Slow Cooked: 200 exciting, new recipes for your slow cooker Kindle Edition

I probably own about ten slow cooker recipe books (I am something of a cook book collector) and they are all variations on a theme really. Lots of hearty stews and curries alongside some steamed puddings and braised red cabbage recipes. Nothing wrong with any of that but all offering much the same thing.I bought this book on the strength of the reviews. I had never heard of the author (I don't tend to read blogs) and wasn't really expecting too much. When the book arrived and I started to flick through it I will confess to a little initial disappointment. Apart from a few photographs at the front of the book there are no other photographs to accompany the recipes. As a general rule I tend to like lots of photos as they often make me want to cook a recipe that I might not otherwise bother with. Having now had the chance to read it from cover to cover I can say how pleased I am with it. The author has a lovely writing style and the recipes are really simple (very little, if any, pre-browning and onion frying before adding to the slow cooker) and they are just a little bit different. Who knew that you could cook macaroni cheese and omlette Arnold Bennett in a slow cooker. And jacket potatoes that really do come our crispy on the outside and soft in th middle! There are plenty of recipes for soups, curries and stews too but even these are a little more interesting - stifado, Dr Pepper pork, confit duck, chicken liver pate, Kashmiri style leg of lamb and so on.So, in summary, of my ten plus slow cooker books, this one is definitely my favourite.UPDATE DECEMBER 2015:- Ive been dipping into this book throughout the year (along with other slow cooker books) and it is still my favourite despite the absence of photographs. The one recipe that has proved most useful is for caramelised onions. It doesn't sound exciting I'll admit but it is so useful. Every now and then I make a big batch, cook them in the slow cooker and then freeze them in little 100g portions. They are so handy to add to other recipes (slow cooker recipes or others) such as soups, curries, stews, bolognaise, they make a lovely onion sauce with the addition of a generous slug of double cream and so on.UPDATE APRIL 2017:- My 18 year old son has just announced that he is a vegan. As a family of meat eaters this has come as a bit of a shock and, as the main cook I the family, has forced me to frantically look online and through my cookery books for inspiration. I don't want to be cooking two meals every night but the rest of us still want to eat meat. That got me thinking that the slow cooker might be very useful as one meal could be prepared in the morning quickly leaving me free to cook the 'family' meal in the evening. I re-visited this wonderful book and realised that it is packed with both vegetarian and vegan recipes and I hadn't even noticed them before! There is a whole chapter on pulses and grains, one on vegetables, another on soup and also curry. Not every recipe in these chapters are vegetarian/vegan but there are a lot and certainly more than any other slow cooker book I own. Throughout the book the author makes reference to frugal eating and tight budgets so it shouldn't come as a surprise to find that many of the recipes are pulse/grain/veg packed. If you are a carnivore please don't let that put you off though - I have been using this book for three years and I hadn't even noticed! But if you are vegan/vegetarian it might be worth a look.

Just what I was looking for. A collection of slow cooker recipes that aren't like everything else available in books and on the internet. I have made several of the recipes in the book and have not been disappointed. I did find out rather quickly that my slow cooker must run hotter than Miss South's - The recipes take less time in my cooker, even on low. This may also have to do with the fact that mine has a larger volume than hers as well. Just food for thought for those who might complain that her recipes haven't turned out well in their own slow cookers.So far I have tried her Whole Spiced Cauliflower; Roast chicken; Chicken stock; Chicken gravy; Mushroom Stroganoff; Baked Potatoes; Porridge; and Meat Ragu/Bolognese. After I made some allowances for my hot-running cooker, I have found the results to be fabulous. Naturally, I have also made some ingredient adjustments to fit my own tastes, but I have largely stuck to her instructions. I will be tying more of the recipes very soon and expect the same good results.This book is definitely worth buying if you want something to hand that is a bit different than the rest. She includes a few traditional recipes too - so not everything in the book is strictly for the adventurous. The book encourages readers to use their slow cookers for dishes that one wouldn't necessarily think of as slow cooker cuisine, thus expanding the usefulness of the cooker so it earns its space as a workhorse in the kitchen, rather than just taking up space in the kitchen cupboard.My largest criticism of the book is the typeset that was chosen - especially that of the index. It is microscopic and quite a challenge for imperfect eyes to read! One star deducted for that, I'm afraid. Unlike others, I wasn't that disappointed with the photos. There are 32 photos at the beginning of the book. Enough for me but other readers will have their own opinions.

I have far too many recipe books, many of which get thumbed through, a few recipes get flagged, and even fewer ever end up getting made (which probably says more about me than it does about the books themselves). This one is a game changer. Pressure cooking has had a makeover in recent years but slow cooking has lagged behind. This fills a gap in the market, as most slow cooker books (even many the ones written today) tend to be dated no-frills 1970s American housewife style paperbacks printed on cheap paper ,with no narrative at all on the recipes or their origins. For followers of the author's excellent blog, the book does not disappoint and is not simply a repetition of the blog in print format. For those unfamiliar with the author, most recipes have their roots in the UK and Ireland, but many also draw on the culinary heritage of London's immigrant population, adapted for the slow cooker. There is something for everyone. As well as covering slow cooker classics, it includes other dishes you might not think of cooking in a slow cooker. The recipes are a nice mix of traditional and creative. The writing is simple and unpretentious and the recipes easy to follow. There are no fancy studio photos, it is not a coffee table book, but the production quality (design, paper and binding) is good nonetheless. I like it so much I have now bought a copy for my mother.(By no means a failing of the book, but a good portion (although by no means all) the recipes are meat and fish based. I only tend to cook and eat meat and fish on special occasions, and my sister is a vegetarian. I bought her a slow cooker for Christmas but could not find a suitable recipe book to give her with it that would not have been 50% wasted. If the author were to bring out a vegetarian version with vegan options as a companion book as her next project, that would be even more wonderful.)