Slow Cooker Meatballs and Marinara

So comforting and just plain good! A terrific make-ahead meal.

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken 'Tagine' with Olives and Preserved Lemons

Bill says this was even better than the food he ate in the prince's palace in Marakesh. (Awww...so sweet...)

8 chicken thighs, skin removed
2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon adobo (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cinammon
pinch of ground allspice
pinch of cayenne
1/4 cup salad oil
juice of 1 lemon

2 grated onions
1 Yukon Gold potato, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and each half cut crosswise into 3 wedges
1 cup chicken stock

1 - 2 preserved lemons, pulp removed and discarded, peel finely diced
1/2 cup mixed, chopped fresh cilantro and parsley
1 1/2 cups ripe green olives, pitted and diced small


1. The day before serving, remove the ceramic insert from the slow cooker. Layer the potato wedges on the bottom of the ceramic insert. Rub the chicken thighs with a paste made of the spices, oil and lemon juice. Stack the chicken pieces on top of the potatoes and pour any remaining marinade over all. Refrigerate, covered, overnight.

2. The next day, set the filled ceramic insert on the base of the slow cooker and turn to low heat. Add the grated onion and chicken stock. Cover and let cook for 6-8 hours. DO NOT LIFT THE LID DURING COOKING.

4. Add the olives and fresh herbs to the sauce when the chicken is very tender and the flesh falls easily from the bone. Continue cooking 5 to 10 minutes, uncovered.

5. Adjust for seasoning, and add more lemon juice, if desired, to taste. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve at once, over couscous.

Slow-Cooked Turkey with Pecans and Cranberry Mostarda

Now...what to do with all that lovely mostarda...

Spice rub:
1/4 cup dried minced onion
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons kosher salt
OR
1 envelope onion soup mix

1 (3 to 4 lb) skin-on boneless turkey breast, fully thawed
11 oz. cranberry mostarda
1 bag frozen pearl onions
1 cup pecan halves

Rub the spices all over the turkey breast. Brown the turkey breast, skin side down, in a heavy saute pan, 8 minutes. Place the turkey breast in the slow cooker, on top of the frozen onions. Mix the mostarda and pecan pieces together and spoon over the turkey. Cook for 6 to 8 hours on the low setting, occasionally spooning some of the mostarda mixture back over the turkey breast. Taste the sauce and adjust for seasoning before serving.

Serves 6 - 8

Potaje de Garbanzos (Cuban Chickpea Stew) Slow Cooker Version

1 lb. dried garbanzo beans, soaked overnight, water discarded, rinsed and picked through.
2 quarts chicken broth
2 chicken boullion cubes, or, preferably, a packet of sazon with achiote
2 links of chorizo, sliced ¾" thick
1 1/2 cups sofrito
2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced in ½" rounds
3 cloves garlic, peeled, mashed and finely minced
½ cup tomato paste
2 teaspoons paprika
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1/2 lb flank steak, cut into large chunks
1 small ham hock or part of a smoked turkey drumstick
handful of chopped cilantro
Ground black pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a 4 quart slow cooker, adding additional water as needed, to cover all ingredients. Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours. Adjust seasoning. Remove bay leaves and ham hock or turkey drum. Serve with crusty bread for dunking.

Syrian Tomato-Rice Soup with Kibbeh

I took a great many liberties with a recipe for tomato rice soup in the Jewish/Syrian cookbook Aromas of Aleppo, and then adapted the results to the slow cooker. Completely fabulous and incredibly easy.

Tomato Paste
1/2 cup white rice
2 1/2 quarts beef or chicken broth
2 cloves of garlic, mashed to a paste

1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 t allspice
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t cayenne
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1 t olive oil
2 t raw white rice
handful of chopped fresh cilantro, plus additional for garnish

Combine tomato paste and broth in the ceramic insert of a 4 quart slow cooker. Add the rice and garlic, and set the cooker on low.

In a mixing bowl, combine the beef, spices, rice and chopped cilantro, mixing well, until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Form into 15 meatballs (kibbeh) and drop them gently into the broth in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, turning the heat up to high during the last 30 minutes of cooking time. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with warm bread. Serves 6

Slow Cooker Poulet Yassa

The kitchen still isn't finished, but I'm happily cooking away in my electric slow cooker, in the meantime. Poulet Yassa is one of our Senegalese favorites, and we were both pretty thrilled with this slow cooker variation. Spicy, lemony and rich.

3 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs
Juice of 3 lemons
Salt or Maggi seasoning, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste
4 cloves of garlic, minced
5 yellow onions, sliced into thick half moons
2 T Dijon mustard
knob of butter

Combine all ingredients (except the butter) in the slow cooker ceramic insert. Marinate for at least 12 - 18 hours, turning the chicken pieces a few times if possible.
Brown the chicken in a saute pan, skin side down, for 5 to 7 minutes.
Place the onion mixture in the bottom of a 4 quart slow cooker, and stack the chicken pieces on top. Cook on low for 5 - 6 hours. Remove chicken and keep warm on a serving plate. Transfer the onions and accumulated juices to a large saucepan and reduce over high heat until all the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Off the heat, swirl the butter into the onion mixture. Serve chicken over rice or couscous, topped with the onion mixture. Serves 4

Slow Cooker Boeuf Bourguignon

Adapted from Rick Rodgers

1 lb baby carrots
1 lb pearl onions
4 ounces of slab bacon, cut into 2 inch strips
2 lbs beef bottom round, cut into chunks
1 Tbs vegetable oil
10 oz mushrooms, quartered
4 shallots, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup beef broth
2 Tbs tomato paste
2 Tbs chopped parsley
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
salt and pepper, to taste
Place the carrots and the onions in the slow cooker.

In a large skillet, brown the bacon. Remove and ad to slow cooker. Brown the beef in the skillet full of bacon drippings. Brown the beef on all sides. Transfer the beef to the slow cooker and season with pepper.

Into the skillet, add the mushrooms and shallots. Cook, stirring often until the mushrooms gave given off their liquid and are beginning to brown. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Transfer all to the slow cooker.

Add the red wine, broth, tomato paste and spices to the skillet. Cook over medium heat for one minute, scrapping up any browned bits. Pour over ingredients in the slow cooker.

Cover the cooker. Set heat to low and cook for 8 hours. With a slotted spoon, discard the bay leaf. Transfer the meat and vegetables to serving platter and cover to keep warm. In a saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat and add the flour. Cook for one minute, do not let brown. Slowly whisk in the liquid from the crock pot. Cook until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Pour sauce over the meat and vegetables. Serve immediately.

Serves 6