Slow Cooker_ The Best Cookbook Ever - Diane Phillips [5]
Sautéing onions, garlic, dried herbs, and spices before adding them into the cooker gives you a balanced flavor. In many instances, if you add these ingredients to the pot without first sauteing them all you will smell after cooking is raw garlic and onion rather than the sweet perfume that develops when they release their oils during sauteing.
Use dried rather than fresh herbs when slow cooking. I go by the 30-minute rule: if it simmers more than 30 minutes, use a dry herb. One exception to this rule is rosemary, which is woody and stands up to long cooking times. If at the end of the cooking time you wish to refresh a flavor of the finished dish, then certainly add some fresh herbs to it. This actually adds a bit of color, as well as flavor and freshness.
Using soup bases and double-strength broths (such as Campbell’s) helps you boost flavors.
Dried mushrooms and dried fruits boost flavors when added to the pot.
Sometimes your slow-cooked meal will have a sauce that tastes bland after hours of simmering with the lid on. Try a few of the following tricks to liven up your dish:
Stir in grated lemon or orange zest; stir in chopped fresh herbs; heat a few tablespoons of olive oil on the stove and saute a few cloves of chopped garlic until they are softened; but not browned, and add them to the sauce; stir in 2 or 3 dried mushrooms and simmer for another 20 minutes. If all else fails, drain the sauce into a small saucepan and boil the sauce until it is reduced by half. This usually will concentrate the flavor and give you a delicious pan sauce for your meal.
Depending upon your dish, these flavors will give it a boost without too much trouble:
Soy sauce, Asian fish sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, olives, peanut butter, ham, prosciutto, bacon, and the rind from Parmigiano-Reggiano (chop it into pieces and add to soups, stews, and sauces).
Last, remember that this is not (an exact) science. Just as your home oven may cook a bit hotter or colder than the stated temperature in a recipe, so may your slow cooker. The cooking times in this book are approximations. To gauge how your slow cooker will cook, check the instruction manual that came with it, look at recipes similar to the ones in this book, and see what times they suggest. This will give you a good idea of how your slow cooker cooks. Remember that an instant-read thermometer is invaluable for determining if your food is cooked through.
A BAKER’S DOZEN SLOW-COOKER TIPS
1. As a general rule, dishes cooked on low can be cooked safely on high for half the time.
2. Keep a lid on it. Slow cookers can lose 20 to 30 minutes of cooking time when the lid is removed.
3. Don’t place frozen foods in a slow cooker; make sure foods are totally defrosted.
4. Never fill a slow cooker more than twothirds full, and no less than halfway, for optimum performance.
5. Use dried herbs and spices for long, slow simmers. At the end of the cooking time, add fresh herbs to refresh the flavor of the cooked sauce.
6. For best results, remove excess fat from meats and the skin from poultry before putting it into a slow cooker.
7. Always brown ground meats before adding them to a slow cooker.
8. Layer ingredients so those that are the most dense and take the longest to cook (think potatoes) are on the bottom.
9. Cut all the ingredients into uniform pieces so they will cook evenly.
10. Buy a slow cooker for your needs. If there are only two of you at home, the 7-quart model that’s on sale will give you beef stew into the next millennium. (A 7-quart model would be terrific for entertaining though, so don’t rule it out altogether.) Buy the one you’ll need for everyday cooking first.
4-quart serves 2 to 3
5- to 6-quart serves 4 to 6
6- to 7-quart serves 6