Slow cooker can help with Christmas frenzy

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This article was published 16/12/2015 (3800 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Cooking Christmas dinner involves lots of hard work, but it can also be a logistical challenge. For those of us lacking a two-oven magazine dream kitchen, this usually means juggling oven space and cooking times. A slow cooker gives you a few more options.

This week we have slow-cooker recipes for two holiday standbys, mashed potatoes and stuffing.

Many cooks no longer put the stuffing inside the turkey because it often means overcooking the bird to get the stuffing to a safe temperature. The drawback to making the stuffing in a separate dish is there isn’t much room in the oven once that massive turkey is there. The slow-cooker method solves that problem and also produces stuffing that stays moist and steamed.

Last week we looked at a make-ahead mashed potato recipe, which lets you avoid the last-minute stove-top cooking crunch and also produces piping hot spuds. This recipe, from Laura Mikuska, has the added advantage of reheating the spuds in a slow cooker instead of the oven.

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Slow-Cooker Mashed Potatoes

2.25 kg (5 lb) red potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

15 ml (1 tbsp) minced garlic, or to taste

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1 x 250 ml container (8 oz or 1 cup) sour cream

1 x 250 g package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

125 ml (1/2 cup) butter

Salt and pepper, to taste

 

In large pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook the potatoes, garlic and bouillon until potatoes are tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving cooking liquid. (See notes.) In large bowl, mash potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, adding reserved cooking liquid as needed to attain desired consistency.

Transfer the potato mixture to a slow cooker, cover, and cook on low setting for 2-3 hours. Just before serving, stir in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

Tester’s notes: These are delicious and absolutely decadent with dairy. I actually forgot to put in the butter at the end, and the potatoes were already so rich I added only a tablespoon or two. Red potatoes generally aren’t recommended for mashing — most cooks prefer russets or Yukon Gold — but they worked just fine with the slow-cooker method.

I added only about 125 ml (1/2 cup) of the cooking liquid to the potatoes, but you might want to save all of it. Laura says it’s perfect for soup, since it’s made up of chicken stock, garlic and a little starchy thickening from the potatoes.

 

Slow-Cooker Stuffing

30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

454 g (1 lb) sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

5 ml (1 tsp) salt

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

15 ml (1 tbsp) fresh sage, minced

10 ml (2 tsp) fresh rosemary, minced

10 ml (2 tsp) fresh thyme leaves

30 ml (2 tbsp) fresh Italian parsley, minced, plus more for serving

1 large golden delicious apple, diced

125 ml (1/2 cup) dried cranberries

125 ml (1/2 cup) pecans, chopped

1.5 l (6 cups) dry bread cubes

500 ml (2 cups) chicken stock

60 ml (1/4 cup) melted butter

 

In large pan over medium heat, add olive oil and sauté onions and celery until they start to soften, about 2-3 minutes. Add sausage, breaking up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until it is cooked through, with no pink remaining. Season sausage with salt and pepper and add sage, rosemary, thyme and parsley. Stir for 1 minute, then add apple, cranberries and pecans. Place sausage mixture in large slow cooker, add bread cubes and stir to combine. Add chicken stock and melted butter and stir to combine. Cook on the low setting for about 4 hours. At midpoint, you can check for taste, but don’t stir and resist the urge to peek. (Slow cookers lose moisture and several degrees of heat every time you lift the lid.) Before serving, sprinkle with additional fresh parsley. Serves 8-10.

 

Tester’s notes: This stuffing actually replicates the soft, steamed consistency of stuffing baked in a bird. Because of the way slow cookers cook, the stuffing won’t crisp up and brown on top, but depending on cooking time and your machine, it will probably get a little crispy and tasty on the bottom and sides.

To adjust to the slow cooker, this recipe uses less liquid than most oven versions. As well, you need very dry bread. For conventional stuffing I usually make my own bread cubes (or cornbread cubes) and dry them out by toasting them in the oven. But for the slow-cooker method, you really want the rock-hard, bone-dry texture of bagged supermarket bread cubes.

This being such a mild December, I actually got sage and rosemary and thyme from my outdoor (!) herb pots, which is some kind of crazy Christmas miracle.