Slow cookers speak a universal language

Having a successful career means a lot to Stephanie O’Dea. 

Gregory A. Summers/gsummers@thelancasternews.com

Easy-to-make Salsa Chicken with Black Beans has become a favorite at the San Francisco Bay Area home of slow cooker diva Stephanie O’Dea.

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Stephanie O’Dea’s website is stephanieodea.com. If you have a slow cooker question, just send her an e-mail. “I enjoy answering questions and will respond to them,” she said.

But in the big picture, being a successful mom means more, especially when that family includes three children under age 10, including one with Celiac disease (gluten intolerant).

But can you have both? 

Absolutely.

How else can you explain a cookbook on the New York Times best-selling list for six weeks and national TV appearances, as well as feature stories in “Real Simple Magazine and “Woman’s World?”

To see what got O’Dea that noteriety, open the furnace closet in her San Francisco Bay Area home.

You will find a dozen slow cookers. Outside her family, O’Dea’s other passion is Crock-Pots.

And this no crock, said O’Dea, who is now enjoying a stay-at-home career as America’s Crock-Pot Diva.

“I have 12 of them,” a laughing O’Dea said during a phone interview from her home. “My husband had to build shelves in there so I’d have some place to keep them. I don’t know if it’s allowed, but he did it.”

O’Dea doesn’t have a Happy Meal hang-up. She just can’t justify the expense of fast food and eating out.

“I’ll admit it – I’m cheap,” O’Dea said. “A slow cooker is a great way to prepare gluten-free meals on a budget. With three children, it’s a daily struggle to live here and I know we aren’t alone. You can really stretch a budget with a slow cooker. A few cans of beans and a handful of spices can revive a cut of tired, frozen meat.”

If 2012 is the year of the slow cooker, O’Dea is its unofficial spokeswoman.       

She already has the year part of that down pat.

In 2008, O’Dea made a New Year’s resolution to use a slow cooker for 365 days and then record the results on the Internet. As a working-from-home freelancer for BlogHerAds, O’Dea said it was a way to combine her family and career. 

“I have these crazy thoughts from time to time and when I tell my husband about them, he usually laughs,” she said. “But that time, he didn’t. He thought it was a pretty good idea.”  

That, O’Dea said, along with “a crazy e-mail I sent to Rachael Ray after coming up with a way to prepare crème brulee in a slow cooker” led to an appearance on the Food Network and three appearances on “Good Morning America,” 

“I was told I broke every e-mail rule in the book,” she said. “Oh well, it worked. I didn’t have a clue someone from Rachael’s show would write me back.”

Her passion for slow cookers and willingness to share recipes and cooking tips through trial and error became the award-winning blog, “A Year of Slow Cooking,” which has drawn more than 11 million visitors.

“It (the reaction) has really been amazing,” O’Dea said. “You’re sitting in a studio to be interviewed by George Stephanopoulos, talking to the behind-the- scenes people and you say to yourself, ‘gosh, they don’t have any idea what I’m talking about,’ but then you realize they do.

“It’s really been kind of surprising how you can launch into a conversation by talking about a slow cooker,” she said.   

O’Dea’s third book, “Totally Together: Shortcooks to an Organized Life,” based on her “Totally Together Journal” website, was released in August 2011. 

“I feel incredibly lucky to do all of this while my children are still at home,”  she said. “It’s a great blessing.”

Four favorites

For foodies who enjoy using their slow cookers, O’Dea gives all four of these recipes high marks.

Salsa Chicken with Black Bean Soup (Day 328) has become a favorite dish at her home. 

“We make it all the time,” she said. “My kids each ate their weight in this soup. It smelled delicious while cooking, and tasted even better.”

O’Dea said Original Taco Soup (Day 54) is the dish that made her fall in love with the slow cooker she received as a wedding gift 12 years ago.

On Saturday, when the 49ers take on New Orleans in an NFL playoff showdown, O’Dea said it’s a given that she will make Peperoncini Beef, which is one of her husband’s favorite football foods and is on her website, stephanieodea.com. 

“All you need is some Swiss cheese and hoagie rolls,” she said. “It makes a fantastic sandwich.” 

CrockPot Barbecued Shrimp (Day 246) is great as an appetizer or main course and makes an excellent bread dip for French bread.

“It’s a good idea to put down a layer of newspaper on the table,” she said,  laughing. 

“It’s good and messy, but makes for some great sopping.”

Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup

Ingredients

1 pound chicken (I use frozen breast tenderloins) 

1 cup dried black beans, or 2 cans, drained and rinsed

4 cups chicken broth 

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup frozen corn 

1 16-ounce jar prepared salsa 

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin 

1/2 cup sour cream, to stir in at the end 

Shredded cheddar cheese, avocado slices, cilantro, all optional 

Directions

– You will need a 4-quart or larger slow cooker (I use a 6.5-quart slow cooker). 

– The night before, soak the beans in enough water to cover, plus another 2 inches. In the morning, drain the water and rinse the beans.

– Place beans at the bottom of the slow cooker. Put in the chicken, then add chicken broth and salsa. Pour in corn and mushrooms and add cumin. Stir – but don’t disturb the beans – let them stay at the bottom of the slow cooker, closest to the heating element.

– Cover and cook on high for nine hours. It takes that long for the black beans to soften. 

If you are using canned beans or pre-cooked beans, you can cook on low for six to eight  hours, or on high for about five hours. 

– If you want to thicken the broth, use an immersible blender to blend a bit of the beans and chicken. If you don’t have one, scoop out 2 cups of the soup and carefully blend in a traditional blender. Stir the blended mixture back into the slow cooker.

– Thoroughly stir in the 1/2 cup of sour cream before serving. Garnish with shredded cheese, avocado slices and cilantro, optional.

– Recipe from Stephanie O’Dea

Original Taco Soup

Ingredients

2 cans of kidney beans

2 cans of pinto beans

2 cans of corn

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 can tomatoes and chilies

1 packet taco seasoning (if you are gluten-free, stick to McCormick)

1 packet ranch dressing mix (make sure there isn't hidden gluten, I went with Hidden Valley)

1 pound browned ground turkey or hamburger, optional.

Shredded cheese and sour cream, optional (unless you’re in my house, then it’s mandatory)

Directions

– Brown meat if you are going to use it, drain fat and add to slow cooker stoneware insert (the meat, not the fat.) Sprinkle seasoning packets on top of meat.

– Drain and rinse the beans and add to slow cooker. Add the entire contents (undrained) of the corn and tomato cans. Stir.

– Cover and cook on low for eight to 10 hours or on high for four to five hours. 

TIP: The longer you cook soup, the better. If you have the time, opt for cooking on low. Stir well, and serve with a handful of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

– Recipe from Stephanie O’Dea

Peperoncini Beef Sandwiches

Ingredients

2 pound beef chuck roast (frozen is OK)

1 (16-ounce) jar peperoncini peppers

Sliced Mozzarella or Swiss cheese, optional

6 Hoagie rolls, hamburger buns or French bread, optional

Directions

– Place chuck roast in a 4-or 6-quart slow cooker. Pour jar of peperoncini peppers on top. Let it cook for 8 hours. Shred the meat with two large forks and stir. Serve on toasted bread, rolls or buns with a slice of cheese. If you’re fancy, you can broil your sandwich in the oven for a few seconds to melt the cheese.

– Recipe from Stephanie O’Dea 

CrockPot Barbecued Shrimp

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh raw shell-on shrimp (look for shrimp in the 21-25 per pound size range)

1 stick butter

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup gluten-free Worcestershire sauce

1-2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce (I used 1 1/2)

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 lemons, juiced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Directions

– You’ll need a 5-to 6-quart slow cooker for this meal. Rinse the shrimp, but don’t soak them too much. Dump them into the slow cooker. Add the stick of butter, olive oil and Worcestershire sauce. Measure out the Tabasco and salt and pepper, and throw that in there, too. Juice the lemons, add, and top with freshly chopped basil. Toss just a bit with a big spoon to mingle the flavors (the butter will be in a big stick, but that’s OK). Be careful – if you are wearing a white shirt, it will get sprinkled with oily Worcestershire spots.

– Cover and cook on high for about two hours, checking every 30 minutes. The shrimp is done when it turns pink, and can be easily peeled. I turned it off at exactly two hours. It was perfect.

TIP: Serve with fresh French bread to sop up the juice. The juice is amazing.

– Recipe by Stephanie O’Dea, adapted from “The Pioneer Woman Cooks!”