Goodbye Old Friend - and Ode to My Crock Pot

The other night we had Bratwurst and Red Cabbage for dinner (I was going back to my roots for comfort food). I did it in my trusty oval Crock Pot, and noticed when we were washing up that it had a huge crack in the bottom. This is truly tragic and although I have another, smaller Crock Pot, the large oval pot was the one I used most often.

I fell in love with this method of cooking long ago when there was just the two of us, but since becoming parents and moving to the country, slow cooking has become an invaluable way of getting a meal in the table on hectic week nights. Wednesday nights are slow cooker nights because we have to pick up the girls from the day care, feed them and get to off to Brownies by 6:15.

These wonder pots are not just for chili. I use mine to caramelize onions, which then go on to become Pissaladiere in the summer, onion soup in the winter and into the cassoulet I make every November. I've made my own Duck Confit in my slow cooker and even done desserts (Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Bourbon Caramel Sauce comes to mind). Slow Cookers have the added attraction of filling your house with wonderful aromas that wrap you in a hug when you set foot in the door after the long winters commute.

Here's one of my favorite recipes:

Chick Pea and Chorizo Soup

1 lb. dried chick peas

4 cloves of garlic, minced

3 parsnips, peeled and diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 lb hot chorizo sausage, diced

6-8 cups chicken stock

A sprig of fresh rosemary

Put everything together in your slow cooker. Cook on High for 6-7 hours. When it's done, use a hand held blender to puree about half of the soup right in the pot. Serve with crusty bread.

The only up side to loosing my beloved pot is now I get to buy one of the new fangled ones with the built-in timer and warm setting. I can't wait.