Read The Great American Slow Cooker Book Online
Authors: Bruce Weinstein
The Great American Slow Cooker Book (94 page)
1
Smear unsalted butter around the inside of the crock, either by rubbing it around on a paper towel or simply running the unwrapped stick over all the exposed surfaces.
2
Stir the breadcrumbs, eggs, onion, celery, parsley, sour cream, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl, then pour into the slow cooker and spread into a fairly even but not terribly compact layer. Very gently stir in the crab meat so you preserve its lumpiness. Sprinkle with the paprika and pepper.
3
Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, or until hot and set.
TESTERS’ NOTES
•
It’s not exactly a fried crab cake, but this casserole mimics those flavors and textures—and like any good crab cake, has more crab than cake.
•
There’s no call for using jumbo lump crab meat. And although lump crab meat has a slightly less assertive flavor than the more economical backfin, claw, or special crab grades, you can also use those to good success.
•
If your market doesn’t sell fresh breadcrumbs in the bakery section, buy a loaf of Italian bread, cut it into small pieces, and whirl it in a food processor. One slice will yield between ⅓ and ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs. Store any extra in a sealed plastic bag in the freezer for up to 6 months.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
The best crab meat is available in pasteurized cartons or tins in the refrigerator case of the fish section. It is far less fishy than the canned stuff. However, you’ll need to make sure it contains no shell or sharp cartilage. Spread it out on a cutting board and gently run your fingers through it to find any offending bits.
with butter, garlic, and dill
NOT MUCH
•
PREP TIME:
10 MINUTES
•
COOK TIME:
1½ HOURS
•
KEEPS ON WARM:
NO
•
SERVES:
3 TO 9
2- TO 3½-QUART
2 pounds frozen king or snow crab legs, thawed
1 small lemon, cut into ¼-inch-thick wedges
1 tsp minced garlic
2 fresh dill sprigs
4 tblsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
4- TO 5½-QUART
4 pounds frozen king or snow crab legs, thawed
1 medium lemon, cut into ¼-inch-thick wedges
2 tsp minced garlic
4 fresh dill sprigs
8 tblsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
6- TO 8-QUART
6 pounds frozen king or snow crab legs, thawed
1 large lemon, cut into ¼-inch-thick wedges
1 tblsp minced garlic
6 fresh dill sprigs
12 tblsp (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1
Layer the crab legs, lemon wedges, garlic, and dill sprigs in the slow cooker, making as compact a set of layers as you can, snapping the legs to make them fit, but also taking advantage of the slow cooker’s curving sides to accommodate shorter pieces of the legs. Drizzle the whole kit and caboodle with melted butter.
2
Cover and cook on high for 1½ hours, or until the crab legs are hot. Use tongs to transfer the legs to a serving platter. Serve with the decadent, herbaceous butter sauce from the crock.
TESTERS’ NOTES
•
King and snow crab legs make an elegant dinner, especially when piled high on a platter.
•
Snapping the legs into sections can be a bit of a chore. Yes, there’s the natural break at the joints, but these may not come as clean as you imagine. Use a heavy chef’s knife or a sharp cleaver to cut the legs into the requisite pieces for your cooker.
Serve It Up!
Although the butter sauce seems a natural, how about some
Spicy Cocktail Sauce
, too? Stir 1 cup ketchup, ¼ cup horseradish, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons minced dill fronds, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, and a few dashes of hot pepper sauce in a bowl.
A LOT
•
PREP TIME:
40 MINUTES
•
COOK TIME:
2½ HOURS
•
KEEPS ON WARM:
2 HOURS
•
SERVES:
8 AS AN APPETIZER
INGREDIENTS FOR A 1-QUART, ROUND, HIGH-SIDED BAKING DISH
1 tblsp unsalted butter
2 whole medium scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
1 tsp minced garlic
½ cup heavy cream
One 9-ounce package frozen artichoke heart quarters, thawed
12 ounces regular or low-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup canned chopped mild green chiles
1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated (about ¼ cup)
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp ground black pepper
12 ounces lump crab meat, picked over for shell and cartilage
1 ounce
fontina cheese
, shredded (about ¼ cup)
1
Melt the butter in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add the scallions; cook, stirring often, until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cook for a few seconds, then pour in the cream. Bring to a full simmer and continue boiling, stirring often, until reduced to half its original volume. Remove the skillet from the heat.
2
Squeeze the artichoke hearts by handfuls over the sink to remove most of their moisture. Chop and set aside.
3
Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until soft. Beat in the chopped artichokes, green chiles, Parmigiano-Reggiano, dill, and pepper. Scrape down and remove the beaters.
4
Stir the contents of the skillet into the cream cheese mixture. Stir in the crab. Scrape and spread the mixture into a 1-quart, high-sided baking or soufflé dish. Top with the grated fontina.
5
Set the baking dish in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 2½ hours, or until the fontina has melted and the dip is bubbling.
TESTERS’ NOTES
•
This luscious dip is baked in a baking dish that will fit inside almost all slow cookers except for the very smallest. The humid environment will keep the dip ridiculously moist.
•
If you want some heat in the dip, skip the green chiles and instead add up to ½ teaspoon cayenne with the dill and pepper.
Serve It Up!
Although crackers may seem like the best dip vehicle, try celery spears or even broccoli florets. And there’s no question that this dip isn’t rich enough to make dinner for 4. Just have a vinegary slaw on the side—or make dessert from sliced strawberries, macerated all afternoon in the fridge with a little sugar, balsamic vinegar, and ground black pepper, then spooned over vanilla ice cream.
A LITTLE
•
PREP TIME:
25 MINUTES
•
COOK TIME:
1 HOUR 45 MINUTES
•
KEEPS ON WARM:
NO
•
SERVES:
3 TO 6
2- TO 3½-QUART
2½ tblsp unsalted butter
1 small yellow onion, chopped
½ cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
2⅔ cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup uncooked white Arborio rice
2 tsp minced fresh tarragon leaves
1 pound lump crab meat, picked over for shell and cartilage
½ ounce (about 2 tblsp) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated
2½ tblsp minced fresh parsley leaves
½ tsp ground black pepper
4- TO 5½-QUART
4 tblsp (½ stick) unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
¾ cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
4 cups (1 quart) low-sodium vegetable broth
1½ cups uncooked white Arborio rice
1 tblsp minced fresh tarragon leaves
1½ pounds lump crab meat, picked over for shell and cartilage
1 ounce (about ¼ cup) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated
¼ cup minced fresh parsley leaves
¾ tsp ground black pepper
6- TO 8-QUART
6 tblsp unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 cup plus 2 tblsp dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
6½ cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2½ cups uncooked white Arborio rice
1½ tblsp minced fresh tarragon leaves
2⅓ pounds lump crab meat, picked over for shell and cartilage
1½ ounces (about 6 tblsp) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated
6 tblsp minced fresh parsley leaves
1 tsp ground black pepper
1
Melt the butter in a large skillet placed over low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until golden and fairly sweet, about 10 minutes.
2
Raise the heat to medium-high and pour in the wine. Stir until it comes to a full simmer, then bubble away until the liquid has reduced to a thick glaze, stirring occasionally, between 3 and 6 minutes. Scrape the contents of the skillet into the slow cooker.
3
Stir in the broth, rice, and tarragon. Cover and cook on high for 45 minutes. Stir well, then cover and continue cooking on high for another 45 minutes, or until almost all the liquid has been absorbed.
4
Very gently stir in the crab, cheese, parsley, and pepper. Cover and continue cooking on high for 15 minutes, or until hot and aromatic. Serve at once.
TESTERS’ NOTES
•
No, you won’t make a perfectly creamy risotto without all that stirring at the stove. But you’ll make a pretty fine imitation, one that can stand up on its own for dinner with a green salad on the side. Our serving sizes indicate main-course servings.
•
Don’t even think about using imitation crab meat: it won’t have enough flavor to enhance the rice. However, stir in an equivalent amount of peeled, deveined, and chopped medium shrimp for a more economical meal.
Vegetables are the slow cooker’s forgotten stepchildren. They get short shrift, partly because many are quick-cookers and are best when they retain a bit of crunch. The slow cooker often deals harshly with the likes of asparagus and sugar snap peas, morphing their prized textures into something too similar to their canned kin.
But such abuse doesn’t rule out the category. From
Mushroom Sloppy Joes
to
Spicy Scalloped Potatoes
, from some pretty fine collard greens to
Chinese-Style Braised Eggplant
, the slow cooker can help prepare a host of vegetable dishes without sacrificing either good taste or crisp freshness. Plus, we can do all that without a chemical tsunami of bottled sauces or canned cream-of-somethings.
Let’s lay down three general rules for our vegetable recipes. First, to play to the machine’s strength, we’ll use plenty of tubers and roots like potatoes and carrots, or long-cookers like artichokes and cabbage, or sturdy pantry staples like rice and lentils. Nothing caramelizes onions quite so well as a slow cooker; delicata squash is perfect in a simple braise at low heat. Even sliced asparagus can be a tasty addition to a pilaf. But the cost of cooking those whole spears in a slow cooker may be too high. Why force them into a place they don’t fit?
Second, we’ll vary our cooking temperatures between high and low—and watch the timings carefully. A chicken stew or beef braise is a forgiving thing—another hour or so is hardly a make-or-break situation. But just a little additional time can render cauliflower florets squishy and broccoli pabulum. Vigilance pays off.
Besides, we figure about two-thirds of these vegetable dishes are things to go alongside a meal off the grill or out of the oven. You’re probably not intending to set up a cooker of
Candied Sweet Potatoes
to make an entire meal of it later on. You’re probably around the kitchen while it’s cooking, preparing the rest of the meal; so you can pay attention to when the veggies are at their best.
Finally, many of these recipes skew as a tad more traditional: Mac and Cheese as a main course, Kale in a Spicy Tomato Sauce for a side. Since you probably already have a repertoire of main-course classics, we felt free to mix it up a bit in other chapters. Vegetarian main courses and side dishes are a little less well known to most of us. Did you realize you can make some pretty fine plain brown rice in a slow cooker? Or make just about the creamiest mashed potatoes you’ve ever had? You will now! You can even poach broccoli rabe in olive oil or braise cauliflower florets in browned butter.
Sure enough, life’s too short for overcooked sugar snap peas. But it’s also exhausting enough to deserve some pretty fine carrots, sweet potatoes, or kale—side dishes for any meal—as well as a host of full-on vegetarian and vegan entrees. So pick a recipe and head to the produce aisle. You’ll be surprised at what you can make.
Both of us are omnivores. We often prove the worth of our bicuspids on pork shoulder roasts and braised birds. Nonetheless, we’re also pretty partial to vegetables.
But our fondness often doesn’t extend to vegetarian fare itself. Back in the day—we’re old enough to be talking about the ’70s—recipes for the patchouli set seemed to wage war against the produce that comprised them. What came to the table was pretty washed out: brown rice, maybe steamed broccoli, tofu slathered in some sticky, too-sweet sauce. You could make a meal of it. But another? And another?
So we set out to remedy that problem, trying to keep vegetarian meals satisfying, varying them across the wide range of flavors—even developing the umami savoriness often associated with meat. Over the years, we’ve learned to craft vegetarian and vegan main courses that rely on the full flavor spectrum. To do that, we need to rely heavily on the spice cabinet, maybe even more than in our meatish entrees. We also need to go with vegetable strengths: bright flavors, pronounced sweet notes, bitter undertones.
We start with Pulled Vegetables, Mac and Cheese, and other favorites, before getting to less well-known dishes like a tagine made with loads of roots as well as a potato dish modeled on the flavors of pizza, sure to please even the most finicky eaters.
Just remember: these dishes are slightly less forgiving than the sturdier braises and stews. You’ll need to keep an eye on the slow cooker. Be patient and exacting and you, too, will create fabulous vegetarian fare. You might even prove the worth of your own bicuspids without a pork roast in sight.