Linda Larsen - Church Potluck Slow Cooker

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CHURCH POTLUCK
SLOW COOKER
Homestyle Recipes for Family and Community Celebrations
LINDA LARSEN
Copyright 2008, F+W Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews. Published by Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street
Avon, MA 02322
www.adamsmedia.com ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-774-2
ISBN 10: 1-59869-774-9
eISBN: 978-1-44051-554-5 Printed in Canada. J I H G F E D C B A Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
is available from the publisher. Unless otherwise noted, the Bible used as a source is the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered.

It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar
Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, please call 1-800-289-0963. Contents I will give you your rains in each season, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees ofthe field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and the vintage shallovertake the sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and live securely in your land. LEVITICUS 26:45 Introduction Y ou will eat some of the best food anywhere at church potlucks. Everyone brings his or her best recipes, and reputations are made around the communal table. From delicate cakes to rich entres, crisp salads, decadent desserts, and hot and creamy soups, this food must be the best.
Sharing food in the fellowship of Christ is important in church life.

Just as eating dinners as a family is necessary to relationships among family members, so eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner communally as a church family helps build strong bonds. And the people who provide that food are angels in disguise. It takes a lot of talent and knowledge to feed a crowd delicious, healthy, and safe food.
If youre cooking for your church family, you know the challenges and rewards that come with the job. These recipes will help, offering lots of easily prepared and delicious food that caters to a variety of tastes.
The slow cooker can be an assistant in the kitchen, whether youre serving hundreds after Easter services or a small Bible study group that gathers in the evenings after work. You can double, triple, or quadruple these recipes, keeping the proportions the same, to fill as many slow cookers as you need and can find. Recipes can also be cut in half, as long as the appliance is filled correctly.
There are quite a few things to think about when youre staging a potluck in your church.

The most important is food safety. You will be serving people with varying medical conditions, so the food has to be impeccably safe.
Never let perishable food sit out at room temperature longer than 2 hours. Always wash your hands before (and after) serving or preparing food, and after handling raw dairy or meat products. Keep raw meats away from foods to be served uncooked. Dont cool food in the thick slow cooker liner. Refrigerate cooked food after its been sitting out for 2 hours (1 hour in hot weather).

And always cook eggs and meats to the correct safe, final internal temperature, using a food thermometer to be sure. Each recipe includes the correct final temperature for that particular food.
Not all of the food you serve from the slow cooker has to be hot! You can use this versatile appliance to make fillings for sandwiches, as well as pie fillings. Leftovers of meats like roast beef and poached chicken are ideal for making salads and appetizers.
Newer slow cookers, those which have been manufactured in the last three to four years, cook much hotter than did the slow cookers of ten or fifteen years ago. Many recipes do take this into account. In the newer slow cookers, raw boneless chicken breasts will cook in 5 to 6 hours, as opposed to the 7 to 8 hours called for in older recipes. Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature at the minimum cooking time.

If its already done, make a note that your slow cooker cooks at a higher temperature.
When you cook with the slow cooker, youll get the best results if it is filled between and full. Because the recipes in this book call for 2 onions, chopped or 4 carrots, sliced, you may need to alter the amount of food you put in the slow cooker if your vegetables are very large or small. Just adhere to the to rule and everything will turn out beautifully. You may need to cut large roasts or pieces of meat in half, and do some experimenting to discover which size slow cooker best fits the cut of meat or food you are cooking.
These recipes use the best ingredientsreal butter, heavy cream, beef, and fresh vegetables. For lower-fat versions, you can substitute half-and-half or milk for the cream, or use lower-fat or fat-free dairy products. Please dont use margarine in place of butter; butter adds an important dimension of flavor to many of these recipes.
The slow cookers recommended for these recipes range from 4 to 7 quarts in size.

There are a few recipes for the very small slow cooker, usually for sauces or condiments. For cooking large cuts of meat, the oval slow cookers work better. Their shape easily handles the bulk of these foods. Follow directions for cutting and trimming the meat to the letter.
For easy cleanup, spray the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray before you add the food. You could also use the cooking bags specifically made for the slow cooker (dont use ordinary plastic bags) for no cleanup at all. Soaking the ceramic or glass liners overnight with a little dish soap will help get rid of any food that doesnt come off with gentle scrubbing.
Slow cookers are a great investment for your church kitchen.

They cook food perfectly while you work on other tasks, dont heat up the kitchen as much as the oven does, and are portable, too. In addition, a lot of the newer ones are pretty enough to serve from once the food is cooked. Now, collect some slow cookers and lets cook for a crowd! Appetizers and Beverages W hether youre serving dinner after a wedding or snacks before a hayride, appetizers made in the slow cooker are a great way to save time and effort. Appetizers not only help fill the time and whet the appetite until dinner is ready; they can be dinner! A collection of appetizers can be a meal replacement as long as you vary flavors and textures, and include some hearty recipes as well as light ones, with some simple sweets for dessert.
Offer lots of different dippers and bases for these recipes. Baby vegetables, carrot sticks, pepper strips, and cherry tomatoes are obvious choices. Also consider pita breads, cut into wedges; breadsticks; bubble bread; cheese toasts and party rye toast; warmed tortillas; and firm lettuces.