You want a quick summary? This truly is a book to consider buying. It has the very strong potential to upgrade you culinary life. If you are foodie, or if you just eat food, this one will interest you.
Kim Laidlaw is an author with deep roots in the kitchen. I’m not sure if she ever leaves the kitchen, for she has had three cookbooks published in the past 18 months. This is one of them and I’m already in search of my slow cooker. It is in the basement but it’s coming back upstairs. And it will stay up here, too.
This book has 125 recipes and I just flagged 40 of them to try. Am I obsessive? Excessive? No. I’ve had lunch. I’m not hungry, but the recipes sound wonderful and the many photos by Eva Kolenko make this a most attractive book.
Using a slow cooker is something most of us do not do. Oh, we buy them. But then they end up in the basement or garage. We don’t get a good education in how to use that slow cooker to fashion exceptional meals. That is just what Kim does in this book. Success is not the one step process we imaging: dump stuff in the cooker, turn the heat on, return in 6 hours.
No, Kim explains that productive use of the slow cooker requires up to six steps. Not lengthy ones, but steps that when followed let you create seriously fabulous dishes. Her six-step program is this:
- Prep: the things to do before the heat goes on, from simple salt and pepper to deeper seasoning or marinating; often these acts can be done the night before, giving you a head start and giving the dish much more complicated flavor
- Build Flavor: to achieve an extra layer of flavor, you can brown protein; sometimes this is optional in Kim’s recipe and sometimes it is essential
- Quick Cook: after prep work, there might be a short period of on the stovetop cooking to kick-start the process and ensure proper mixing
- Slow Cook: yes, finally, everything is in the pot and is cooking away while you are mowing the lawn or attending that soccer match
- Assemble: some recipes do need one or two last-minute tasks, like defatting and then simmering the braising liquid to create a reduced sauce
- Serving: presentation is important; after all, this dish has cooked for hours so some chopped herbs or a squeeze of lemon juice can add a burst of last-minute freshness.
In each of the recipes Quick Slow Cooking, the instructions are divided up into these steps. Some recipes need all six, some are done in fewer. But with this explanation now you know what you are doing and why it will contribute to the final enjoyment of your dish.
Here are the book’s chapters with some representative recipes:
- Beef and Lamb
Chili-Rubbed Brisket Tacos
Shredded Beef Ragu with Egg Noodles
Beef Goulash with Bacon and Potatoes
Lamb Shanks with Olives and Herb
- Pork
Carnitas
Pork Chops Smothered with Savory Onion Sauce
Barbecue-Style Baby Back Ribs
Honey Ginger Pork with Braised Kale
- Chicken
Easy Chicken Mole
Chicken Tikka Masala
Balsamic Chicken and Shallots
Red Curry Chicken and Eggplant
- Seafood
Smoky Fish Chowder with Potatoes and Corn
Braised Salmon with Tamari, Lemon, and Ginger
Sri Lankan Fish Stew
Clay Pot Fish
- Legumes and Grains
Curried Red Lentil and Vegetable Dal
Cuban Black Beans and Ham
Asparagus, Leek and Lemon Risotto
Cranberry Bean and Farro Soup
- Vegetables
Slow-Cooker Ratatouille
Cauliflower Cheddar Ale Soup
Eggplant Stew with Chickpeas and Raisins
Spiced Acord Squash with Garlic-Mint-Yogurt Sauce
There are recipes here from around the world, encouraging you to sample new flavor concepts. The recipes here will empty out your spice rack, for it’s common to have a dozen ingredients in these flavor-charged ideas.
Very importantly, Kim presents recipes that let you emulate other cooking experiences using your slow cooker. For instance, Suzen and I don’t happen to have a tandoori oven. But there is a Chicken Tikka Masala here that looks very authentic in the photo. And, for days when it is too cold or wet to use your grill, there is a Barbecue-Style Baby Back Ribs that looks positively sticky.
Besides protein, there are vegetarian dishes here and soups. This post ends with a picture of the Slow‑Cooker Ratatouille that looks so beautiful you want to stick a fork into the page. Instead of such desperate action, all you have to do is get a copy of Quick Slow Cooking and dust off that slow cooker. Kim’s six-step program is intelligently conceived, carefully articulated, and designed for your success.
In the coming few weeks, I’ll be posting some recipes from Quick Slow Cooking. But you should not go slow. Take a quick look at Quick Slow Cooking and you may be moving very fast in your kitchen.
