I trawled bookshops for a recipe book and stumbled on this one. Being a novice, the first section ‘General Hints & Tips’ was very useful. What further convinced me to buy it was that most of the ingredients are either what you would already have in the cupboard or are readily available in the supermarket. Also, the measurements are given in metric, imperial as well as American (cups etc) so no need to convert. The instructions are clear and simple – very easy to follow.

There are some great traditional recipes such as French Onion Soup, Somerset Bacon Hotpot, Beef in Brown Ale, Cock au Vin etc, and some really tasty new ideas (for me anyway) - Chicken & Tarragon (delicious), Mexican Chicken, Malay Spiced Pork….

Also, it has been a real eye opener as to what you can use your slow cooker for – it would never have occurred to me to use it for: whole joints, fish, paella, curry, pate, crème caramel, sponges (can’t wait to try the Rhubarb and Almond Sponge and the Pineapple Upside-down Sponge).

My friend (the slow cooker expert) has also fallen in love with this book, so it’s not just for us beginners. I have many cook books which I only use for two or three recipes but I this one has so many that I want to try, it’s not going to sit on the shelf and gather dust.


If you want to try/like using a slow cooker - buy this!   October 13, 2005
 100 out of 100 found this review helpful

First let me say that I have lots of cookbooks and this is the only review I have been tempted to write. After owning a small slow cooker when I was single I recently decided to use one again and buy a larger one to use for me and hubby!

This book has rekindled my love of them. It provides lots of inspiration. It has sections on Soups eg Butter Bean and Tomato, Starters eg Farmhouse Pate, Sauces eg Sweet and Sour, Vegetables eg Cheese Stuffed Onions and Pulses eg Persian Rice or Spiced Vegetables and Barley, Fish, Meat, Puddings and Desserts eg Gingerbread, Chocolate Sponge and last but not least Rice Pudding (delicious). It also has a few misc such as recipes for stock, chutney, jam, lemon curd and mulled wine.

I have made countless things from this book and have found the recipes to be spot on and easy to increase/decrease. I could go on and on. But suffice to say for 7 its definately worth the money.


The English Crockpot - great book!   February 10, 2003
 188 out of 189 found this review helpful

This book is for anyone who's fed up with only cooking stews in their slo-cookers, or has trolled the net looking for crockpot recipes with English ingredients they can understand and find.

It covers a whole variety of different recipes, from roasting legs of lamb, steaming puddings and cooking whole chickens, to making lemon curd, soups, curry, half a dozen different chicken casseroles and a batch of different sauces. There's even instructions on how to use your slo-cooker/crockpot to make mulled wine. :)

Annette Yates also gives serving suggestions for things that go well with her dishes. Easy-to-follow recipes, with some lovely colour photographs (but not too many - she doesn't try to fill empty space with pictures which is a novelty!) make this an excellent cookbook, one that will actually be used, instead of just read and left on the shelf like so many others.