Cassoulet a good Crockpot dish

Crockpots are miraculous things. They enable you to walk into a fragrant home after a long day at work and dine as if a chef had been labouring over the stove all day. They also let you use cheap cuts of meat and make them taste luxurious.

Last Thursday one of the ladies in the Bible study I attend said she would like a new Crockpot recipe — and please, no beef stew! Well, Nancy, here you are: Cassoulet is a rustic French dish made with white beans and meat and/or fowl. The meat combination depends largely upon the region where the cook resides. If you don’t like my choices, you can mix and match your own; a good butcher can help you make your selections.

Chop all the vegetables the night before and place them in a sealed bag in the fridge. You can cut up your raw meats too, and refrigerate them in plastic bags with paper towels to absorb moisture. Put the beans in a bowl of water on the counter to soak. Put all your non-refrigerated ingredients on the counter as well. Then, when you stumble out of bed in the morning you have only to brown the meat and vegetables and dump everything into the Crockpot.

The dish is garnished with fresh rosemary and thyme. If widely available in the grocer’s freezer section. And because they are precooked, all you need to do is fill and heat them.

About that filling. Because the cups are small, the filling needs to be simple. So I stuck with carrots, peas and chicken. For the creamy base, I opted for cream cheese (use low-fat if you prefer) thinned with just a bit of egg white.

The result is deliciously creamy and totally do-ahead. To get a jump on things, make the filling up to a day in advance and refrigerate. The cups can be filled a few hours before the party, then quickly popped in and out of the oven as needed (bake them a dozen or so at a time so you always have a fresh batch coming).

Cook while you go out

One of the items on my Christmas list this year was a new crockpot. I put it to use the same day I unwrapped it, preferring to let dinner cook while I was enjoying time with family instead of spending all day in the kitchen.

Slow-cookers can come in handy, especially during winter months when hot dinners are desired. Start cooking the dish on low heat before you head to work, and by the time you’re home, dinner’s ready.

Most slow-cooker recipes are for meaty dishes, like the one for chicken below.

But with a little invention, you can adapt almost any dish to cook in a crockpot.

Slow-cooker chicken Ingredients

3 pounds chicken pieces, bone and skin on, patted dry

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

6 garlic cloves, peeled, halved

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. In batches, cook chicken, skin side down, until skin is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Turn and brown on second side about 5 minutes.

Combine onion, garlic and thyme in a 5- to 6- quart slow-cooker and season with salt and pepper. Top with chicken, skin side up, in a tight layer.

In a small bowl, whisk together wine and flour until smooth and add to slow-cooker. Cover and cook on high until chicken is tender, about 3½ hours (or 7 hours on low).

Makes four servings.

Crockpot / Slow Cooker with Bill & Sheila

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