1984 Greenwood Jaycees Recipe Book

Cookbook page 51

Slow Crockery Cooking, Regular Timing, Microwave Cooking Principles:

SLOW CROCKERY COOKING
To convert favorite recipes for slow cookers
REGULAR TIMING                                                   SLOW COOKER
15 to 30 minutes                                        1% to 216 hours on high* or 4 to 8 hours on low*
35 to 45 minutes                                          3 to 4 hours on high* or 6 to 10 hours on low*
50 minutes to 3 hours                                     4 to 6 hours on high* or 8 to 16 hours on low*
*High = 275 to 350 degrees F                                    *Low = 180 to 190 degrees F. (pots vary)
TO TEST COOKER TEMPERATURE-TIMING Fill cooker half full of cold tap water. Heat, covered
     on high for 216 hours. If water boils in less time reduce recipe cooking time. If it takes more than :
     hours to boil add cooking time.
FOR SAFETY Use pot in a safe place where cord is up out of the way. Never store food in crockery
     pot. Sudden temperature changes can crack ceramic liners. 180 degrees F. is a minimum safe
     cooking temperature. Read and use cooker instructions carefully.
TO SERVE CROCKERY COOKING Garnish with parsley, carrot curls, crushed corn chips, tomatoes,
     sauces, olives, pimentoes, mint leaves, lemon or orange slices.
ADDITIONAL CROCKERY COOKING HINTS Use a timer for starting pot and cooking when you
     aren't around; Crossed strips of folded aluminum foil under roast will let you lift it quickly and
     safely to serving dish; Most recipes for low temperature can be prepared in half time on high; A
     slow pot is excellent for fondues, dips, hot punch, sauces, and as a bun warmer.
                            MICROWAVE COOKING PRINCIPLES:
 Î. High water content foods cook more rapidly than those with less.
 2. The mass-density of a food is related to cooking time required.
 3. "Standing” time is necessary for dense foods as meats. Cakes need rest time, too.
 4. Such meats as roasts increase in temperature for a time during "standing”.
 5. Less leavening is required for some baked items as biscuits, muffins, etc. The "rapid" heat makes
    rapid expansion.
 6. Some foods rise more than in the conventional oven.
 7. Foods need rotation by hand or mechanically to avoid the hot spots in the oven cavity. Hot spots
    can be utilized for some food items.
 8. The container shape is more important for some foods than others.
 9. Never use metal containers or trim in microwave oven.
10. Never operate an empty oven - it can damage the magnetron.
11. Rapid cooking or expansion causes "eruptions" in certain foods.
12. Coverings during cooking prevents excess moisture loss and spatters.
13. Paper line cake pans to lessen sogginess around the edge. Cakes require "resting" time.
14. One cannot rely on conventional tests for doneness in some foods. Follow oven instructions for
    time and tests.
15. Use a container that radiation readily penetrates.
16. Time management and temperature for microwave food preparation is different than the tradi­
    tional ways.
ADDITIONAL USES
 1. Warm pancake-waffle syrup                     9. Heat baby bottle.
 2. Clarify sugared honey.                       10. Reheats leftovers without warmed over flavor.
 3. Heat pie and hot ice cream ala mode.         11. Freshens bread.
 4. Dry herbs - mint, parsley, onion, pepper, 12. Baked foods need less leavening.
    sage, etc.                                   13. Dries flowers.
 5. Peel tomato or peaches - split skin.         14. Dry decoupage - painting.
 6. Warm citrus fruits for more juice.           15. Dry girdle or panty hose.
 7. Melt chocolate, cream cheese, butter.        16. Easy for a child to learn and use.
 8. Make jelly, jam, preserves, etc.             17. Helps handicapped or elderly.

                                          COOKING TERMS
 1.    Beat - Vigorously by hand or with an electric beater as indicated.
 2.    Blend - Stir ingredients lightly until well mixed.
 3.    Braise - To cook slowly in hot fat until brown, then add liquid and simmer on top of range.
 4.    Broil - Follow directions for broiling on kitchen range, charcoal or gas grill.
 5.    Cream - Beat shortening with a spoon or fork until spreadable consistency.
 6.    Dredge - To coat with flour, cornmeal, bread or cereal crumbs.
 7.    Fold - Use rubber spatula to lift and fold over ingredients lightly, usually to fold stiffly beater
       egg whites into a batter.
  8.   Fricassee - Steak or chicken rolled in flour and browned in fat in pan or skillet. Add liquid sucf
       as water or milk and simmer until meat is tender.
  9.   Marinate - To allow a food to stand in a liquid such as oil and vinegar, French dressing or seas
       oned vinegar. This improves flavor and tenderizes meats.
 10.   Pan.-broil - To cook meat, usually steak, in a heavy skillet, without fat added. Pour off al! accu
       mulated grease in skillet as it collects. Otherwise the steak is fried, not broiled.
 11.   Poach - To cook in hot liquid, such as water or milk, being careful that food hoids its shape.
 12.   Saute - To cook slowly in a small amount of fat.
 13.   Sear - To brown very quickly by intense heat. This increases shrinkage but improves flavor anc
       appearance.
 14.   Truss - To tie food with metal or wooden skewers to hold its shape during cooking.

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