Weekend Cooking...The Passing of a Crock-Pot Queen

Her name may not have been well known, but Mable Hoffman, who died Feb. 9 at 88, was author of "Crockery Cookery", a cookbook that was integral in the popularity of the oh-so-convenient kitchen appliance, the Crock-Pot.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal recently, about her death,

"Crock-Pots debuted in 1971 and sold in the millions, spurred in part by the increase in working women who wanted to present a fresh-cooked meal when they came home in the evening. But conventional stew recipes turned to mush or solidified because meats and vegetables acted differently when cooked for long periods at low temperatures. "The cookbooks that came with the Crock-Pots did not work," says Howard Fisher, an editor at HP Books who hired Ms. Hoffman to provide answers...

"Crockery Cookery" presented more than 250 recipes for
solid middle-American fare, such as pot roast and "squash medley," but also more exotic fare including baked beans cassoulet and fresh pears in wine."

Well, I have never made fresh pears in wine in my crock pot..in fact, I am particularly unadventurous in my use of this appliance. Pot roasts, chicken stew, maybe an attempt at some pulled pork.

Now, I did recently make up a little concoction that I thought turned out rather well and will share. Sam's Club had whole pork loins at a silly low price, so I bought one and cut it up into several roasts. For this I use about a 3-4 lb. roast.
I browned it in a little oil and when it was well browned on all sides removed it and cooked a couple of teaspoons of curry powder and about 1/2 teaspoon cumin and 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander in the same pan. In the bottom of the crock pot I put 3 cut up carrots, one large cut up onion, a couple of cup up potatoes and about 4 cloves of crushed garlic. Added the roast, topped with the spices, and added 1 10oz. can Ro-Tel Tomatoes with chili peppers, one 15 oz. can diced tomatoes and 1/2 cup red wine. After a few hours I added a 16 oz. can of chickpeas.
Cooked on low on about 6-8 hours in total, until it reached an acceptable internal temperature.

Served over couscous or noodles.

Anyone out there have a wonderful crock pot recipe they would love to share?

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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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