Читать книгу Everyday Slow Cooking - Kim Laidlaw - Страница 8

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Slow cookers are as popular today as when they were first introduced nearly fifty years ago. This hands-off cooking method promises easy preparation and delectable results and has long been the smart—and busy—cook’s choice for transforming tough cuts of meat into tender, flavorful dishes. The slow cooker remains the go-to appliance when it comes to preparing consistently delicious and universally satisfying family meals. It is reponsible for the very best in everyday cooking and adapts particularly well to the modern techniques and dynamic range of fresh, seasonal ingredients favored by a new generation of adventurous home cooks.

The recipes in these pages offer delicious proof of this current evolution of slow cooking. Old-school beef tacos now feature Korean seasonings and spicy slaw, simple spareribs are lacquered with a tamarind glaze, and everyday beef round is slowly braised and then paired with a bright-tasting, colorful salad of arugula and blood oranges. A long-simmered ragù is still a slow-cooker favorite, but nowadays it’s made with succulent pork shoulder instead of beef, and it’s served atop greens rather than pasta. Stews have long been a hallmark of the slow cooker, but many of the ones you’ll find here have a decidedly Asian profile, such as bowls of beef and udon fragrant with ginger, ramen and pork laced with garlic and green onions, spicy pho packed with braised chicken and cilantro, and a bánh mì–inspired blend of lemongrass-infused pork and pickled vegetables. Even desserts—gently spiced fruit butters, creamy cheesecake, silky custards—have a place in the contemporary slow cooker.

What these modern slow-cooker recipes share is a focus on the fresh flavors, ethnic influences, and seasonal ingredients that inspire today’s cooks. That means that while they continue to yield results that are not unlike their fork-tender, easy-to-assemble counterparts of the early 1970s, they also feature an international pantry of seasonings, an enticing array of easy side dishes, and dozens of innovative garnishes. The outcome is a collection of new favorites that are every bit as convenient, economical, and wonderfully tender as those of the past but also reflect the fresh tastes, bright colors, and global flavors of the modern table.

MODERN

SLOW COOKING