Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

We think of slow cookers as labor saving devices, and they are. However this book focuses on utlilizing the slow cooker as another tool in the kitchen, one that, by its design, results in tender cooked meats. This is not a book for those who want to be able to throw stuff into the cooker and come back 8 hours later. There is a lot of prep work, and, the three recipes I have prepared so far, require sautee skills, blender skills, roaster skills. Excellent, flavorful end results though. I have tried chicken and dumplings, tamale pie, and pork stew with tomatillos. The winner is the pork stew. Honestly I have never tried a recipe that required 3 lbs of tomatillos. But it worked. Also I haven't ever used my broiler before to roast chiles, onions, tomatillos, etc. I always used my comal on top of the stove. But the broiler method worked great. Of the tamale pie and chicken with dumplings recipes, neither the dumplings nor the cornbread were spectacular, but the flavor was very good. For the way I cook, and because I enjoy prep work, I can recommend this book. But be warned. Supplemental: The artichoke risotto was a complete bust. It just didn't work. I don't know what kind of crockpot she was testing this recipe in, but I followed the directions to the letter, and after two hours on high, the risotto was inedible. I moved it over to a rice cooker to finish off. So my rating goes down to 3 stars with this experience.