The Great American Slow Cooker Book (4 page)

•
If you’re prone to morning grogginess, mix the topping ingredients the night before; cover and set aside at room temperature.

•
Consider adding a little minced peeled fresh ginger—no more than 2 teaspoons for the big batch. Or skip the ginger and try a pinch (or two) of grated nutmeg.

•
For richer fare, stir 1 to 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter into the topping ingredients. Believe it or not, the butter will actually cut the sweetness a bit.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Canned yams in syrup (that is, canned sweet potatoes in a sweetened, thickened liquid) are a Southern tradition, often served at the holidays. They can be hard to track down in some parts of the country, or even at other times of the year, so stock up when you see them.

Stir all the ingredients in a slow cooker until thoroughly mixed. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until the oats and barley are tender and luscious.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
Oats and barley are a great combo: creamy and chewy, smooth and toothsome, all at once in every bite.

•
For more flavor, toast the sliced almonds until golden brown in a nonstick skillet set over medium heat, stirring often, 4 to 5 minutes.

•
Although tart apples are the standard in many recipes with other sweeteners in the mix, we feel this works best with a medium-sweet apple that will break down a bit and become part of the creamy “sauce” around the grains.

Serve It Up!
For an over-the-top treat, warm some heavy or light cream in a small saucepan until bubbles fizz around the pan’s interior. Ladle the warmed cream over the cereal in the bowls.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Pearled barley (sometimes labeled
perlato barley
) is a refined grain. The hull and bran have been scored or even removed so the barley cooks quickly. Do not substitute quick-cooking barley, which is processed like instant oatmeal.

Stir all the ingredients in a slow cooker, then cover and cook on low for 7 hours, or until the rice is tender.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
This sweet, autumnal breakfast porridge is well stocked and very aromatic. It would pair well with a cup of black tea instead of coffee.

•
A white sweet potato would be the best, although a yellow or orange variety will do just as well. Cut the sweet potato into ½-inch cubes.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Short-grain rice is sometimes called “sweet rice” or “sushi rice” in North America. It’s often available in the Asian aisle of larger supermarkets packed by brands such as Kalrose. It’s a sticky rice, short not necessarily in length but “short” of a certain dry starch that keeps long-grain rice fluffier.

1
Combine all the ingredients in a slow cooker, stirring until the brown sugar has dissolved into the mix. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until the pumpkin and rice are tender.

2
Use a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon to mash the vegetable and rice into a creamy, thick, hot cereal.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
Although excellent at breakfast, this porridge can also be served at dinner, particularly as the first course of a more formal dinner party. Or consider it a side dish at a holiday meal—perhaps a little bit of pumpkin sweetness before the turkey at Thanksgiving.

Serve It Up!
For crunch in the bowls, sprinkle plain granola on top.

Stir all the ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours, or until the liquid has been absorbed and the porridge is thick.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
Despite the brown sugar and the pears, it’s amazing how savory bulgur keeps this breakfast cereal from tasting too sweet.

•
Mince the walnut pieces into small bits so there are no chunks in the spoonfuls. Rock a large knife through the walnuts on a cutting board, gathering them together after they spread out and going at it several more times.

•
Although milk adds a lovely sweetness, you can substitute almond milk, prized for its delicate flavor.

•
Soft, mushy pears will dissolve into the porridge and lose much of their oomph. Choose firm but very sweet-smelling pears. That said, the pear’s fragrance is key. Better a sweet-smelling, soft pear than a firm pear with no fragrance whatsoever.

ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
Use a melon baller to core a pear before you peel it. Start at the blossom end—opposite the stem—and slowly turn the melon baller into the pear, scooping out tiny bits at a time, moving slowly up into the fruit, and eventually taking out the seeds and their fibrous membranes inside. Then peel the pear and chop it into ½-inch bits.

Whisk the milk, water, honey, peanut butter, cinnamon, and salt in the slow cooker until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Stir in the bulgur and banana bits. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
We prefer this classic-sandwich-made-into-a-breakfast-cereal with creamy “natural-style” peanut butter, rather than the traditional peanut butter with its added fat and sugar. However, the porridge can be made with either—and is richer with the latter.

•
This cereal will get stiff as it sits; it may also singe at the sides of the cooker. If you sleep late and the cereal keeps warm for 2 hours, thin it out by stirring some milk into it; cover and cook on low for 20 minutes to warm the milk through.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Most often made from durum wheat, bulgur is common in Middle Eastern dishes like tabbouleh, a parsley salad. Although sometimes confused with cracked wheat, bulgur is actually parboiled crushed grains. We prefer the whole-grain variety for its nuttiness. In any case, bulgur is available in four grinds in North America: fine, medium, coarse, and extra-coarse. For the best consistency, use a medium-ground bulgur here, sometimes labeled #2. The recipes in this book will always indicate the grind of the bulgur to be used.

Stir all the ingredients in a slow cooker, then cover and cook on low for 10 hours, or until the rice has partially dissolved into a thin gruel.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
By swamping long-grain white rice with plenty of water and cooking the mixture for a very long time with low heat, you’ll create a rich and starchy, if thin, rice porridge.

•
This cereal is sometimes called “congee,” eaten by Chinese immigrants on their way to work in North America. The recipe replicates a Cantonese version, fashioned here for the slow cooker.

Serve It Up!
Although this rice porridge is a simple thing of beauty, it’s also an excuse for the garnishes. For a traditional Chinese version, offer sliced scallions or chives as well as chopped, salted peanuts to sprinkle on the bowls. Beyond those, you might consider some cooked and chopped shrimp; cooked, skinned, boned, and chopped chicken meat (particularly if you snagged a rotisserie chicken for dinner the night before); or even some finely diced smoked tofu. If you want to spend a little time at the stove, fry slivered garlic in a little peanut oil in a medium skillet until crisp and brown.