Homemade Ethnic Dishes Made Easy

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

As the weather turns chillier, and stormy for some of us, my thoughts turn to hearty cooking and bold flavors. At the end of a long early September week of rain and unseasonably cold weather, I want to turn to a comforting dinner, but I still want something that’s a little exciting.

Some of the most soul satisfying dishes are the ones that come from simple ethnic traditions. And rather than picking up the phone to order takeout, one of the easiest ways to explore the cooking of different nationalities is with the slow cooker. What may be a home-style, old hat dish in Paris, Naples, Hanoi, or Mumbai could thrill and satisfy your tastebuds when you are craving something that is both comforting and a change of pace at the same time.

When I get tired of the same old, same old I turn to my collection of ethnic cookbooks and CDK for new ideas. So many of these recipes can be adapted to the slow cooker. For example, French cooking includes loads of classic dishes that can be slow cooked. From coq au vin (Chicken cooked with win and herbs) to Beef Burgundy stew, the rich, hearty flavors of country French cuisine can find their way to your kitchen table at home with just a few minutes of morning prep work.

Another one of my favorite ethnic cuisines is Italian. When you think of Italian food, what comes to mind is pasta, pasta, and more pasta. So naturally, the perfect thing to make in the slow cooker is long simmered pasta sauce. An alternative to that is my very favorite rainy night supper of Chicken Cacciatore. This is a familiar, yet always special, recipe to me – it used to be one of my Italian grandfather’s specialties.

There are myriad variations for this “hunter style” stew, but Pop Pop’s version, containing sweet and hot Italian sausage, chicken, mushrooms, peppers, and onions, all cooked in a tomato sauce for hours and hours, will always be the classic in my mind. Traditionally, we would serve it over spaghetti. But another delicious option is to serve it on top of creamy polenta. Add an optional green salad (although there are so many veggies in the stew it really can be a one dish meal) and you are all set for dinner.

Moving on to the Far East, you can convert many Asian and Southeast recipes to crockpot cooking, from curries to tandoori, to claypot cooked dishes. My favorite Vietnamese restaurant has a dynamite claypot pork on its menu. Since claypot cooking is similar to cooking in the slow cooker (the ingredients are cooked covered in a clay pot surrounded by moist heat), it is a natural conversion. The pork is slow braised in a caramel sauce that is seasoned with Vietnamese fish sauce, scallions, shallots, and garlic. The recipe comes out fragrant and delicious, and is best served over cooked rice. You may need to go to a specialty Asian grocer or order online the fish sauce, but it is definitely a worthwhile ingredient to have on hand for cooking flavorful Southeast Asian dishes.

These and many more dishes from across the globe may be the perfect thing for a chilly and gray fall evening. So put down that takeout menu (or use it for inspiration) and get cooking some of your favorite ethnic dishes with the slow cooker.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 pounds chicken breasts, boneless
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup dry red wine or red cooking wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 can (14.5 ounce size) diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 2 bay leaves

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth
• 1/3 cup Asian fish sauce, preferably Vietnamese
• 3 shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced diagonally, white and green parts kept separate
• 1 pound trimmed boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

***For serving***

• cooked rice