Weekend Cooking..A Review of "Slow Cooker Revolution" [16]

Slow Cooker Revolution by The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Boston Common Press, ISBN 978-1933615691
February 15, 2011, 336 pages

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Yes, I am a fan of America's Test Kitchen. I love their TV show on PBS, I love their magazine, Cook's Illustrated, and I love their cookbooks. And there is none I love more that their new one, one that takes on the slow cooker. If you are a fan of the slow cooker...or someone who has one gathering dust on a pantry shelf...this is a book you will like. For fans, it will add a wide variety of well tested recipes to the favorites you are already making. For those of you that are not using your slow cooker at much as you might like, for any number of reasons, this book will answer all the questions that may be holding you back.

In that very particular, rather geeky way that I love, ATK starts at the beginning with how to buy a slow cooker and the keys that will make your recipes a success. Then it is into the 200 recipes, broken down into categories- Soups, Stews, Braises, Chilies, Barbecue, Pasta Sauces, Meatballs and Meatloaves, Enchiladas and Tacos, Casseroles (Mac and Cheese, using uncooked pasta), On the Side, Eggs and Brunch,  Desserts (Nutella Bread Pudding..oh, be still my heart) and ends with Basics, which covers things like jam, applesauce, gravy and four different broths. There is quite a range of recipes here, and since the vast majority use fresh ingredients, some prep is needed in many. But there is also a number marked "Easy Prep" that are, well, easy prep.


This is a very attractive book, every each recipe on a full page, many with a full page, full color photograph opposite. I tell you, if you look at the photos in this book, there is no way you will not want it.
But this is ATK, so you know they are going to throw in a lot of practical, useful information as well. A nice full page article of how to use the microwave to help out that slow cooker,  others like "All About Herbs" and "Pasta 101" are a couple of other examples. Many pages, in addition to the recipe, will have one of ATK's "Smart Shopping Tips",  like the best brand of canned beans, jarred tomato sauce or coconut milk, and "Quick Prep Tips", showing the best way to cut stew meat, prepare your hearty greens or use lemon grass. And many recipes will have a nice little On The Side box on the page, giving a quick, easy recipe for something that would go perfect with the slow cooker dish, like Easy Mashed Potatoes, Caesar Salad or Cheese Toasties. Golly, they sounds so good....

And I love that ever recipe starts with a paragraph explaining "Why This Recipe Works", where they show what they learned in testing. Why use high or low heat in this recipe, why add this or that ingredient, and techniques to use that will really make the dish turn out it's best.


I have a long way to go with my slow cooker. Soup, especially a great sound onion soup with a surprise ingredient, may be my next attempt. Then something I would never think of, like the delicious cooking Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna (they use a foil collar and foil sling for easy removal of their lasagnas, like the sausage one on the cover). Or how about Coconut Rice Pudding? Did I mention the Nutella Bread Pudding, which a reviewer on Amazon said was excellent?

But I am a bit of a coward...and I love pork...so the first recipe I tried was yummy sounding, more classic, braised Pork Loin with Cranberries and Orange.
If my SIL posts a comment, this can be her's for Sunday dinner!

 Pork Loin with Cranberries and Orange

• 1 (4 1/2 to 5- pound) boneless pork loin, trimmed and tied at 1 inch intervals 
• Salt and pepper
• 1 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 1 (14-ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 (3-inch-long) strips orange zest, trimmed of white pith
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Dry pork with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in 12- inch skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Brown pork well on all sides, 7-10 minutes.
2. Stir cranberry sauce, cranberries, orange juice, orange zest, and cinnamon into slow cooker. Nestle browned pork into slow cooker. Cover and cook until pork in tender and registers 140 to 145 degrees on instant read thermometer, about 4 hours on low.
3. Transfer pork to cutting board, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Let braising liquid settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using large spoon. Discard orange zest. Transfer braising liquid to saucepan and simmer until reduced to 2 cups, about 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Remove twine from pork, slice into 1/2-inch-thick slices, and arrange on serving platter. Spoon 1 cup sauce over meat and serve with remaining sauce.

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This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

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