Every slow cooker cookbook I owned had variations on the same recipe, but no new ideas. I was getting tired of making the same old crock pot variations on chili and roasts. Then I came across Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann.
First, I was sold on it because it has a venison recipe. (Big Bad Dad hunts, and we have a freezer full of Wisconsin whitetail.) Now most of the time I treat venison like very lean beef and haven't had problems with a gamy taste. Well, most of the time, anyway. Even so, a slow cooker venison recipe was rare.
Then my curiosity was piqued when I saw "Beef in Guinness" and "Japanese Curry Rice." I thought, How unique. How different. How not-another-boring-recipe-for-chili."
The first recipe I made was for "Sloppy Joes," a slow cooker classic but much more sophisticated take on it. The results were terrific. I liked the recipe because it was full of veggies, like diced red pepper and celery. It also gave the option of adding more vinegar or sugar depending on your personal tastes. Amazingly, my kids LOVED this. Boo Girl liked hers with spaghetti squash. And Monkey Boy liked his on the traditional hamburger bun.
The second dish I tried was the "Braised Beef in Espresso." Yes, a roast done with coffee. Don't worry, it really doesn't taste like a tall latte. Instead, the coffee super-tenderizes the meat and gives it a bit of a smokey flavor. Unfortunately, the dish was rather bland 1) because the turnips, carrots and potatoes didn't add much flavor and 2) since the cookbook recommends seasoning with salt and pepper after cooking. It needed a healthy dose of garlic salt to make it just right.
The next dish I made was the "Honey and Apple Bread Pudding with Golden Raisins." I was intrigued since it was a bread pudding without eggs. (Always an issue since Boo Girl is allergic to eggs.) This one wasn't so successful with my family, however. They thought it was weird. I liked it even though it tasted and looked like turkey stuffing. I think it was the lemon juice and zest. There was too much of it and it clashed with the raisin, cinnamon and nutmeg flavors. Orange juice and zest would have worked better.
Right now I have the "Beef in Guinness" prepared and waiting to be made on Sunday night. I made it with Murphy's Irish Stout and not Guinness however, not that it should matter. (The Murphy's was on $2 cheaper than the Guinness, and the liquor store was donating $1 of the sale towards cancer research.) Since there are more vegetables in this than in the "Braised Beef in Espresso" I have a feeling it will be a tastier dish. Can't wait.
The only drawback on the beef recipes is that you must braise or brown the meat and saute the vegetables before cooking it in the crock pot. Many cooks feel browning meat "locks in" the taste. They're probably right, but it does add an extra step and another dish to wash.
However, you could get a West Bend 84716 Versatility 6-Quart Oval Slo-Cooker which you can use both on the stove top and as a slow cooker. There are a couple of others for sale at Amazon.com, like the Rival SC7500 5-Quart Round VersaWare CrockPot Slow Cooker, Brushed Stainless Steel and the Rival SC7600 6-Quart Oval VersaWare CrockPot Slow Cooker, Brushed Stainless Steel. However, the West Bend had the best reviews. The lids of the Rivals supposedly are awkward and easily break. Also, you can't use cook on the stove top at high heat with their crocks.
However, next time I break my crock pot (which happens every several years when I drop it on the floor with a cooked roast inside, shattering the crock and sending the food over the entire kitchen floor) I will look into one of these dual purpose slow cookers.
Even so, I look forward to making more dishes from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook soon.
I recently attended a meal making cooking class with a group of friends. Basically, it was a Once a Month-Freezer Cooking session combined with a Prepare Your Own Meals store. Our hostess (this was in a private home with a very large kitchen) shopped for the food, chopped the veggies, browned the ground meat, and prepared the prep stations. 
My book club is reading 
by E.M. Forster. I'm hosting the next meeting, so I offered to make a curry. But I'm pretty wimpy and don't like super spicy stuff. And I'm on Weight Watchers, so what's a good hostess to do?
Sweet and Sour Slow Cooker Chicken Curry 
Slow Cooked Stuffed Cabbage
Continuing our Super Bowl party coverage...let's discuss New England clam chowder. It's yummy, creamy and really not that hard to make especially if you use canned clams.
