Part of a cookbook series by the Culinary Institute of America, Low and Slow is full of recipes for delicious slow-cooked foods and helpful tips about how methods like braising and barbecuing can develop flavors that faster cooking methods can't.
The slow-cooking method lends itself most obviously to meat-heavy recipes like Korean-Style Braised Short Ribs and Moroccan Chicken Tagine, since a long roast of cheaper cuts of meat can achieve perfectly tender results. However, Low and Slow contains a surprising number of vegetable dishes, too, like Roasted Corn and Jicama Salad and Brussels Sprouts Slaw, as well as sauces and rubs to augment your final product, like Apple-Horseradish Cream or Lentil Ragout.
The instructions are clear and easy to follow, though there are no exact cooking times (just estimates like "6 to 8 hours"). Helpful sidebars ("Chef's Notes") offer variations--like cooking lamb shanks in a slow-cooker instead of a Dutch oven, or adding blue cheese or lobster to a basic macaroni and cheese. Ideal for both novice cooks and those who want to hone their skills, Low and Slow gives guidance on the proper equipment, formulas for creating a perfect brine, guidelines on regional variations in barbecuing methodologies and tips on which cuts of meat work best with which cooking strategy. Best of all, it has many illustrated step-by-step procedures for different techniques, making it easy to re-create a recipe exactly as shown. Those aspiring to improve their slow-cooking will appreciate having the Culinary Institute of America's expertise in their home kitchens. --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm