The Great American Slow Cooker Book (3 page)
Read The Great American Slow Cooker Book Online
Authors: Bruce Weinstein
So that’s the story—all that’s left are the recipes.
You might start with
Oat, Barley, and Apple Porridge
for a morning in the very near future. Or if you’re more in the mood for a main course,
Pork Butt with Whiskey and Sage
. Or
Sticky Chicken Thighs with Apricots
. Or
Shell-less Clams Casino
. Or shoot, just
Mac and Cheese
. Really, we can’t pick. You go ahead. Then write and let us know what happened. We’re at
www.bruceandmark.com
. With this many recipes to try, you’re about to hear a lot from us. We’d love to hear from you.
Let’s face it: if you’re going to skip a meal, it’s breakfast.
Before you really get a chance to think about it, you’re out the door.
Head back inside. Missing the morning meal is not the best choice. Your blood sugar levels are out of whack after your sleep-enforced fast. A few hours later, when they’ve fallen even further, plunk will go your energy—and your productivity. University studies the world over have shown that children who go without breakfast seriously underperform those who’ve had something to eat. What’s more, we know that adults who skip breakfast suffer memory deficiencies by mid-morning. Everyone knows that guy who drags himself into work with an artificially sweetened coffeehouse frappawhatever in hand and can’t even remember yesterday’s bottom-line discussion until he bums an apple off of someone.
Of course, some of the more earnest among us go without breakfast in a misguided attempt to cut calories. But those who do tend to chow
down on 300 to 500
more
calories a day. If you don’t eat breakfast, you’re famished by mid-morning, foraging in the break room or running to the convenience store, although lunch is fast approaching.
In truth, the fault lies with our ridiculously accelerated world. Back in the day—sadly, not forty years ago—nine o’clock was a decent time to roll in to work and five
P.M.
was quitting time. But everything moves more quickly over longer hours. Breakfast gets tossed out the window. Look out below.
Fortunately, there’s a way to catch an extra hour of sleep and still eat breakfast: the slow cooker. You can have a hot breakfast without much fuss—and a healthy meal, too, stocked with whole grains, no processed and packaged this or that in the mix. As you’ll see, the slow cooker was seemingly made for whole-grain porridges, a comforting breakfast any day of the year. But you needn’t stop there. You can also use the slow cooker for egg casseroles and (yes!) decidedly more decadent fare, all without standing over a hot stove. There are also a few fruit compote and applesauce recipes that’ll stand you in good stead for many mornings to come (or even for dessert some evening).
A slow cooker is perfect for breakfast. It blends flavors, muting bitter notes in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, all the while foregrounding the natural sweetness of everything from oatmeal to bacon, apples to polenta. Those mellower tastes are a better fit for the morning.
A slow cooker is also the most convenient breakfast tool: you can set it up the night before and look forward to a hearty meal when the alarm goes off. Or you can set up a tasty brunch casserole and have it ready when your friends arrive.
With a slow cooker on the counter, give breakfast a try. Then begin to morph these recipes into your own signature breakfasts. Try one, then figure out how to adapt it. Don’t like maple syrup? Try honey or agave nectar. Don’t like chives? How about thyme? Just remember the basic rule: keep the liquid-to-dry ratio intact. (Granulated white and brown sugars are tough—they count on both sides of the ratio, measured as dry ingredients in a batter but acting as liquids as they melt. We recommend leaving their quantities intact; besides, we’ve tried to keep these recipes fairly low in sugar.) After that, you’re free to create a breakfast that’ll set you up right. And that’s a win/win situation you can set your alarm for.
If there’s a stellar example of how a slow cooker works, it’s probably found among these hot cereals. Yes, the slow cooker can be a blunt instrument, smashing the subtle notes of individual flavors. But to soften steel-cut oats into a luxurious meal, morph the bitter accents in quinoa into a sweet porridge, and smooth the crags of cornmeal into a creamy breakfast polenta, these are the reasons you bought the appliance in the first place! Okay, maybe you weren’t thinking of breakfast when you got yours. But almost all of these hot cereal recipes are overnight wonders.
Before we jump to these recipes, we should say a word here about whole grains. Within reason, we use them in this section so breakfast can be as nutritious as possible. But looks can be deceiving. Pearled barley is like white rice—a refined grain. Even standard polenta made from ground corn can lack some of the components of whole-grain goodness, although corn itself is the only whole grain we can digest completely, even in its raw form. If you’re concerned about these issues, look at our “Testers’ Notes” to find ways to add even more whole grains to the mix.
We also began developing these recipes with fat-free milk—and in truth, they were just about as creamy as the ones we later tried with whole or low-fat milk. We don’t call for fat-free sour cream in baking or cooking because it can separate over prolonged heat, resulting in a watery mess rather than a satisfying meal. But we like to save fat and calories where we can (mostly so we can butter the toast).
So hop to. Stir everything together the night before and let the slow cooker do its work. Forget watching the pot of hot cereal, praying it doesn’t boil over. Skip that irritating volcano of oatmeal in the microwave. Instead, wake up to some of the best (and most nutritious) comfort food around.
NOT MUCH
•
PREP TIME:
10 MINUTES
•
COOK TIME:
6 HOURS
•
KEEPS ON WARM:
3 HOURS
•
SERVES:
4 TO 10
2- TO 3½-QUART
2 cups water
2 cups milk
1 cup steel-cut oats
¼ cup maple syrup
pinch salt
4- TO 5½-QUART
4 cups water
4 cups milk
2 cups steel-cut oats
½ cup maple syrup
¼ tsp salt
6- TO 8-QUART
6 cups water
6 cups milk
3 cups steel-cut oats
¾ cup maple syrup
½ tsp salt
Stir all the ingredients in a slow cooker until the maple syrup is distributed evenly throughout. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the oats are tender and creamy.
TESTERS’ NOTES
•
If you’ve skipped steel-cut oats because (1) you didn’t want to cook breakfast for an hour when you’re barely conscious, or (2) you’ve tried preboiling them for a couple of minutes the night before and then finishing the next morning, only to end up with gummy glue, you’re in for a treat. The slow cooker can turn steel-cut oats into a smooth and creamy breakfast cereal, no stirring or consciousness needed.
•
For a treat for later in the week, butter or grease the inside of an 8- or 9-inch baking pan and spread the leftover oatmeal in it; cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 2 days. When you’re ready, cut the block into wedges, and fry them in butter in a nonstick skillet set over medium heat under they are golden and brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Serve with more maple syrup on the side (of course).
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Steel-cut oats (often called “Irish oats” or “pinhead oats”) are hulled oat groats sliced into smaller segments, loaded with fiber and all the essential nutrients in the whole grain. The more familiar rolled oats are actually processed, steamed, and flattened oats—in effect, precooked so they don’t take so long at the stove. And in the United States, so-called Scottish oats are actually steamed,
ground
oat groats. Use only steel-cut oats in this recipe (as well as many of the ones to follow).
ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
The longer a whole-grain cereal sits, the thicker it becomes. The cereal may also brown a bit at its edges. Some of us like this stiffer part; other late-sleepers may want to scoop the cereal right out of the cooker’s center. In any event, if you let most hot cereals and porridges stay on warm for more than a couple of hours, be prepared to thin them out with more milk or water.
Serve It Up!
Top bowls of oatmeal with chopped, pitted dates, sliced and cored apples, crumbled graham crackers, apple butter, any preserve or jam you like, dried fruit, sliced bananas, orange zest, or a pat of butter.
with banana, pineapple, and coconut
NOT MUCH
•
PREP TIME:
15 MINUTES
•
COOK TIME:
7 HOURS
•
KEEPS ON WARM:
3 HOURS
•
SERVES:
3 TO 8
2- TO 3½-QUART
1¼ cups water
¾ cup coconut milk (regular or lite)
½ cup
steel-cut oats
½ ripe medium bananas, chopped
2½ tblsp chopped dried pineapple
2½ tblsp unsweetened shredded coconut
2½ tblsp packed light brown sugar
¼ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
pinch grated nutmeg
4- TO 5½-QUART
2½ cups water
1½ cups coconut milk (regular or lite)
1 cup
steel-cut oats
1 ripe medium bananas, chopped
⅓ cup chopped dried pineapple
⅓ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
6- TO 8-QUART
3¾ cups water
2¼ cups coconut milk (regular or lite)
1½ cups
steel-cut oats
2 ripe medium bananas, chopped
½ cup chopped dried pineapple
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¾ tsp vanilla extract
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
Stir all the ingredients in a slow cooker until the brown sugar has dissolved. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours, or until the oats are tender and the bananas have begun to melt into the sauce.
TESTERS’ NOTES
•
Make sure the bananas are as ripe as they can be, with plenty of dark spots mottled across their yellow skins, no green bits in sight.
•
Use a fork to stir the coconut milk right in the can, thereby reincorporating the solids into the liquid.
•
Cut the bananas and pineapple into very small bits, between ¼- and ½-inch pieces. That way, they’ll almost melt into the porridge.
•
It wouldn’t hurt to stir 1 to 3 tablespoons rum into the mix with the other ingredients. Don’t want the booze first thing in the morning? Try a drop or two of rum extract.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Coconut milk is a favorite ingredient for vegans who want a creamy, buttery flavor. It’s a thick, viscous liquid pressed out of chunks of coconut. So-called lite coconut milk is actually a second (or third or even further) pressing of the original coconut solids to create a less indulgent, less viscous, and (darn it) healthier ingredient.
Unsweetened shredded coconut—sometimes labeled as “desiccated coconut flakes”—is available in larger supermarkets, often not in the baking aisle but in either the international section or the health-food aisle. It’s also available in almost all health-food stores. If the flakes are large, about the size of old-fashioned washing soap flakes from 1950s sitcoms, pulverize them in a cleaned spice grinder or a mini food processor until the bits are about the consistency of modern laundry detergent.
coffee cake style
A LITTLE
•
PREP TIME:
15 MINUTES
•
COOK TIME:
6 HOURS
•
KEEPS ON WARM:
3 HOURS
•
SERVES:
3 TO 8
2- TO 3½-QUART
1½ cups milk
½ cup
steel-cut oats
½ cup chopped canned yams in syrup, drained, liquid reserved
½ cup canning liquid from yams
¼ tsp salt
3 tblsp packed light brown sugar
3 tblsp chopped pecans
½ tsp ground cinnamon
4- TO 5½-QUART
3 cups milk
1 cup
steel-cut oats
1 cup chopped canned yams in syrup, drained, liquid reserved
1 cup canning liquid from yams
½ tsp salt
6 tblsp packed light brown sugar
6 tblsp chopped pecans
1 tsp ground cinnamon
6- TO 8-QUART
4½ cups milk
1½ cups
steel-cut oats
1½ cups chopped canned yams in syrup, drained, liquid reserved
1½ cups canning liquid from yams
¾ tsp salt
½ cup plus 1 tblsp packed light brown sugar
½ cup plus 1 tblsp chopped pecans
1¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1
Stir the milk, oats, sweet potato bits, syrup from the can, and salt in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the oats are tender.
2
Combine the brown sugar, pecan pieces, and cinnamon in a bowl. Sprinkle on the oatmeal just before serving, either while it’s still in the slow cooker or over individual bowlfuls.
TESTERS’ NOTES
•
This recipe mimics a very sweet Southern coffee cake by using canned yams (or sweet potatoes) and then adding a crunchy topping to the oatmeal the next morning.
•
If the can of sweet potatoes doesn’t have enough liquid to make the full amount needed, make up the difference with equal parts water and maple syrup.