The French Slow Cooker

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 grandm¨re. Proven§al 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 Souffl©. And for dessert, how about Ginger Cr¨me Br»l©e? With The French Slow Cooker, the results are always magnifique. 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-m¨re 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; Proven§al beef stew with black olives; and bacon and gruy¨re pain perdu (and a few "out of the pot" essentials, like a lentil salad with bacon. There are desserts, too: lemon pots de cr¨me and a cr¨me 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 souffl© and p¢t© 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 Souffl©, and Ginger Cr¨me Br»l©e. 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