The Great American Slow Cooker Book (101 page)

1
Fill the slow cooker’s canister halfway with water. Cover and cook on high for 1½ hours in a small slow cooker, 2 hours in a medium cooker, or 2½ hours in a large cooker. The water should be steaming hot when you lift the lid.

2
Slip the eggs into the water. Cover and continue cooking on high for 18 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the eggs from the water; drop them in a bowl of cold tap water. Cool until easily handled, then peel.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
Slow cookers make perfectly set hard-cooked eggs without chalkiness or that green-gunk ring.

•
The eggs should be cold from the fridge, not at room temperature, so they slowly come up to the right temperature as they cook.

•
Lower the eggs into the water with a slotted spoon. Don’t drop them in or they might crack!

Serve It Up!
Sure, you can salt and pepper them for a meal on the go. But you can also turn them into deviled eggs of all sorts. Slice the shelled eggs in half lengthwise, then scoop the yolks into a bowl and mash with the ingredients here for one of these five fillings, each enough to fill 12 hard-cooked egg halves. (You’ll need to modify amounts if you have more or less than we suggest.)

Classic Deviled Eggs =
6 hard-cooked egg yolks, 2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar, ¼ teaspoon dry mustard, ¼ teaspoon salt, and a few dashes of hot pepper sauce

Gingered Eggs =
6 hard-cooked egg yolks, 1 minced small shallot, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon
Asian red chile paste
, and ¼ teaspoon salt

Curried Eggs =
6 hard-cooked egg yolks, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons dry mustard, 2 teaspoons curry powder, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon salt

French Onion-Dip Eggs =
6 hard-cooked egg yolks, 1½ tablespoons sour cream, 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon minced chives, ½ teaspoon onion powder, and ½ teaspoon salt

Cocktail Sauce Eggs =
6 hard-cooked egg yolks, 2 tablespoons ketchup, 1 to 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon salt, and a few dashes of hot pepper sauce

1
Stir the potatoes, broth, salt, and pepper in the slow cooker.

2
Cover and cook on low for 5 hours, or until the potato pieces are quite tender.

3
Warm the half-and-half in a small saucepan over very low heat.

4
Use a potato masher to begin to mash the potatoes with the mustard, then add the warmed half-and-half in small increments, mashing all the while, until you reach your desired consistency, thicker or creamier.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
You’ll need an old-fashioned potato masher to make great mashed potatoes in the slow cooker. Look for the tool in almost all housewares stores or online shops. If your slow cooker has a nonstick finish, use a tool designed for that coating; you can then work right in the canister without having to dirty another bowl. If you don’t have this workaday tool in your arsenal, you’ll need to scrape the contents of the cooker into a large bowl and mash the potatoes with an electric mixer at medium-low speed until you reach your preferred consistency.

•
For more heft to the potatoes, substitute chicken broth for the vegetable broth.

•
For garlicky mashed potatoes, add the following with the salt and pepper: ½ teaspoon minced garlic for a small slow cooker, 1 teaspoon minced garlic for a medium cooker, and ½ tablespoon minced garlic for a large one.

•
Yep, you may warm a little more half-and-half than you need, but then you’ll then have extra to drizzle over sliced strawberries for dessert.

1
Stir the potatoes, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper in the slow cooker until the potatoes are greased and coated in the seasonings. Make as even a layer of the potatoes as you can.

2
Lay paper towels over the top of the cooker, hanging down over the outside in long strips. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours, or until the potatoes are tender and the garlic has softened.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
Search in the bin for the smallest potatoes you can find—or the thinnest fingerlings.

•
The cooker should not be full. Rather, almost all the potatoes should touch the bottom or sides of the cooker so they get a roasted flavor from direct contact with the heat.

•
The paper towels keep moisture from dripping down onto the potatoes, and so allows them to have more roasted texture, not nearly as soggy.

•
Don’t peel or cut the potatoes. Cooking them with their skins on preserves moisture inside, rather than letting it leach out to braise the spuds.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Fingerling potatoes are thin, long potatoes, mostly heirloom varieties.

1
Combine the evaporated milk, cashews, garlic, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne in a large blender. Cover and blend until a smooth puree, stopping the machine occasionally to scrape down the inside of the container.

2
Smear a small bit of this puree over the bottom of the slow cooker. Layer the potatoes and sauce in the cooker, working to create even, slightly overlapping layers and topping each one with ¼ to ½ cup of the sauce. Make sure you end with sauce on top, not exposed potatoes. Jiggle the cooker a bit to make sure the sauce gets down into the nooks and crannies.

3
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until the casserole is somewhat set and the potatoes are tender. Let stand for 10 minutes before scooping out with a big spoon.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
This rich, decadent side dish is best with roast beef or a grilled pork loin.

•
Only yellow potatoes will work here; baking potatoes are too starchy and red-skinned potatoes, too dry.

•
Raw cashews simply don’t have enough flavor to offer the sauce anything but the ooze of their fat. roasted cashews add flavor and heft.

•
There’s no real way to know how many layers you’ll make in your cooker, so you’ll need to eyeball it as you build them up. Just remember to save some sauce to cover the top of the casserole. And no matter how much sauce you have left over after building up the layers, pour it all evenly over the top.

1
Stir the squash, sweet potatoes, and cider in the slow cooker.

2
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the vegetables are quite tender, enough to be mashed with the back of a flatware spoon.

3
Add the butter, maple syrup, cream, and salt. Use a potato masher to mash the ingredients into a smooth puree right in the cooker.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
This creamy, wintery side dish would be perfect at the Thanksgiving table—or anytime you’ve got a bird, a hunk of pork, or a slab of beef in the oven.

•
Although butternut squash is the most common type of winter squash in our supermarkets—and usually already cut into chunks somewhere in the produce section—you can substitute cubed acorn squash or just about any other winter squash, even pumpkin.

•
If you want to forgo some of the richnes here, substitute half-and-half or whole milk for the cream—or even use low-fat milk.