Top 5 reasons to love a slow cooker

Good Woman's Chicken Pot Roast from "Ready and Waiting" by Rick Rodgers

I’m a late-in-life convert to slow cookers. I was given one as a bridal shower present decades ago, but was too snobbish to consider using it for anything other than mulled cider at Christmas time. I associated it with the types of casseroles that showed up at community events, glued together by cream of mushroom soup and topped with the world’s greasiest potato chips.

Then I stumbled across Lora Brody’s "Slow Cooker Cooking," and was intrigued enough to give some of the recipes a whirl. Beef bourguignon and cassoulet in a crockpot sounded almost too good to be true, but worth a try. Definitely worth a try, and worth repeating, and buying that all-important larger second crockpot with the countdown timer.

Here are my top reasons I now love my slow cooker:

1. Homemade broth with less fuss. I’ve blogged about this one before, so I’ll send you to that post here for the full recipe, but suffice to say, mastering this has been transformative.

2. Cooked beans so easy and so tasty that make you wonder why on earth you buy the canned versions. I got the recipe from Kitchn.com here. In my experience, the beans are done much earlier than this recipe would indicate; I would check them after four hours, especially if you want to use the beans in a salad.

3. Caramelized onions. This ridiculously simple and tasty version comes from Lora Brody’s book. Slice up as many onions as your slow cooker will hold. Cut up a stick of butter in to chunks. Cook on low for at least 12 hours. Unbelievably, they turn a caramel brown, and taste like heaven on pasta, pizza, burgers or sandwiches.

 I use a mix of whatever color onions I have on hand.

After 12 hours, the onions have cooked down and browned.

4. Make ahead and hold mashed potatoes. Cooking, ricing and larding your potatoes up with dairy goodness in advance makes any holiday event so much less hassle. Just make sure to get your potatoes a little on the runnier side than you would ordinarily serve them so when they dry up a bit in the slow cooker, they’ll wind up the right consistency.

5. Good woman's chicken pot roast from “Ready and Waiting” by Rick Rodgers will definitely make you feel like a good woman when you leave this meal waiting. One browned cut-up chicken placed over top a bed of potatoes and browned carrots and onions, flavored with French herbs and topped with a cup or so of good chicken broth, and cooked for 5 to 6 hours on low and you’re almost there. Put the chicken and veggies on a platter and reduce the sauce on the stove top and you’ve got weekend-style comfort food on a weeknight.

Honorable mention: Beef bourguignon from Lora Brody’s “Slow Cooker Cooking.” Not quite as good as my favorite version from Saveur November 1998, but definitely less trouble and still tasty.

Guilty pleasure: Sausages and kraut slathered in honey mustard and cooked in beer. Judge if you must.

Favorite slow cooker cookbooks:

1. “Ready and Waiting” by Rick Rodgers. I thank former co-worker Jarrett for clueing me in to this gem. Good enough to convert the creamed canned soup crowd.

2. “The French Slow Cooker” by Michele Scicolone. French-style slow-cooked dishes translate perfectly to the slow cooker treatment. She’s also written an Italian version I’m considering.

3. “Slow CookerCooking” by Lora Brody. Not every recipe in here is a winner, but the caramelized onions alone are worth it.

Favorite accessories:

Slow cooker liners: Especially for those old-school models that don’t have a removable crock, these greatly speed cleanup. Plus, I can just lift out the leftovers in the bag and transfer them to a container to store.

A crockpot carrier: For those of us who find ourselves having to frequently transport these for family meals, this is a big winner. It certainly beats having to listen to the lid rattle in the back of the Outback for four and a half hours.