Semi-Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes (Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade) 
asked by ivan on November 12, 2006 3:28 AM
New York Times best-selling author Sandra makes the slow cooker appliance even more convenient with her Semi-Homemade approach.
The book includes more than 120 sensational slow cooker recipes from perfect pastas and risottos to fabulous five-ingredient favorites.
Sandra offers quick tips and step-by-step instructions for slow cooking success, plus a bonus chapter of oven-baked recipes.
There's no pre-prep required. No browning, no dicing and no chopping. Just toss ingredients into the slow cooker and let them cook!
Reviews
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I think Sandra Lee makes everything easy ... and I enjoy all of her books!!! Put it this way ... I bought this book ... and I don't even have a Slow Cooker ... that's got to tell you something!!! And when I do get a Slow Cooker ... I'm starting at the very back of the book with the Hot Cocoa Cake ... now that looks gooood!!!
reviewed by runabout on November 26, 2006 6:10 AM
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I hate to jump on the bandwagon of all those who dislike Sandra Lee's approach to cooking. I'm an avid watcher of most programs on the Food Network and while Lee is not my favorite chef, I find her entertaining and relaxing to watch on weekends.
Many criticize her because she isn't cooking, she just mixes up pre-packaged foods filled with sodium, fat, and preservatives to make mediocre concoctions that look and smell better than they taste.
I really wanted to like this book. I flipped through the pages and saw the great explanation of slow cooking techniques and the beautiful full-color photos. The book didn't seem overly-reliant on pre-packaged foods and I figured it would be a great guide for my new slow cooker.
This book has let me down. I made the "Easiest Ever Paella" and it took twice the stated amount of time to cook and when it was done the rice was a gooey mess (consistency of old oatmeal or grits), the rice stuck to the bottom of the Crock Pot, and the dish was too salty for my palate. On a second try I made the White Chili and it was mediocre. I let it cook on low all day while I was at work and when I served it the beans were mushy and the flavor wasn't as full as I expected. Did anybody test any of these recipes? Where is she getting the food in the pictures? The food I made looked absolutely nothing like the pics.
I'm giving this book 2 stars because the layout is nice and the pictures are great. If you use some of the tips from the first section of the book, you can probably modify some of the recipes and save them from disaster. My biggest criticism of Lee is that she assumes that her readers are too busy to even chop an onion, so she suggests using pre-chopped frozen onions. Some of the ingredients in her book are difficult to find (or discontinued). It often costs four times more to buy pre-prepared food than to spend ten extra minutes and do it from scratch.
If you want to cook fast, I suggest Rachel Ray's books. She may have an annoying, goofy personality, but at least she cooks from scratch. Her recipes haven't let me down yet.
Many criticize her because she isn't cooking, she just mixes up pre-packaged foods filled with sodium, fat, and preservatives to make mediocre concoctions that look and smell better than they taste.
I really wanted to like this book. I flipped through the pages and saw the great explanation of slow cooking techniques and the beautiful full-color photos. The book didn't seem overly-reliant on pre-packaged foods and I figured it would be a great guide for my new slow cooker.
This book has let me down. I made the "Easiest Ever Paella" and it took twice the stated amount of time to cook and when it was done the rice was a gooey mess (consistency of old oatmeal or grits), the rice stuck to the bottom of the Crock Pot, and the dish was too salty for my palate. On a second try I made the White Chili and it was mediocre. I let it cook on low all day while I was at work and when I served it the beans were mushy and the flavor wasn't as full as I expected. Did anybody test any of these recipes? Where is she getting the food in the pictures? The food I made looked absolutely nothing like the pics.
I'm giving this book 2 stars because the layout is nice and the pictures are great. If you use some of the tips from the first section of the book, you can probably modify some of the recipes and save them from disaster. My biggest criticism of Lee is that she assumes that her readers are too busy to even chop an onion, so she suggests using pre-chopped frozen onions. Some of the ingredients in her book are difficult to find (or discontinued). It often costs four times more to buy pre-prepared food than to spend ten extra minutes and do it from scratch.
If you want to cook fast, I suggest Rachel Ray's books. She may have an annoying, goofy personality, but at least she cooks from scratch. Her recipes haven't let me down yet.
reviewed by bigchad on November 28, 2006 4:25 PM