Slow-cooked, with a difference

The Healthy Slow Cooker

By Judith Finlayson

Slow-Cooked Comfort

By Lydie Marshall

Morrow Cookbooks / 2005 / $26.95

This is a book of 120 recipes for dishes that are braised, roasted and simmered on the stove or in a traditional oven rather than in a slow cooker. As a result, a bit more attention and time from the chef is needed to make the recipes succeed.

Here the emphasis is on Continental cuisine, especially French. You'll find French ravioli, oxtail stew, braised brisket and squab en cotte. If your supermarket doesn't carry squab, goose fat, pheasant or some of the other more exotic ingredients, you may be out of luck with this book. But a recipe for picadillo made with ground beef turned out to be an easy and comforting dish on a cold winter day.

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