Holiday Slow Cooker: Delicious Recipes for a Year of Hassle-Free Celebrations

By Jonnie Downing

With this collection of recipes, you can enjoy delicious holiday meals that don’t take over the holiday—just set it and celebrate!

With the perfectly adapted recipes in this book, you can prepare your favorite holiday classics—from Christmas Lamb Roast and Hannukah Kugel to Bastille Day Coq Au Vin—without spending hours in the kitchen. Simply toss the ingredients in your slow cooker and go enjoy the festivities with family and friends while dinner is cooking in the other room.

Featuring tasty appetizers and delicious sides to enticing entrées and heavenly desserts, Holiday Slow Cooker allows you to craft perfect dinners with minimal stress. Plus, the benefits of using a slow cooker go beyond tasty meals, they allow you to free up space on the stove, let dessert cook while you are enjoying dinner, and keep dishes warm for fabulous party dips, fondues and more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Nov 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9781612431390

Book preview

Jonnie Downing

Ulysses Press

To my precious daughter, Elizabeth

Copyright text © 2012 by Jonnie Downing. Copyright concept and design © 2012 by Ulysses Press and its licensors. All Rights Reserved. Any unauthorized duplication in whole or in part or dissemination of this edition by any means (including but not limited to photocopying, electronic bulletin boards, and the Internet) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Published by:

Ulysses Press

P.O. Box 3440

Berkeley, CA 94703

www.ulyssespress.com

ISBN: 978-1-61243-139-0

Library of Congress Catalog Number 2012940435

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Acquisitions editor: Kelly Reed

Managing editor: Claire Chun

Editor: Phyllis Elving

Proofreader: Lauren Harrison

Design and layout: what!design @ whatweb.com

Cover photographs: © JudiSwinksPhotography.com

Interior photographs: see page 105

Food stylist for featured recipes: Anna Hartman-Kenzler

IMPORTANT NOTE TO READERS: This book is independently authored and published and no sponsorship or endorsement of this book by, and no affiliation with, any trademarked brand of slow cookers or other products mentioned or pictured within is claimed or suggested. All trademarks that appear in ingredient lists, photographs, and elsewhere in this book belong to their respective owners and are used here for informational purposes only. The authors and publishers encourage readers to patronize the quality brands of slow cookers and other products mentioned and pictured in this book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

RINGING IN THE YEAR

New Year’s Day

Bacon-Wrapped Cocktail Weenies

Party Mix

Meatballs in Tangy Sauce

Piquant Black-Eyed Peas

Pork Loin with Wine Sauce

Liberty Brownie Squares

Presidents’ Day

Thomas Jefferson’s Chicken Fricassee

Lyndon Johnson’s Chili

Jackie Kennedy’s Beef Stroganoff

Ronald Reagan’s Hamburger Soup

Mardi Gras

Hoppin’ John

Easy, Delicious Gumbo

Mock Turtle Soup

Valentine’s Day

Cheese Fondue

Lobster Bisque

Beef Bourguignon

Rocky Road Pudding Cake

Milk Chocolate Fondue

Baileys Hot Chocolate

St. Patrick’s Day

Slow-Baked Potatoes

Party Sausages and Peppers

Traditional Guinness Stew

Classic Corned Beef and Cabbage

Easter

Potatoes au Gratin

Egg Casserole

Split Pea Soup with Ham

Leg of Lamb

Honey-Glazed Ham

Almond Cheesecake

FUN IN THE SUN

Cinco de Mayo

Tortilla Soup

Pinto Beans

Carnitas

Chicken Enchiladas

Mexican Braised Beef

Caramel Flan

Mother’s Day Brunch

French Toast Casserole

Breakfast Quiche

Loaded Potatoes

Father’s Day Sides

Beer Baked Beans

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Cheesy Bacony Potatoes

Fourth of July

Crab Dip

Bourbon Bacon Baked Beans

Buffalo Chicken Wings

Pulled Pork

BBQ Beef

Baked Apple Crisp

Bastille Day

Squash Bisque

Ratatouille

Boeuf en Daube

Chicken Provençal Stew

Coq Au Vin

FALL CELEBRATIONS

Oktoberfest

Kielbasa and Kraut

Oktoberfest Short Ribs

Halloween

Halloween Pumpkin Soup

Perfect Wild Rice Pilaf

Autumn Pork Stew

S’more Fondue

Thanksgiving

Silky Smooth Sweet Potato Purée

Buttery Mashed Potatoes

Classic Green Bean Casserole

Sweet Potato Casserole

Heavenly Squash and Apples

Cornbread Dressing

Easy Turkey Breast

Savory Stuffed Cornish Game Hens

Easy Tender Turkey Legs

Turkey Soup with Dumplings

Sweet and Easy Cranberry Sauce

Pumpkin Butter

Pumpkin Custard

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Christmas

Creamy Scalloped Potatoes

Brussels Sprouts with Spicy Brown Mustard

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Hearty Root Vegetable Stew

Christmas Lamb Roast

Maple Brown Sugar Ham

Succulent Beef Tenderloin

Sugar-Baked Apples

Cinnamon Bread Pudding

Hot Apple Cider

Hanukkah

Maple Carrots

Slow Cooker Kugel

Old-Fashioned Beef Brisket

Braised Lamb Shanks

Chunky Applesauce

Challah Pudding

Conversions

Photo Credits

About the Author

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION

Slow cooking is a great way to cook a fabulous meal. You simply throw the right things in the slow cooker, set the temperature, and walk away. What comes out is almost always good.

Slow cookers have been around since the 1970s, and they have been instrumental in taking the stress out of cooking — letting busy families enjoy time together rather than having the cook stuck in the kitchen. Holidays can be really hectic times, with family and friends visiting — making them joyous times as well. So the last thing you want is to spend all day in the kitchen. That’s what your slow cooker is for. You can quickly prep classic holiday dishes and let the slow cooker work its magic. The slow cooker stays in the kitchen all day so that you don’t have to.

This book contains many traditional holiday meals as well as new dishes to liven up your celebrations. These are fun and easy recipes, requiring minimal work and far less cleanup time than the average holiday dinner.

Using a Slow Cooker

Odds are you already own a slow cooker. Maybe it was your first college gift, your first apartment gift, or maybe you got two or three when you got married. Either way, you either use it all the time or you don’t. That doesn’t matter. It’s never too late to start using your slow cooker. If you don’t own a slow cooker, go get one!

If you’re flying solo or just have one other diner, a 3-to 4-quart slow cooker is a great choice, but not for most recipes in this book. While you can modify these dishes to fit a smaller slow cooker, all these recipes are based on a 6-quart slow cooker, which will make enough to feed a large family or provide plenty of yummy leftovers for freezing or sharing. And that’s what holidays are all about.

A few things you should know. One, you can’t make everything in a slow cooker — but you can make almost everything. Be it a main course, side dish, dessert, or snack mix, the slow cooker is a versatile and powerful kitchen tool.

Whether to buy a round or oval slow cooker is a matter of preference. Round is more versatile and much easier to clean. However, for large pieces of meat, an oval slow cooker is best. If you’re serious about slow cooking, I recommend you get one of each.

A slow cooker does just what it says