if you haven’t been in a stew over this winter’s weather, maybe you should have been.
A hearty stew is one of the most satisfying comfort foods out there and it is guaranteed to take the chill off the coldest days. With the help of a slow cooker, you don’t have to be home all day to put a steaming bowl of simmered stew on the table for dinner.
as more cooks are discovering, slow cookers make real comfort food possible for families juggling hectic schedules full of work, school and activities.
Slow cookers once were panned for bringing cooking down to the level of ”dump and stir,” said Judith Finlayson, a Toronto-based food writer who has authored six books of slow cooker recipes, including Slow Cooker Comfort Food, released in 2009.
But as recipes have improved, so has the slow cooker’s reputation as a must-have kitchen device. A slow cooker is actually ”a braising tool,” Finlayson said.
The key is to use quality ingredients, instead of packaged high-salt ingredients like condensed soups or dry soup mixes, which for years contributed to the slow cooker’s reputation of producing bad food.
Finlayson said she began cooking with a slow cooker in 2001. ”I got into it like everybody else, because I was trying to manage a busy life,” she said. ”It allowed me to make really delicious food without being tied to the stove all day.”
Plain Township resident Theresa Mullen, who works as the state and local tax leader for the Akron and Canton offices of the accounting firm of Bruner-Cox, can understand busy.
”I do taxes,” she said. as April 15 nears, she spends more time at work and less time preparing meals for her husband and two boys, ages 9 and 7.
Mullen said her slow cooker, which she uses to prepare dinner at least twice a week, means the difference between a home-cooked meal on the table at 6 p.m. or carry-in. She has tried meal preparation stores, but finds that using her slow cooker is much more economical. She shops for deals on meat such as beef roasts, beef stew meat and pork, and fills up her freezer.
Stew, pot roast, pork chops and chili are some of her family favorites.
Because food is slow-cooked at about 200 degrees, Finlayson said even the toughest cuts of meat come out meltingly tender, which is why slow cookers can help cooks maintain a budget.
Less expensive cuts of meat often are tougher because they have more collagen than prime cuts. however, their flavor is often far superior. once slow-cooked for eight hours, the collagen breaks down, leaving rich, flavorful and tender meat behind, she said.
Pork shoulder, lamb or veal shanks or any cut with a large bone will produce successful results in the slow cooker.
Mullen noted that really tender meat is a great way to get young children to eat it.
Stew is one of the best examples of how to transform inexpensive cuts of meat. ”Stews are comforting, delicious, and with a slow cooker, so easy to do,” Finlayson said.
Slow cookers actually produce better stews than stove-top simmering, because foods can dry out with long simmering, something that doesn’t happen in a slow cooker, she noted.
Healthy whole grains and beans also hold up well in a slow cooker and can be part of any meat stew or substitute for meat in a vegetarian dish.
Producing flavorful stews in a slow cooker does require some preparation, Finlayson noted, but most of it chopping vegetables or cutting up meat can be done in advance.
She noted that hearty spices, like those found in her recipe for Moroccan-Spiced Beef Stew, are perfect for a slow cooker recipe because the flavors have time to meld during cooking.
She recommends cooking with whole spices, rather than ground ones, because their flavors will release over the cooking time.
Finlayson said no one should skip the step to brown the meat before placing it in the slow cooker. Browning meat will help to create the foundation flavors for the dish and is worth the extra step and extra pan to wash.
Slow cooker recipes typically take about 30 to 45 minutes to prep, between browning meat and chopping vegetables. But because the work is done so far in advance, it doesn’t seem as time-consuming.
”You forget that you’ve done the work. It’s like somebody else has made dinner for you,” Finlayson said.
when Mullen gets home at 5 p.m., she has an hour to fix dinner and oversee her sons’ homework before her husband gets home and the family sits down to eat at 6 p.m. With a meal in the slow cooker, all Mullen has to do is toss a salad or add a side dish.
Finlayson said using a slow cooker even makes Friday night entertaining possible. In the past she would have friends over on Saturday night and spend all day in the kitchen cooking and preparing. But the slow cooker has transformed the way she entertains.
Now Finlayson has a stew, soup or other dish simmering all day, and simply picks up some bread and wine at the end of the day, making it possible to have friends over at the end of the work week without sacrificing a weekend day in the kitchen.
here are some slow stew recipes, including Finlayson’s beef stew.
MOROCCAN-SPICED BEEF STEW
1 tbsp. cumin seeds
2 lbs. stewing beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 onions, thinly sliced on the vertical
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. minced ginger root (see note)
1 piece cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cracked black peppercorns
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 can diced tomatoes with juice (see note)
1 bag (12-16 oz.) peeled baby carrots (about 3 cups)
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1 tsp. to 1 tbsp. harissa (optional, see note)
In a skillet over medium heat, cook cumin seeds, stirring until fragrant and seeds just begin to brown, about 3 minutes. using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, pound or grind seeds as finely as you can. Set aside.
In the same skillet, heat 1 tbsp. oil over medium-high heat. Add beef in batches, and cook, stirring, until lightly browned on all sides, about 4 minutes per batch. Transfer to a 31/2- to 5-quart slow cooker as completed.
Reduce heat to medium, add remaining tablespoon of oil to pan. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, peppercorns, cloves, and reserved cumin and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juice, stock and carrots. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring and scraping up brown bits from bottom of pan, for 2 minutes.
Transfer slow cooker to stoneware. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours, until beef and carrots are tender. Stir in harissa, if using, 1 teaspoon at a time, tasting after each addition until desired spiciness is achieved. Cover and cook on high for 20 minutes until flavors meld. Serve with couscous or rice and garnish with chopped parsley.
makes 6 to 8 servings.
Note: for a strong tomato base, use Italian San Marzano tomatoes. if using domestic tomatoes, add 1 tbsp. tomato paste after cooking the spices. Harissa is a North African spice paste available at specialty stores. if it is not available, stew can be seasoned with hot pepper sauce at the table.
Editor’s note: when we made this recipe, some testers found the ginger to be too strong. You may want to adjust for personal taste.
Adapted from Slow Cooker Comfort Food, Judith Finlayson.
CLASSIC CHICKEN STEW
1 potato, peeled and diced
2 onions, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves or 3 whole sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
11/2 cups lower-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine or lower-salt chicken broth
Freshly ground black pepper
3 lbs. skinless, bone-in chicken thighs (about 12 thighs)
1 cup green peas, thawed if frozen
Place potato in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes to blanch. Remove from heat. Cover and set aside.
In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add onions, celery, carrots, and cook, stirring until carrots are softened, about 7 minutes. Add thyme, bay leaf and flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add broth and white wine and cook, stirring, until mixture comes to a full boil and thickens, about 4 minutes. Drain reserved potato and add to mixture. Season to taste with pepper.
Arrange chicken over bottom of a 5-quart slow cooker stoneware and cover with vegetable mixture. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a fork. Add peas and stir well. Cover and cook on high for 20 minutes, until peas are tender and mixture is hot and bubbly.
makes 12 servings (1 piece of chicken per serving)
Adapted from The Best Diabetes Slow Cooker Recipes, Judith Finlayson with Barbara Selley
RATATOUILLE BEAN STEW
1 cup dried chickpeas or garbanzo beans, sorted and rinsed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can (14-oz.) chicken broth
1 jar (4.5-oz.) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 large zucchini, sliced
1 medium red or green bell pepper, cut into pieces
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 can (14.5-oz.) diced tomatoes with Italian-style herbs, undrained
Soak chickpeas in enough water to cover for at least 8 hours. Drain and discard water.
In a 31/2- to 41/2-quart slow cooker, mix chickpeas, onion, garlic, broth, mushrooms and salt.
Cover, cook on low heat setting for 10 to 12 hours.
Stir zucchini, bell pepper, Italian seasoning and tomatoes into stew. Increase heat setting to high. Cover; cook 30 to 35 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender.
makes 5 servings.
Adapted from Pillsbury fast Slow Cooker Cookbook.
Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.
GALVESTON its hard to say whether Thursday nights celebrations will be welcoming a new year or just cheering the end of 2009, but either way the occasion should be marked with food and friends.
