An Easygoing Easter With The Slow Cooker
When it comes to Easter, I have very strong feelings. You see, it has always been my favorite holiday for a bunch of different reasons. When I was a kid, I loved waking up with my siblings and cousins to our Easter baskets brimming with candy and having fun with endless egg hunts. Not only that, but my mom, who was not usually into baking, would pull out all the stops with a Bunny-shaped cake and egg-shaped cupcakes that we would spend hours decorating, along with the fun of dying the regular eggs. The Easter holiday embodies not only my favorite time of year but also my favorite candy—Cadbury mini eggs – which are only available right around Easter time (maybe that’s why I like them so much!).
Now, I just enjoy it for being a nice holiday to spend with loved ones without any major build up or gift-giving expectations. It’s also my favorite time of year to cook with all the delightful seasonal spring ingredients and fresh young vegetables, such as asparagus and baby peas, that are readily available in the springtime. But most importantly, Easter has a unique theme of rebirth that fits so well with the season in which it falls, helping to inspire a lighter style of cooking.
The main dish many people associate with Easter has always been ham, while for others, Easter dinner is synonymous with lamb. Having never been a big fan of ham, I rest firmly in the lamb camp. But both of these dishes are easily made in the slow cooker for a succulent, yet simple Easter dinner. You can even start it the night before. That way you can have the option to serve a little bit of each to please all your guests.
This year, you can enliven your ham with a different type of sauce. I found a simple apricot mustard sauce that sounds like it would be just the thing to change my mind about ham. You can also use this sauce to glaze the ham in place of the traditional pineapple sauce. Lamb is customarily served with mint jelly on the side, which used to be served to disguise the stronger taste of mutton. Nowadays, most lamb you find is much milder in flavor and would be complemented by not only mint jelly (which can be cut with a little lemon juice to temper its sweetness) but also other sauces such as a roasted garlic or balsamic vinegar sauce.
Another way you can use your slow cooker during the Easter season is to make homemade holiday treats. The slow cooker is very useful for tempering chocolate, a process that will give the chocolate used in candymaking and for decorating a glossy, appealing finish (it also prevents crystallization and dull streaks, called bloom). The tempering process requires lots of time and a steady consistent temperature, and this is where the slow cooker comes in. Instead of dragging out a double boiler and candy thermometer and setting aside a chunk of time from your schedule, you can use a slow cooker.
You can place all of the chocolate and any other add-ins in the slow cooker (following whatever candymaking recipe you prefer), then cover and cook on low for 40 to 60 minutes, until the chocolate melts. Stir once or twice during the cooking time, to make sure the chocolate does not stick to the bottom or sides of the crockpot. Whisk the mixture vigorously when it is nearly melted. Once it has cooled a bit, you are ready to proceed with dipping or pouring the chocolate into molds.
Happy Easter!
Serves/Makes: 2.25 cups
- 2 cups apricot jam
- 1/4 cup dry mustard
Combine the jam and mustard in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is heated through and well combined.
Use warm or refrigerate up to 1 day before using.
Cook's Notes: This is good with ham. Transfer 1/2 cup mixture to a small bowl to glaze ham. Set aside saucepan with remaining mixture to serve as the sauce.
Serves/Makes: 8
- 6 pounds whole ham
- 1 can (20 ounce size) crushed pineapple, undrained
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
Line the crock pot with foil for easier cleanup. Place the ham in the crock pot. Top with the undrained crushed pineapple. Drizzle with the maple syrup.
Cover the crock pot and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours or until the ham is heated through.
Remove the ham from the oven and carve as desired. Serve drizzled with the pineapple sauce from the crock pot.
Made with salt and freshly ground black pepper, carrots, lamb shoulder, bulk sausage, parsley, oregano or marjoram, garlic, onion, celery
Serves/Makes: 6
- 3 pounds lamb shoulder, boned
- 1/2 pound bulk sausage
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- 1 tablespoon oregano or marjoram
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
- coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Trim all excess fat from lamb shoulder. To prepare stuffing, brown sausage and chopped onion in skillet; drain well. Stir in herbs and garlic. Stuff lamb with mixture.
Roll lamb and fasten with skewers or string. Place sliced onion, celery and carrots in crock pot. Place stuffed and rolled lamb on top of vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on High for 1 hour, then turn to low for 10 to 12 hours.
Serve lamb sliced, with the natural juices poured over vegetables and meat, and mint sauce/jelly on the side, if desired.
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2 comments
Traditionally, cloves, pineapple and brown sugar glazed the ham at our house on Easter Sunday. When I set this innovation before my astounded family, they said they didn't want to taste it but since it was my ham or the highway, they gave it try, a smile and a big thumbs up!!! Thank you and keep 'em coming.
Comment posted by bronwyn1937
I have found them in Kansas City at Christmas, in red and green! They're my favorite too!
Comment posted by Marryme
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