker_ The Best Cookbook Ever - Diane Phillips [128]
RUSSET OR IDAHO BAKING POTATOES
These potatoes are high in starch. They’re great mashed, baked, stuffed, or fried.
RED, YUKON GOLD, OR WHITE CREAMERS
These are lower in starch, and are sometimes labeled as “new” even though they haven’t been new for months. Use these potatoes in dishes, where they will absorb liquids, like gratins; in salads, where they will absorb dressing; or roasted whole or in wedges. You can mash them, but they are waxier than russets and will need more liquid to make them smooth and creamy.
FINGERLINGS
These tiny potatoes look like stubby fingers, hence the name. They can be expensive, but they are perfect to substitute for red and yukon gold varieties.
SWEET POTATOES
You may see these labeled as “yams” in the supermarket, when in fact yams are native to Africa and Asia and have a yellow color. Sweet potatoes have orange flesh and a high sugar content. They are terrific roasted, baked, or mashed. Roasting causes the sugars to caramelize, which makes the potatoes delicious with or without that ubiquitous marshmallow topping. If you buy a “yam” that has red-colored flesh, it is probably a Louisiana “yam,” but is still a sweet potato. This is probably more than you wanted to know, but you may need dinner conversation at the next Thanksgiving meal!
Potatoes Baked in the Crock
Baking potatoes in a slow cooker may not seem like a brilliant idea, but in the heat of the summer, if you don’t have to turn on your oven, you’ll be very happy to have this recipe! A recent magazine article stated that baking potatoes low and slow in the oven yielded a much more delicious potato as compared to conventional high-heat baking. Once the potatoes are baked, they can be kept warm in the slow cooker until you are ready to serve them. These potatoes can be a jumping-off point for twice-baked potatoes, which can be reheated in the slow cooker on high for 1 hour.
8 russet baking potatoes, scrubbed
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
prick each potato several times with the tip of a sharp knife. Combine the oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl and rub the potatoes all over the oil mixture.
arrange the potatoes in the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours.
remove the potatoes from the slow cooker and serve, or serve from the cooker set on warm.
serves 8–10
Rosemary and Garlic Potatoes
Coated with olive oil infused with garlic and rosemary, red potatoes become sweet when roasting low and slow for hours. The aromas from the slow cooker will have your family waiting by the cooker for the timer to go off.
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, sliced
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
16 to 20 small (2-inch) red potatoes, scrubbed
combine all the ingredients in the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker cover and cook on high for 4 hours, stirring after 2 hours to bring the potatoes from the bottom to the top.
serve immediately, or keep warm for up to 2 hours in the cooker set on warm.
serves 8
German Potato Salad with Sausage
German potato salad is one of the first recipes that was included with slow-cooker instruction books; unfortunately that salad was bland and didn’t have the pizzazz that you would expect from a dish with sausage, onion, vinegar, and mustard. This recipe will give you the zesty flavor, and the tender potatoes will be a crowd pleaser at your next barbecue. I love Yukon gold potatoes for their flavor and color in this dish, but red potatoes or white creamers will work as well.
6 to 8 medium (3-inch) Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into ¼-inch thick slices
1 medium red onion, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped