The Great American Slow Cooker Book

The Great American Slow Cooker Book by Bruce Weinstein Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: The Great American Slow Cooker Book by Bruce Weinstein Read Free Book Online
Authors: Bruce Weinstein
light brown sugar
    ½ tsp salt
    Combine all the ingredients in a slow cooker, stirring until the polenta is thoroughly moistened. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, until the polenta is thick and creamy.
    TESTERS’ NOTES
    • Breakfast polentas have a delicate creamy texture, less hearty than the more familiar side dish.
    • Although this is a sweet dish, you can add an elegant touch by stirring in 1 to 2 teaspoons stemmed fresh thyme leaves before cooking.
polenta with smoked ham and dried cherries
    EFFORT: NOT MUCH • PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES • COOK TIME: 7 TO 8 HOURS • KEEPS ON WARM: 2 HOURS • SERVES: 4 TO 8
    2- TO 3½-QUART
    4 cups water
    ½ pound smoked ham, chopped
    1 cup polenta
    ½ cup chopped dried cherries, minced
    ¼ cup thinly sliced scallions (white and pale green parts only)
    1½ tsp fresh thyme leaves, stripped from stems
    ½ tsp ground black pepper
    ¾ cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
    4- TO 5½-QUART
    6 cups water
    ¾ pound smoked ham, chopped
    1½ cups polenta
    ¾ cup chopped dried cherries, minced
    6 tblsp thinly sliced scallions (white and pale green parts only)
    2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, stripped from stems
    ¾ tsp ground black pepper
    1 cup plus 2 tblsp grated Monterey Jack cheese
    6- TO 8-QUART
    8 cups water
    1 pound smoked ham, chopped
    2 cups polenta
    1 cup chopped dried cherries, minced
    ½ cup thinly sliced scallions (white and pale green parts only)
    1 tblsp fresh thyme leaves, stripped from stems
    1 tsp ground black pepper
    1½ cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
    1 Mix the water, ham, polenta, cherries, scallions, thyme, and pepper in the slow cooker until the polenta is moistened. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours in a small cooker, 7½ hours in a medium cooker, or 8 hours in a large cooker, until the liquid has been absorbed and the cereal is almost velvety.
    2 Stir in the cheese just before serving.
    TESTERS’ NOTES
    • Chop the ham, cherries, and scallions so they are all about the same size; that way, they’ll “balance” each other in every spoonful. Yes, you should further cut up the chopped dried cherries; otherwise, they end up as bloated bombs of searingly hot juice.
    • Because there’s so much sodium in the ham and cheese, we’ve not included any additional salt in this recipe.
    • For more zip in your cheese topping, use pepper jack or even jalapeño jack.
    INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED Although so-called instant polenta is a boon for quick cooks, it doesn’t work too well in the slow cooker: the texture is compromised after long cooking. For this dish and all others that use polenta, search out the standard Italian variety, a slightly coarser grind of cornmeal that normally requires hours of stirring over a hot stove. Don’t substitute regular cornmeal. Or look for whole-grain polenta from online suppliers like Anson Mills. Slightly coarser grinds of whole-grain polenta, often labeled “corn polenta or grits,” work best.
pancakes, breakfast puddings, and coffee cakes
    Now we come to the decadent breakfasts—most of them sweet, all of them potential family favorites, and every one a great use of the slow cooker. Yes, you can even “bake” in a slow cooker, although as you can tell from the quotes around the word, there are some caveats.
    For one thing, nothing will brown. In baking, browning occurs because of (1) the caramelization of sugars; and (2) the breakdown of proteins found naturally in milk, butter, and even some flours. Both effects require dehydration, and the slow cooker is famous for keeping every drop of moisture under the lid; so you’ll have to make some adjustments to keep up the browning, as we’ll discuss. You just have to face facts and work around them—you know, as you do in the rest of life.
    Although the lack of evaporation can be a problem, it can also be a bonus. Coffee cakes and breakfast puddings come out incredibly moist. Yes, we also need to balance the flavors carefully; subtle tastes get lost over a long cooking time. But once these

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