2024 the best slow cooker beef stew review

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(as of Dec 06, 2024 20:33:07 UTC - Details)

The award-winning, bestselling author of The Sopranos Family Cookbook “presents unintimidating recipes that serve up hearty dishes with a minimum of fuss” (Publishers Weekly).

Finally a book that combines the fresh, exuberant flavors of great Italian food with the ease and comfort of a slow cooker. Michele Scicolone, a bestselling author and an authority on Italian cooking, shows how good ingredients and simple techniques can lift the usual “crockpot” fare into the dimension of fine food.

Pasta with Meat and Mushroom Ragu, Osso Buco with Red Wine, Chicken with Peppers and Mushrooms: These are dishes that even the most discriminating cook can proudly serve to company, yet all are so carefree that anyone with just five or ten minutes of prep time can make them on a weekday and return to perfection.

Simmered in the slow cooker, soups, stews, beans, grains, pasta sauces, and fish are as healthy as they are delicious. Polenta and risotto, “stir-crazy” dishes that ordinarily need careful timing, are effortless. Meat loaves come out perfectly moist, tough cuts of meat turn succulent, and cheesecakes emerge flawless.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004GTLVLS
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvest; Illustrated edition (January 7, 2010)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 7, 2010
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 11680 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 242 pages
Reviewer: Estelle C.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Cookbook for Busy People
Review: Magnificent book for delicious Italian meals that can be prepared in advance and require little or no attention. This book is well writtenn with easy to follow instructions. A must have for busy people who like Italian cuisine.

Reviewer: Christopher Alexander
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great recipes, but use common sense
Review: In contrast to many Italian cookbooks, this one contains a wide assortment of menu items, from soups, to sauces, to risottos, to meats, to desserts. The majority of these recipes will work well in a slow cooker, but use some common sense before embarking on each of them.In my experience, slow cooked meats always taste/cook better if you braise them first. Fortunately, some of the newer slow cookers have inserts which can be used on the stove as well. This is especially important with chicken, beef, and pork. The meat is tender and doesn't have the pliability or sponge-texture of many slow-cooked meats.I guess I'm a purist, but I would never make risotto or a cake in a slow cooker. Because of this, I can't fault the author for including these recipes, but use your own judgment. As laborious as it is, nothing compares to risotto that you make, standing at the stove and stirring for 25 minutes. If you or your guests don't care about this, I guess slow-cooked is the way to go, but I would never do it. Same with cakes.As I read through and tried many of the recipes, I found that several were more conducive to cooking on the stove, rather than in a slow cooker. Otherwise, the bean and lentil soups become too soggy, and the vegetables, well, they lose their texture and crunch. The same is true with some of the fish dishes; while sturdy fish such as salmon holds up well in a slow cooker, lighter (white) fish crumbles or get mushy.This book is probably best for making sauces. Because of this, I wish more options were included. Pasta sauces do well in a slow cooker, but less than 15 are included here.I guess the take-away message is to ask yourself the question, "If given the choice, would my Italian grandmother (even if you don't have one) make this in the slow cooker or do it the old fashioned way?"All that aside, my top recommendation for an Italian cookbook is and has always been THE ITALIAN COUNTRY TABLE (Lynne R Kasper).

Reviewer: Slade
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Cookbook
Review: I am new to cooking with only a year experience. I have been cooking with this cookbook for about three months and have made about twenty recipes out of it. I am cooking with an oval Frigidaire 7 qt crockpot.It takes me about an hour to prep a meal and "walk away" from the crockpot, and most recipes require some sauce reduction at the end, about another ten minutes or less of cook time.My family and myself have very much enjoyed every recipe I have have made so far. Only one recipe "failed" and that was the tomato sauce recipe. Perhaps I am spoiled by my wifes recipe, from her mother and so on, but the slow cooker tomato sauce can't compare with with my wife's. And I must point out that none of the frittatas set in the time indicated, they took about 2.5 hrs instead of the 75 minutes indicated in the recipe. My 4 yr old asks me to make the orange chicken weekly and my mother in law said some of the kindest things she has ever said about me after I made the balsalmic glazed short ribs which were a weekly item for about six weeks in my house, now its about every other week.I think many of the recipes are healthy, many chicken and turkey recipes, little use of butter, I think every recipe uses olive oil, many have cheese added at the end, you can omit/cheese to taste if you are trying to reduce cheese intake.In addition to my citicism of the frittata cook times I will also indicate that the desserts seem best suited to a 5 qt round slow cooker and not an 7 qt oval cooker. But that is a bit of an assumption on my part, that they would turn out better in the 5 qt round since I haven't tried it.I am pleased with this cookbook and I would recommend it.

Reviewer: Rachael A. Warrington
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Just want I wanted......
Review: I bought this book in hopes it would have real recipes with out using canned soup or the dump method of slow cooker cooking. I don't mind a bit of up front work if the dish comes out tasting like I had spent all day on it. This book fills the bill. Great pictures, which I love, great recipes with easy to follow instructions for those first time cooks. I also love any details about a recipe, where it came from, what to serve it with, and such. I have made the Italin Peppery Stew with tons of black pepper and served it over the Italian White Beans and both recipe were wonderful. My family loved how the stew was different and the beans were an unexpected surprise. We loved them. I would place this recipe right up there with Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon which I have made twice now.People who want to make a recipe and not spend time creating it will always dislike recipes that have details. But the details are the "devel in the details" if you will. Browning the meat before you place it in the crock pot makes a huge flavor and texture difference in the end product. I want my dinner to have depth of flavor and character.I encourage you to take the time and recreate these recipes and make your family a wonderful sit down meal they will not forget.

Reviewer: Emanuela
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Buon libro con tante ricette da seguire o dalle quali prendere spunto. Il metro di misura non è quello che usiamo noi in Italia, ma basta fare una piccola ricerca e si trova tutto.

Reviewer: TaliskerCats
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I bought this book because I had used it extensively in an ebook version and decided it was worth adding the hardcopy to my cookbook collection. I also have 2 of her other books for slow cookers for the same reason. Recipes turn out well.

Reviewer: AS
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Ein wirklich sehr schönes Kochbuch mit Rezepten für den Slow Cooker. Mittlerweile habe ich einige der Rezepte ausprobiert, über Fleisch bis Fisch, Suppen und sogar schon einen Kuchen (den Schokoladenkuchen) habe ich nach diesen Rezepten gebacken. Die Rezepte sind super lecker (!), leicht nachzukochen, vielseitig. Das Buch ist schön gegliedert (Suppen, Saucen, Fleisch, Fisch, Nachtisch usw.) so dass man nie lange suchen muss. Man muss zwar der englischen Sprache mächtig sein, was allerdings bei den meisten Kochbüchern für den Slow Cooker der Fall ist, da diese hier in Deutschland ja noch nicht so verbreitet sind. Fazit: Daumen hoch!

Reviewer: Connie Solberg
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I continue to explore this book and be impressed about the full flavor and complexity of the final results. From the sauces and stews, to the desserts (understated, as Italian desserts tend to be) I have had some of the best meals in years from my crock pot following these recipes. What was lacking in the older crock pot books is the fact that browning and wine and subtle other small touches that make all the difference are emphasized here. Do the simple steps in the beginning, turn it on, and let it go. The meal several hours later will be great. I think the best thing is that all you have to do after dinner is the dishes...that is, if you have washed the browning pan right after you have started the crock pot. Maybe some pasta needs cooking, but that's about it. Wonderful. My son in California downloaded this to an iBook, and loves his crock pot....passing a good thing on to the next generation!!

Reviewer: joseph azzopardi
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: a bit late but got here at last thank you