Notes about Recipes in this book

• Asian beef noodle soup

  • slackerf00die on April 02, 2014

    I like this a lot. The sesame oil lends a nice flavor. But if you have leftovers know that the ramen noodles will be squishy. It's packaged ramen so that's probably no surprise.

• Creamy potato, cheddar, and ale soup

  • eselque on March 02, 2014

    Next time I'll use sharper cheddar. Was considerably improved by a little Worcestershire sauce.

• Southern black-eyed pea soup

  • Aggie92 on November 22, 2014

    Solid 4 star recipe and easy to throw together. First off, there is no need to precook the onions & garlic. They turned to mush and completely disappeared in the broth. The directions for cooking the collard greens and kielbasa should be reversed. No Southern home cook simmers collard greens for only 30 minutes. And kielbasa completely looses it's flavor if left in the slow cooker for hours and hours. The Cajun seasoning was undetectable, 1 tsp is not enough. Skip it and add 1/4 - 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper for a little spice. The wild rice, while contributing to the earthiness of the dish was nice, I think it could be safely omitted. It is an awfully expensive product and doesn't shine in the soup. I did love that the black-eyed peas were put in dry with no presoaking or precooking. So convenient. Stirred a couple tablespoons of cider vinegar into the finished soup to give it that delicious pot liquor flavor. Served with corn muffins and vinegar pepper sauce.

• Pork vindaloo

  • sarahawker on February 02, 2015

    Very "tomato-y" this was much better the 2nd day. Very mild.

  • Delys77 on April 06, 2016

    I used a heritage pork roast and the sauce was just lovely with a rich tomato gravy with slight spicing. I don't think the spicing was bad since the pork was quite flavourful, but I do think that to call it vindaloo we would need to up the spice, heat, and acidity. I would definitely repeat.

• Italian pork and white bean stew

  • Delys77 on April 24, 2016

    I didn't think that the tapioca thickened this enough so I had to add a touch of cornstarch which doesn't usually work very well in a slow cooker. We found the a bit light on flavour. I ended up going with twice as much rosemary and pesto. On the whole not bad but not a repeat for us.

• Beef and three-bean chili

  • Delys77 on April 06, 2016

    Consistancy was quite good, nice and thick, which can be a bit of challenge with slow cooker chilli given the lack of reduction. That said I found this far too one note. It wasn't bad, just not very complex. I would add spice, chipotle, maybe some veggies like corn at the end. Just something to pump it up. The technique of blooming the spices and microwaving the beef to avoid graininess did work very well.

• Easy cherry-sage glazed chicken

  • Christine on March 18, 2016

    This sauce is so good! It does need to be made right before serving, but it comes together quickly. I use Polaner brand for the cherry preserves because it is fruit-sweetened and I think it works really well without making the sauce excessively sweet. The method for cooking the chicken yields flavorful, tender results -- I've used whole chicken breasts and smaller pieces, both with excellent results.

• Easy apricot-ginger glazed chicken

  • sarahawker on November 05, 2014

    This was quick and easy, I added a pinch of dried onion and red pepper flakes to the broth when braising the chicken, though I strained that when adding to the sauce. Entire family said to make again!

• Chicken adobo

  • sarahawker on February 02, 2015

    The family really liked this super simple recipe --made with pantry staples. The vinegar shines through so if that's not your thing this won't be either.

• Chicken mole

  • sarahawker on February 02, 2015

    Easy - makes a LOT! A dark rich sauce that was better 2nd day. The kids did NOT like this one, it's got a deep flavor they did not enjoy. Adults did very much.

• Easy barbecued spareribs

  • katenolan on November 03, 2014

    WHAT I LOVED: Ribs! In a slow-cooker! WHAT I CHANGED: Couldn't find St. Louis style ribs at my store, so I used standard spare-ribs and trimmed them down. WHAT I'LL DO NEXT TIME: First, I'll search harder for St. Louis Style ribs. Second, maybe dry-rub or marinate the ribs overnight before putting into the slow-cooker. The seasoning didn't penetrate very far into the meat to provide that overall "flavor" you expect from ribs.

• Hoisin-glazed pork tenderloin

  • Christine on June 18, 2015

    Used a single 24 oz. pork tenderloin and substituted 1 tsp ground ginger for fresh. Took about an hour and a half to cook and fit in my 3.5-quart slow cooker without a problem. The sauce is really flavorful and simple to mix together right before serving. Another easy and delicious recipe from this book.

• Street fair sausages with peppers and onions

  • Christine on August 19, 2015

    This is my new favorite way to make sausage and peppers! The vegetables are so delicious when cooked with the sausage (and garlic.) I omitted the tomato paste, but otherwise made as directed. Great with green peppers and sweet Italian sausages from our local farmers' market. The sausage obviously did not brown, but the dish is so flavorful that we didn't even care.

• Cuban-style pork roast with mojo sauce

  • yadajm on May 15, 2015

    The leftovers make great sandwiches.

• Classic corned beef and cabbage dinner

  • sarahawker on February 02, 2015

    Super easy, very good. Make this again, it's a simple classic corned beef.

• Whole "roast" spice-rubbed chicken

  • Christine on May 14, 2016

    This was a very simple way to make roast chicken. In a slow cooker, obviously there was no crispy skin, but the meat was nice and moist. I imagine this method could be used for other spice combinations as well.

• Turkey breast with cranberry and pear sauce

  • Christine on June 18, 2015

    Used my 6-quart slow cooker and a 4 1/2 pound split turkey breast just barely fit in it. Substituted 1 tsp ground ginger and 1 can of halved pears for the fresh ingredients called for, and halved the amount of sugar. When finishing the sauce, I strained the fruit out before mashing, adding just a few spoons of the liquid. Very tasty and after serving 4 people, we had quite a bit of leftovers. Would be a nice, easy dish to make for Thanksgiving for a small group. Especially using canned pears, there was practically no prep work -- all ingredients were simply combined in the slow cooker and the sauce was very quick to finish up right before serving.

• Shredded pork ragu

  • sarahawker on March 15, 2015

    Super simple, I added a couple of crumbled Italian sausages in place of some meat. Did not have the tomato paste and it was wonderful anyway. Very easy, and my husband said it was as close as a slow cooker could get to his grandma's Sunday Gravy.

• Farmhouse chicken casserole

  • katenolan on November 03, 2014

    WHAT I LOVED: Super simple, easy "comfort food" meal. This is like a chicken pot pie bubbling away in your slow-cooker. Also, the garlic & herb Boursin takes care of most of the seasoning, so it's good for those days you want to dump and run. WHAT I CHANGED: I added two carrots (diced) and two ribs celery (diced) to get some of the classic Mirepoix flavor. WHAT I'LL DO NEXT TIME: First, if It's going to sit longer than the recommended 4-5 hour cooking time, I doubt you need to pre-cook the vegetables. After four hours on low and another two on warm, they were very soft. Second, I'd cut the chicken thighs crosswise before shredding to eliminate some of the longer chicken strands that are tough to eat. Third, I'd make sure I had the extra chicken stock on hand at the end to loosen it (& leftovers) up a bit. I missed that note and tossed my (expiring) stock once I turned the slow-cooker on. Lastly, save some croutons for topping once you've served for crunch.

• Indian-style vegetable curry with tofu

  • Delys77 on March 14, 2016

    I tried this sweet potato as we are going low carb and it didn't work very well. The sweet potato disintegrated. Flavour wise it was pretty good, but not great.

• Stuffed bell peppers with spicy corn and black beans

  • Delys77 on April 06, 2016

    These were quite good, but I did top with a touch of mozzarella and broiled at the end. I also added a bit more salsa and some parmesan to up the flavour a bit. On the whole pretty good and a nice vegetarian main. I could be spiced up a bit further, I would consider repeating but also pumping up the flavours with more spices (oregano etc...) and maybe some chipotle salsa.

• Fudgy brownie wedges

  • vikingcook on March 12, 2016

    Chocoholic's delight!

• Carrot cake

  • zorra on March 19, 2014

    Tried this just for the novelty of it. Surprisingly good. Lighter than typical carrot cakes, moist, easy (although slower than oven-baked versions, of course) & small--which was part of the attraction. Online here: http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/recipes/slow-cooker-carrot-cake/

• Applesauce spice cake

  • vikingcook on March 12, 2016

    Nice dessert with whippwd cream. Turned out perfectly.