Slow Cooking Gourmet Style

Crockpot cooking usually suggests a hominess that's full of pot luck dinners and Saturday night get togethers. However you can take slow cooking to a new level with more sophisticated recipes and  more complex ingredients. It's not just chili and Swedish meatballs anymore. It's sophisticated fare worthy of any dinner party.

It was the subject of an article in Wednesday's New York Times Food section. Sam Sifton experimented with it  and different recipes (and to be honest you can also adapt Melissa Clark's tangine recipe from her A Good Appetite piece for this as well). Slow cookers can be temperamental dishes cooked in it may start off well with good intentions but six or seven hours later you get mush at best, goo at worst.As Mr. Sifton found out the hard way, just chucking ingredients in it and cooking for six to seven hours is not a good idea. The best amount of time is five to seven hours tops. even four hours will produce a better result.Also prepping is a good idea too. There is a debate about braising any meat used to give it some color. Mr. Sifton recommends it. Another hint is not to use too much liquid which will make the  recipe soupy. Be sparing with it.

Mr. Sifton gives two recipes. One is a Vietnamese style slow cooked pork tacos,. This is a riff on CorinneTrang recipe for wok fried rib tips.He uses a pork shoulder that has been marinated in  a mix of hoisin and fish sauces.There is also a tablespoon of sriracha sauce for heat along with fresh garlic and ginger.The pork is first precooked in a five minute saute to give it color. It is then put into the slow cooker after a scant amount  of the hoisin sauce is poured into the slow cooker's bottom.It is cooked for five to seven hours until the meat is so tender it can be shredded with a fork. Mr Sifton adds a green cabbage slaw that's chock full of other veggies as a filler to go with the pork. He also includes a cake recipe. Baking in a slow cooker is tricky at best . The batter doesn't always cook through which leaves a raw middle not to mention burnt edges.Mr. Sifton got the recipe from Momufuko's great pastry chef, Christina Tosi. It is a buttermilk one that also has the addition of brown sugar.It should be cooked for four to six hours and the result is a dense kind , sort of like a pound cake with caramel edging.

Slow cooking recipes can be sophisticated and fun. It can even cook elegant cakes  along with delicious dishes, worthy of any gourmand. It just takes patience and some prep time to create perfectly cooked meals.