Tag: slow cooker

Slow Cooking

My version of slow cooking isn’t using a slow cooker, it’s not rushing the process. If you’re a fan of cooking shows, or any reality TV, you’ve probably seen many shows that feature challenges that race the clock. The time challenge is a device used to build tension and keep us tuned to a particular program through yet another pharmaceutical ad.

I realized years ago that I found clock racing especially distasteful in cooking shows. It gives the impression that you can’t be a great cook or make delicious food unless you’re also a fast. But that’s simply not true. In fact, you’ll get a lot more out of the sensory experience of cooking when you take your time to savor the tastes and aromas. Presenting food preparation as a constant race feels less than inviting to me.

When we began developing recipes at Cooking2Thrive, we considered inclusion of overall preparation time with each recipe. After comparing the prep time listed on other people’s recipes to the time it took us to prepare them, we recognized how widely this varied depending on the chef. And we found the time listed on most recipes was not a realistic representation of what you can expect in a home kitchen.

Makes you wonder whether the developers believe no one will prepare the recipe if they know how long it really takes or whether they are just retroactively recording how long they thought it took instead of making meticulous notes.

Time can be deceptive. We often have to add a fourth recipe test because the timing turns out to be very different than what we thought it was. And while we don’t list overall prep time on our recipes, we do include some specific cooking times that we want to make sure are as accurate as possible.

I made a salad from someone else’s recipe today that listed the prep time as five minutes. It took me thirty. Am I just slow or was that unrealistic to begin with?

I had to locate the bowls, utensils, measuring devices, and vegetables. I had to pick some herbs. That took 3-4 minutes, and I still needed to clean, peel, chop, and measure six ingredients. Keeping prep time to five minutes would leave me 20 seconds to complete each item. And I’d still have no dressing.

It could be that I’m just a slow cook, but five minutes doesn’t seem realistic to me unless most of the prep has already been done and you begin timing when everything has already been gathered, cleaned, and peeled. Listing prep time that leaves out half the prep isn’t particularly helpful.

I don’t mind being efficient with my efforts, but I’d rather fully enjoy being in the kitchen than rush through the tasks as quickly as possible. I mean, if you don’t take time to lick whipped cream off the beater, you can’t be fully enjoying the process. And if you’re cooking with someone you enjoy, there’s even more reason to linger.

I tasted and adjusted the dressing several times. Fresh lemons, limes, and ginger may taste slightly different on different days even when the measurements are the same. Then I tasted the salad ingredients as a combo bite with the dressing and adjusted again. In between, I got a drink and ate a palette cleanser. Did all of that add time? Of course. But it was pleasant. And it will elevate the flavor of the salad.

I won’t say that savoring time in the kitchen means I jump up and down to get started on each and every meal of each and every day. But it does give me positive motivation to cook fresh food that takes more prep. Whenever I dread getting started on a meal, I come back to all the wonderful sensory memories I’ve made taking my time with slow cooking.

It doesn’t get any better than that!

Happy Belated Birthday, Crock-Pot!

Join me in wishing your crock-pot a happy belated birthday. About a week ago, this slow cooking device turned 50. Well, technically the device itself is a little over 80, but its incarnation with the name crock-pot began in 1971.

I’ll confess that I primarily use my crock-pot for parties. I’ve owned the brand name and something similar that doubled as a griddle. Both work similarly. They cook food at a slow pace.

My first crock pot lived in my college dorm room. We used it to make cheese dip out of cheddar cheese soup and RotelR tomatoes and peppers that we greedily dipped original Doritos into. While the thought of that cheese dip now makes me cringe, I miss the buttery flavor of those original tortilla chips.

Next, came the wedding gift crock pots. I think I received three. One was huge. I still have it. As much as I like one pot meals, you’d think I would have put a lot of miles on these pots through the years. I haven’t, which seems odd since I love one pot meals. I think it’s because I view one pot meals as something quick I can throw together last minute. Crock-pot cooking requires forethought.

Perhaps that’s why many of us opt for the convenience of fast food rather than the convenience of a crock-pot. But there’s no question that crock-pot cooking can be healthy and easily adapted to any dietary restriction.

As a recent convert to braised beef, which I’ve discovered is much like my grandmother’s pressure-cooked beef, I increasingly appreciate slow cooking. It’s great for pulled pork, ham & beans, chili, and vegetable soup. The home economists who developed recipes for the crock-pot swear it’s the best way to bake cheesecake.

It can also be used to bake pineapple upside down cake, chocolate lava cake, banana nut cake, and breakfast foods like cinnamon rolls, French toast casserole, and scrambled or boiled eggs. Clearly, I have not allowed my crock-pot to fulfill its potential.

Like any small electric appliance, part of that is due to access. A crock-pot is the kind of thing that needs a place to live that’s convenient or I forget to use it. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess and mine lives near the back of a shelf in a closet in the dining room.

It seems fitting to attempt a cake in the crock-pot to celebrate its birthday. Although I’d love to test that claim that it makes the best cheesecake. And I used to ask for lemon meringue pie for my birthday, so birthday cake doesn’t have to be birthday cake!

Anyway, I’d like to salute Irving Naxon who patented the Naxon Beanery that became the crock-pot. He created an efficient way to slow-cook food that costs only pennies a day to operate and does not heat up the house. His machine may not have been a commercial success until it was bought by Rival, but without him we might not be able to buy one of the 12 million units that are still sold each year – 50 years later.

So, thank you Irving Naxon and happy belated birthday, crock-pot!