The French Slow Cooker

by Michele Scicolone, Alan Richardson (Photographer)

Overview

Plug it in and Cook with French Flair

“I’d bet that if French cooks could get their hands on Michele Scicolone’s French Slow Cooker, which is filled with smart, practical, and convenient recipes, they’d never let it go.” — Dorie Greenspan, author of Around My French Table

With a slow cooker, even novices can turn out dishes that taste as though they came straight out of the kitchen of a French grandmère. Provençal vegetable soup. Red-wine braised beef with mushrooms. Chicken with forty cloves of garlic. Even bouillabaisse. With The French Slow Cooker, all of these are as simple as setting the timer and walking away. Michele Scicolone goes far beyond the usual slow-cooker standbys of soups and stews, with Slow-Cooked Salmon with Lemon and Green Olives, Crispy Duck Confit, and Spinach Soufflé. And for dessert, how about Ginger Crème Brûlée? With The French Slow Cooker, the results are always magnifique.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547607955
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/16/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	243
Sales rank:	339,708
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Michele Scicolone is the author of The Italian Slow Cooker, Entertaining with the Sopranos, The Sopranos Family Cookbook, a New York Times bestseller, and Bistro Laurent Tourondel. Her 1000 Italian Recipes and A Fresh Taste of Italy were nominated for James Beard and International Association of Culinary Professionals Awards. 

Read an Excerpt

Butternut Bisque

The sunny color and mild, sweet flavor of this soup make it very appealing. Serve it as a first course before a roast chicken, or pour it into mugs to enjoy with a ham sandwich.

SERVES 6 TO 8
1 large butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large sweet apple, such as Fuji or Golden Delicious, peeled, cored, and chopped
6 cups Chicken Broth (page 40), store-bought chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water
Salt
½ cup heavy cream, plus more for garnish
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, plus more for garnish
Sliced apples, for garnish

In a large slow cooker, combine the squash, onion, apple, and broth. Add 1 tea¬spoon salt.
  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the vegetables are very soft. Let cool slightly. Transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Add the cream and nutmeg and blend again. Reheat if necessary. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if needed.
  Spoon the soup into serving bowls, drizzle each serving with a teaspoon of heavy cream, garnish with the nutmeg and apple slices, and serve hot.

Chicken with Escargot Butter

In my opinion, the best thing about the French classic Escargots Bourguignons is not the snails but, rather, the mouthwatering parsley and garlic butter that covers them. It’s too good to be relegated to the occasional escargot. I like to slather the butter under the skin of a chicken before “roasting” it in the slow cooker.

SERVES 4
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons minced shallot or onion
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 chicken (about 4 pounds)

In a small bowl, mash the butter with the parsley, shallot, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
  Remove the neck and giblets from the chicken cavity and reserve them for another use. Trim away any excess fat.
  Sprinkle the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper to taste. Carefully lift the skin covering the legs and breasts. With your fingers, spread the garlic butter on the meat, beneath the skin. Place a little of the mixture inside the chicken. Place the chicken in a large slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the chicken is tender and the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh measures 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.
  Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and cut it into serving pieces. Skim the fat from the pan juices. Drizzle the pan juices over the chicken and serve hot.


Calamari Niçoise with Black Olives

Calamari turn tender and sweet after long, slow cooking. Serve over pasta, hot rice, or couscous.

SERVES 6
¼ cup olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups chopped peeled (see page 18) and seeded fresh tomatoes, or one 28-ounce can tomatoes, drained and chopped
Salt
3 pounds calamari, cleaned and cut into 1-inch rings
½ cup chopped imported pitted black olives
Pinch of piment d’Espelette (see page 18) or crushed red pepper
Chopped fresh basil

In a large heavy saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a simmer. Add the tomatoes and salt to taste. Bring to a simmer.
  Pour the sauce into a large slow cooker. Stir in the calamari. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours, or until the calamari are tender.
  Stir in the olives and piment d’Espelette. Cover and cook for 15 minutes more. Sprinkle with basil and serve hot.

 

 

Table of Contents

Introduction  1
Why a Slow Cooker?  3
Choosing a Slow Cooker   5
Tips and Techniques   7
Slow Cooker Safety  11
The French Pantry   13
SOUPS  20
CHICKEN, TURKEY, AND DUCK   42
MEATS   76
SEAFOOD  118
SOUFFLÉS, QUICHES, AND OTHER EGG DISHES  132
VEGETABLES  150
LEGUMES AND GRAINS  170
DESSERTS   188
BASICS   215
Index   225

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Here’s what I know about savvy French home cooks: They love great tasting food. And if making that great tasting food is practical and convenient, they love it even more. I’d bet that if French cooks could get their hands on Michele Scicolone’s French Slow Cooker, which is filled with smart, practical, and convenient recipes, they’d never let it go."
— Dorie Greenspan, Around My French Table

Editorial Reviews

In the introduction, Scicolone (The Italian Slow Cooker; The Sopranos Family Cookbook) describes the enormous effort—and number of dishes—involved in making traditional cassoulet. She compares that to the ease of preparing the same dish in a slow cooker, the aroma of which made her feel as if she had “arrived at the farmhouse kitchen of the French grand-mère I never had.” She explains that “with the help of a slow cooker, it’s easy to make homey and inexpensive French food in any kitchen.” Of course there’s a recipe for a cassoulet with pork, lamb, and beans; there are also such classic dishes as herbed roast chicken with garlic and shallots; bouillabaisse; Provençal beef stew with black olives; and bacon and gruyère pain perdu (and a few “out of the pot” essentials, like a lentil salad with bacon. There are desserts, too: lemon pots de crème and a crème caramel. It’s comfort food, to be sure, but the French accent elevates the level of sophistication well above that of typical slow cooker fare. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Here’s what I know about savvy French home cooks: They love great tasting food. And if making that great tasting food is practical and convenient, they love it even more. I’d bet that if French cooks could get their hands on Michele Scicolone’s French Slow Cooker, which is filled with smart, practical, and convenient recipes, they’d never let it go."
— Dorie Greenspan, Around My French Table —

From the Publisher

If you think cheese soufflé and pâté can't be made in a slow cooker, think again! With this classic appliance, best-selling cookbook author Scicolone (The Sopranos Family Cookbook) creates such sophisticated French dishes as Bouillabaisse, Duck Confit, Veal Blanquette, Spinach Soufflé, and Ginger Crème Brûlée. Fans of Scicolone's popular The Italian Slow Cooker won't be surprised that many of these recipes begin on the stove or in the oven before moving to the Crock-Pot. While these steps may hassle the busiest home cooks, Scicolone assures readers that the extra effort will yield superior results.

Library Journal