Heartland Cooking: Crockery Favorites

Rating:
Summary: I use this cookbook quite frequently
Review: Actually, I'll agree with one reviewer that some of the recipes are complex--but I have found that this little gem of a cookbook turns out some great Sunday dinners. My husband loves the Cincinnati chili and all of the brisket recipes. This book and its recipes have been well worth the price and well worth the work in my family. I received this book as a Christmas gift and, although I have dozens of cookbooks, I have used the recipes in this book several times in some months.

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Cookbook Ever!!
Review: I have owned this cookbook for a couple of years and use it all the time for everyday cooking and for when I have family and friends over. Some of the recipes take some time and special care to prepare, but I don't care because I love to cook and because the meals turn out so wonderful--full of great flavor and, when made with meats, very tender. If you love to cook and enjoy good, wholesome food, don't pass this one up!

Rating:
Summary: Hearty Heartland cooking
Review: I'm a morning person, so the notion of preparing dinner while I'm at my most active is a very appealing one, and a slow cooker or crock pot makes this feasible. I own several crockery cookbooks, but this one is my favorite, perhaps because the author uses lots of herbs and spices in her recipes, so the dishes don't turn out as bland and watery as they sometimes do with recipes from other, similar books.

In "Crockery Favorites," you'll find many recipes for soups, stews, and chili that will keep you warm on a frigid winter's day. All you need as an accompaniment is a crisp loaf of home-made bread and a side of vegetables.

A sampling of the recipes I've tried and liked:

---Beef and Winter Vegetable Stew: parsnips and baby limas are the surprise ingredients in this stew.

---Turkey chowder: this one is good for the remains of the Thanksgiving turkey.

---Beef Stroganoff: have the cognac or brandy at the ready!

---Pot Roast Smothered in Onions: and cooking apples. I also add a handful of small potatoes.

---Porketta: this recipe was invented by the author's son and is very easy to make. I am also delighted by the name of this dish which brings to mind the author's robust portrait on the book cover's end-flap.

There are vegetarian dishes and crock pot desserts in this book, but most of the recipes involve some kind of meat. Each recipe includes calories, grams of protein, fat, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, milligrams of sodium and cholesterol per serving.

Rating:
Summary: Hearty Heartland cooking
Review: I'm a morning person, so the notion of preparing dinner while I'm at my most active is a very appealing one, and a slow cooker or crock pot makes this feasible. I own several crockery cookbooks, but this one is my favorite, perhaps because the author uses lots of herbs and spices in her recipes, so the dishes don't turn out as bland and watery as they sometimes do with recipes from other, similar books.

In "Crockery Favorites," you'll find many recipes for soups, stews, and chili that will keep you warm on a frigid winter's day. All you need as an accompaniment is a crisp loaf of home-made bread and a side of vegetables.

A sampling of the recipes I've tried and liked:

---Beef and Winter Vegetable Stew: parsnips and baby limas are the surprise ingredients in this stew.

---Turkey chowder: this one is good for the remains of the Thanksgiving turkey.

---Beef Stroganoff: have the cognac or brandy at the ready!

---Pot Roast Smothered in Onions: and cooking apples. I also add a handful of small potatoes.

---Porketta: this recipe was invented by the author's son and is very easy to make. I am also delighted by the name of this dish which brings to mind the author's robust portrait on the book cover's end-flap.

There are vegetarian dishes and crock pot desserts in this book, but most of the recipes involve some kind of meat. Each recipe includes calories, grams of protein, fat, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, milligrams of sodium and cholesterol per serving.

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Cookbook Ever!!
Review: With an increasingly hectic life, I decided to pull out my Crock Pots (every size you can buy!) and start using them again after many years. I had the old standby books by Mabel Hoffman, and enjoyed using them, but wanted something new, so I ordered this book along with several others.

HEARTLAND COOKERY has a very broad range of recipes, many of them very creative and unusual...some to the point that I wouldn't be drawn to them for standard cooking, much less for the slow cooker. The biggest drawback for me, though, is this: Most of the recipes in the book require what seems to me an enormous amount of prep--or at least, more than I want to put in--before you even get NEAR the Crock Pot.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the basic psychology of those who want to use the slow cooker is generally that they want to be able to get up in the morning, throw some stuff in the pot, and come home to a savory meal ready to be ladled out onto some rice or noodles. I don't think most of us want to spend 30-45 mins of prep to do that. 15-20 mins is kind of my max....

I don't dispute that these are fine recipes that you might be proud to place on your table. I just don't think they match up with the needs of the typical Crock Pot user...or at least, they don't match my own expectations.