The Great American Slow Cooker Book (95 page)

1
Stir the cabbage, potatoes, carrots, ketchup, vinegar, tomato paste, brown sugar, paprika, mustard, celery seeds, and pepper into the slow cooker, until the vegetables are evenly coated in the sauce and spices.

2
Cover and cook on high for 3 hours. Uncover and continue cooking on high for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are quite tender and heavily sauced.

TESTERS’ NOTES

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Here’s the best way to get the great “pulled” barbecue taste without any meat in the mix.

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Cut the savoy cabbage head in half, remove the root stem at the base, and slice it crosswise into thin threads, well smaller than ¼ inch for each cut. Separate those threads from one another before you add them to the slow cooker.

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Grate the potatoes and carrots through the large holes of a box grater or with the grating blade in a food processor.

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If you want a smoky taste, substitute smoked paprika for the mild paprika.

Serve It Up!
You’ll need lots of toasted buns but little else in terms of condiments. However, there will be some liquid remaining in the cooker when the vegetables are ready. For less sloppy sandwiches, use tongs to lift the pulled vegetables from the crock.

1
Smear a bit of unsalted butter around the inside of the slow cooker.

2
Mix the cheese, pasta, and flour in a bowl until the cheese and pasta are well coated in flour. Pour into the slow cooker.

3
Whisk the milk, mustard, thyme, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder in that same bowl until the mustard has dissolved into the milk. Pour over the macaroni mixture.

4
Cover and cook on high for 45 minutes, stir well, and continue cooking on high for an additional 45 minutes, or until the cheese has fully melted and the top has firmed up. Scoop it out by the spoonful.

TESTERS’ NOTES

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Mac and cheese from a slow cooker is so easy: the gentle heat allows you to make the classic casserole without having to first stir a milk-and-flour sauce over the heat.

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Substitute shredded Swiss cheese, a firm mozzarella, or Monterey Jack for the Cheddar—or use a combo of cheeses, such as half Cheddar and half Swiss.

•
We prefer the slightly firmer texture of whole wheat pasta; the standard stuff gets too gummy.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Dry mustard, sometimes called powdered mustard, is made from finely ground mustard seeds—usually the spicy yellow seeds, although brown seeds may be in the mix. Some recipes claim you can substitute jarred (or prepared) mustard for dry—but not here or in any recipe that includes a healthy dose of dairy without some precooking. Jarred mustard often has vinegar or lemon juice in the mix and will curdle the milk, especially over the long duration in a slow cooker.

Serve It Up!
With this comfort-food classic, try this
Zesty Fruit-Stocked Salad
: Mix halved seedless red grapes, drained canned mandarin orange sections, and some walnuts with a bag of salad greens, then dress it with an orange vinaigrette made from three parts orange juice, two parts olive oil, one part white wine vinegar, and one part honey. Season with salt just before serving.

1
Generously grease the inside of the slow cooker crock with unsalted butter.

2
Whisk the brie, pasta, apples, peas, and flour in a large bowl until the ingredients are
evenly coated in flour. Dump and scrape all this into the slow cooker, spreading it out into a fairly even layer.

3
Whisk the milk, evaporated milk, thyme, paprika, salt, and pepper in the same bowl; pour over the pasta mixture.

4
Cover and cook on high for 45 minutes, stir well, and continue cooking on high for 45 more minutes, or until the cheese has melted, the pasta is tender, and the sauce is creamy.

TESTERS’ NOTES

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Why stand on tradition when you can pair brie with apples and turn it into an elegant casserole even the kids might like?

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Check the brie at the supermarket before you buy it. You don’t want a very ripe piece—one that’s running out from the rind. There should definitely be no ammonia smell (a sign the cheese is beyond its prime). Look for a firm, coherent slice in the cheese case.

•
We skipped the whole wheat pasta here because we wanted a cleaner set of flavors to let the brie and apples shine through—taste over texture, in other words. But if you want to use whole wheat pasta, by all means do so.

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It’s imperative that you stir the casserole halfway through its cooking. Doing so will reincorporate the milk with the cheese for a better texture and appearance in the final dish.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Brie is a soft, somewhat runny cow’s milk cheese with a thick white rind. Although made in wheels, it is often sold in slices. That said, a wheel may be the freshest choice—and you can freeze the remainder for another use for up to 3 months.

1
Use a little unsalted butter on a paper towel to grease the inside of the slow cooker. Gently mix the broccoli and fontina right in the crock to keep as much of the butter on the sides and bottom as possible.

2
Whisk the broth, milk, flour, mustard, and pepper in a bowl until the flour and mustard have dissolved. Pour over the broccoli and cheese. Top with an even layer of the Parmigiano-Reggiano.

3
Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 4 hours, or until the broccoli is tender and even beginning to brown, and the cheese sauce is bubbling a bit. Serve by big spoonfuls.

TESTERS’ NOTES

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You can even use the tougher, thicker broccoli stems for this casserole, provided you cut them into small bits, no more than ¼-inch-thick rings or ½-inch cubes.

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Add up to 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 2 teaspoons minced chives, or 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes for various sorts of kick with the broccoli and fontina.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Fontina (
fon-TEE-nah
) is an Italian cow’s milk cheese prized for its moderately strong flavor. It can range from a somewhat pungent, sour, creamy semi-soft (or young) fontina (the best for melting and the choice here) to a firm, aged, musky, grating cheese. All that said, Danish fontina is the most common form found in the United States; it has a red wax coating and is milder than Italian fontina, so it might be a better choice if there will be kids at the table who might turn up their noses at the stinkier stuff.

ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
Fontina can be gooey even to shred. For the easiest way to work with it, freeze it for up to 24 hours, then grate through the large holes of a box grater.