Location: Home » Wine Glasses » Cooking, Food & Wine: General » The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World

The Oenophile Network Blog & Forum Links

Wine Blog
Wine Forum

The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World

enlarge

Author: Lynn Alley
Brand: Ten Speed Press
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$18.95~~
Buy New: $10.95
You Save: $8.00 (42%)

New (37) Used (17) from $7.55

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

47 reviews
Sales Rank: 7092

Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 184
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 8.2 x 0.4

MPN: GSLO
ISBN: 1580084893
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.821
EAN: 9781580084895
ASIN: 1580084893

Publication Date: September 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Contains a remainder mark. Expedited shipping is not available for this item. Items are mailed via USPS media mail within 2 business days and should arrive 4-14 business days later.

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 47

« PREV

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

... 10 NEXT »

I Recommend this book January 3, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I used the Beef Burgundy recipe for a recent dinner party where everyone had to bring a dish from around the world. It was a simple recipe but tasted far from simple. I got many praises on my dish.

I can't wait to try some more recipes.

3 out of 5 stars

Not enough every day meals January 1, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

The recipes while being very creative are not always that practical for family meals. We use the slow cooker together with normal stove top cooking so the extra steps are not an issue for us but there were very few meals in the book that we found that appertizing!

5 out of 5 stars

Delicious... December 18, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This cookbook is exactly what I was looking for. There are no recipes with canned soup and everything I've tried has turned out fantastic. Most of the recipes require about 15-20 minutes of prep time for sauteeing, etc., but it is well worth it. Highly recommended if you like gourmet food and have a bit of time to prep.

5 out of 5 stars

Truly sophisticated slow cooker meals. October 21, 2007
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

I've been using our slow cooker for a number of different dishes, using Lynn Alley's, The Gourmet Slow Cooker. She is very good at capturing the essence of a dish from another country. The following recipe is a good example -- we had dal several times in India, and making changes in the lentil color or the seasonings captures much of our Indian experience. I've modified Alley's recipe several times, always with good results.

Her suggestion for stock is excellent -- it makes a pure stock with rich chicken flavor that can be used with a wide variety of different dishes calling for a different flavor profile.

It's a book that works very well if you have the time for the initial prep, and are willing to wait for a half hour in some case after you get home, to add some of the more sensitive ingredients and cook a bit longer. And some of the recipes can be modified to reduce your time commitment even further -- Alley is very good at suggesting how to do so.

One important point, and one that Cook's Illustrated made in the October 2007 issue -- getting a slow cooker that turns itself down to a "Keep Warm" setting is really very important. My present cooker turns itself off when the time set expires. That isn't very safe if I'll be home two or four hours later.

We're donating our cooker to the Tricky Tray for a local animal shelter, and upgrading to a cooker with that feature. We use it enough with the help of this cook book that the investment is well worth while.

Alley's Dal and Chicken Stock recipes:

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups red or yellow lentils
1 TBS unsalted butter or vegetable oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
3 to 4 cloves, minced
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated or minces
4 cups water or chicken stock [see her slow cooker recipe -- a very good technique]

Cilantro-Yogurt Cream

1 cup plain yogurt
1 TBS chopped cilantro plus more for garnish
2 serrano chiles, seeded and minced, for garnish

1. Rinse and sort the lentils thoroughly; place in slow cooker.
2. Saute the onion in the butter until browned, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Add garlic and ginger and stir for one to two minutes without browning the garlic.
4. Transfer to slow cooker and add stock or water.
5. Cover and cook on low for three to eight hours. After three to four hours, the lentils will have some shape; after eight they will be soup like.

Cilantro cream is prepared by combining the yogurt and cilantro in a bowl and mixing well.

Ladle the lentils into bowls and garnish with cliantro and chiles. Spoon a dollop on the lentils and serve at once.

Cook's notes:

1. If you like the smoother version, use less stock or water; very little liquid is lost in a slow cooker.

Pure chicken stock

This is pure chicken stock with no vegetables or herbs, which works very well in many slow cooker meals where you want to season to the particular dish. This stock adds a rich chicken flavor. Allen "prefer[s] to use necks, backs, giblets and other unwanted chicken parts in plastic bags in the freezer until I have enough to make up a batch of stock." [I buy chicken parts from a butcher who makes up packages of chicken stock stock.]

2 1/2 chicken parts
8 cups water

Combine chicken parts and water and cook on low for 8 hours until all the meat falls off the bone. Strain the stock and refrigerate overnight, skim off the congealed fat. Use immediately, or store in fridge for three days, or freeze for up to three months.

5 out of 5 stars

Italian Pot Roast worth the price of the book October 19, 2007
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

The recipe titled "Italian Pot Roast" is featured on the front cover. It is worth the price of the book. The seasoning struck me as a bit unusual for beef but I followed through as directed and got great results. Please note I used boneless chuck and my own polenta recipe flavored with paremsan and rosemary. The result was excellent, slightly unusual and very, very tasty. I would serve this to guests. The presentation is very appetizing and looks near professional. I tried the Beef Biryani and found it to be tasty but not something that I would serve to guests, it was fairly simple, home comfort food, good but nothing to write home about.

The recipes do require some advance prep time and I found that the Italian Pot Roast was done in three hours. So unless you have a timer that can turn off your slow cooker after three hours, you can't just make it and leave for work.

I gave the book five stars because if I can find one truly delicious recipe that stands up under testing and is suitable for guests, I consider the purchase of the book justified. Just try the Italian Pot Roast it will be a keeper in your collection.

Powered by Associate-O-Matic

Customer Service

Contact Customer Service
Ordering
Tracking Your Package
Shipping Information
Domestic Shipping Rates
International Shipping Rates
Returns
Gifts & Gift Certificates
Privacy & Security

Subcategories

•	Mass Market
•	Trade

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is an Amazon storefront - the products referenced on this site are manufactured and sold by parties other than the Oenophile Network. The Oenophile Network makes no representations regarding either the products or any information vendors offer about their products. Any questions, complaints, or claims regarding the products must be directed to the appropriate manufacturer or vendor, or to Amazon.com.