The Mediterranean Slow Cooker Paperback – January 8, 2013

I own both of Michele's  The Italian Slow Cooker  and  The French Slow Cooker  books, and they are in frequent rotation in my  Hamilton Beach Premiere Cookware 5-1/2-Quart Slow Cooker  for their winning combination of authentic flavors and relatively easy prep.I preordered her latest, Mediterranean Slow Cooker, and quickly bookmarked several recipes that caught my eye. In the French Slow Cooker, Michele demystified soufflés for the slow cooker. Here, you'll find a variety of egg dishes like spinach and feta omelet, spicy vegetable eggah, Israeli breakfast favorite shakshouka, and a delicate green bean and scallion torta that would all make fantastic brunch options.The poached salmon in court-bouillon was a winner, especially when paired with the suggested tzatziki, and the shrimp with tomatoes and feta (my personal preference was to switch out the white wine in the sauce for red) was also a favorite. The crunchy mustard chicken diable has the ingenious solution of slow-cooking bone-in chicken thighs, then toasting panko on the stove and coating the chicken at the last minute so the topping remains crunchy (this would make a great picnic dish!). And the pork ragu with broken lasagna Maialino-style was an unexpected gem; the simple sauce is served over irregular sheets of lasagna noodles tossed with Parmigiano and arugula. Fans of lamb will find plenty to rejoice over, including numerous Greek recipes like Bandits' Lamb (stuffed with salty Greek cheese) and Middle Eastern lamb and pine nut meatballs.Vegetarians will also find some offerings, such as red lentil soup, winter squash and chickpea soup, polenta with herbs, wheat berry tabbouleh, bulgur and toasted walnut pilaf, and farro with spring vegetables. Like her other slow cooker cookbooks, you'll also find "out of the pot" recipes that use precooked beans, etc.; here these offerings include a Greek country chickpea salad, hummus, and Turkish beet and goat cheese dip.For me, the real star of the book was the desserts. The entire section is crammed full of intriguing finds, like several Greek-inspired cakes (sunny orange cake with orange syrup, walnut cake with cinnamon syrup), decadent cheesecakes (the first recipe I tried was the awesome cannoli cheesecake; see above for a photo) including Nutella, several flans, bread puddings, and fruit (blushing pomegranate pears, warm fruit compote with mascarpone sauce).This is a worthy investment if you enjoy Italian, Spanish, and Greek food, and most of the ingredients should be easy to find at your local supermarket. Yes, there is some prep involved in the chopping and sautéing of veggies (and browning of meat) before cooking, but this adds a wealth of flavor to the final dish that is well worth the extra time (and if you have a slow cooker with a metal insert, you can sauté and cook in the same dish). The desserts alone are worth the cost of the book; Michele taught me that I can make showstopping cheesecakes in my slow cooker, a trick I never would have thought to try on my own! (I used  Nordic Ware Leakproof Springform Pan, 7 Inch  set on a  Spice Ratchet 16812 Blossom Multi-Use Silicone Trivet, Black ).**Update 1/20: In addition to the cannoli cheesecake, I've also made the sunny orange cake with orange syrup (which is basically a revani or basbousa, in this case lightened by folding in whipped egg whites), coffee flan, and the chocolate hazelnut cheesecake (see photos above). Maybe it's just my particular slow cooker, but I found that my cakes baked much more quickly than the suggested times, so check at least 30 minutes before the book times to play it safe.***Update 5/26: I have also tried the roasted beets and beet and goat cheese dip, basic recipe for chickpeas and the country chickpea salad and hummus, and next up is the coconut flan (everybody RAVES about the coffee caramel flan, so I wanted to try the variation!). I have enjoyed every dish I've tried from the Mediterranean Slow Cooker!

I have tried five recipes in this book so far and all have turned out great. Her instructions and directions are precise. Follow them! I let one chicken dish cook on too long, and the chicken fell off the bone. Didn't hurt it much. I tried the "Portuguese Pulled Pork," and it turned out great. If I didn't love Tennessee barbecue so much, this would become a staple. The greatest thing about her recipes -- in addition to being delicious -- is that she uses very few of the rare, hard to find items and expensive trendy ingredients that seem to be in vogue with so many of the famous celebrity chefs these days, especially in the ethnic and international cookbooks. (You've seen them: "1 cup of fresh feta cheese from black goats herded by monks and grazed on grass on the north slope of Mt. Athos above 2,000 feet." An obvious exageration, of course, but you get the idea). When she does use something exotic, she always includes at least two or three suggested substitutes. As most of these recipes are adapted for a slow cooker, it is entirely possible that if you're in a hurry you can do a stove top cook for a lot of them. I haven't tried this yet, but a lucious-looking omlettes look very tempting to whip up for breakfast. One disappointment is that I would like to see more pictures. I rarely cook a dish that doesn't have a picture. I like to see what the dish is supposed to look like when it is done, and there nothing like a great photograph to whet my appetite for the dish and make me want to cook it. But, there are enough pictures to keep me busy for awhile.

NIce basic recipes. Who knew you could make polenta lasagne in a slow cooker? I have tweaked most of them to add a little more flavor or make it more palatable. For example, the lasagne instructs you to saute and slice sausages then layer in the lasagne. I opted to brown hamburger meat and add Italian seasonings. That way, you can cut it cleanly without having little sausages falling out. Another example is Limas in Tomato Sauce - I opted to double the tomato paste and replace water with chicken broth. If you know a little about cooking, you can easily tweak the recipes. The ingredients aren't exotic (think - your normal grocery store) and putting the recipes together is fairly easy.

I have been using this cookbook nonstop. It's great for busy families. Put it in the slow cooker and got about the day. The recipes are delicious and easy to make.

I hate to be a spoilsport here, but I read the reviews for this book, am a late adapter to the crock and thought this book would have great recipes and be inspiring. I read through it like I do with all new cookbooks, looking for recipes that excited me and would be delicious and I only found one. It was for a soup, so at least I can now understand how to make soup in a crock, but the recipe was not very interesting and I added a lot of other ingredients and spices to make it better. I guess I learned a few techniques in this book but I will not be using it for any of the other recipes. I must also share that I am not thrilled with the crock and prefer stove top and roasting for bringing out the flavors of foods I love. I'm giving it three stars because I don't want to be mean, but it really isn't very sophisticated or interesting.

I found the recipes delicious.

These recipes use ingredients readily available, and produce tasty results with the ease of slow cooking. A little advance prep on some (browning meats in advance) yields very tasty meals-

Superb easy recipes

I purchased this book after buying the Crock Pot Hook Up System for entertaining.The book has semi-gloss pages and photos for about every second recipe. The ingredients used are healthy and fresh and the author does not use dump ingredients like cans of soup.I have been using this book several times a week to prepare nightly dinners. Using the Crock Pot Hook Up system, I was able to prepare the "Chicken with Red Wine and Roasted Peppers" and in the other Crock Pot was the "Lemon Potatoes with Oregano and Dill". Both recipes were delicious but I did double the wine!!The author gives a good overview of choosing a slow cooker and slow cooker safety. The book is broken down by Soups, Eggs, Seafood, Poultry, Beef and Lamb, Pasta/Grains/Beans, Vegetables, and Desserts.Some of our favourite recipes from the book are: Crunchy Mustard Chicken Diable; Turkey Breast with Lemon and Sage; Steak with Pizzaiola Sauce; Short Ribs with Carrots and Olives; Meatballs with Feta and Tomato Sauce; Cauliflower with Tomatoes and Feta; Braised Green Beans with Bacon; and many other recipes in this book.The author gives the region that the recipes come from i.e. France, Italy, Greece, Spain etc.Overall this is an excellent recipe book to have even though it did not have photos of each recipe.

Book arrived on time as described.PRO's - 1/ Recipes are simple easy to use , 2/ some Recipes have color Pictures,CON's - 1/ Page 165/166 was torn out of book , i sent seller feedback however no reply. 2/ Most Recipes are for 6-8 servings i find it too much , 4-6 serving would be better, 3/ I like to set slow cooker in morning so when i return from work 8 hours later dinner ready , Most Recipes in this book are 4 hour cook time ,I'll keep the book for reference however i wont purchase any others from this author.

Ricette semplici e buone, adatte a essere realizzate con la slow cooker. Il libro è in inglese ma semplice da capire. Veramente utile per trovare nuove idee da preparare con la crock-pot.

Questo libro come gli altri da Michele Scicolone è stato scritto in maniera chiara e bella usando ingrediente facile da trovare. Ricette anche ben illustrate. Ti viene la voglia di provarle tutte!