Slowly, but surely
Ricardo wants you to revisit the slow cooker in his new book
When a co-worker asked visiting chef Ricardo Larrivée if there was a way to bypass searing meat before braising, he joked that she should just order a pizza if she’s short on time.
Seriously, if you’re going to cook, you might as well do it properly to get the most flavour out of the ingredients, the Quebec-based television host and food writer says. To do that, he recommends the good ol’ slow cooker.
His new book, Slower Is Better ($35, Harper Collins), is a continuation of a previous cookbook Slow
Cooker Favourites. The new book adds recipes including duck confit, bread puddings, pulled-beef tacos, roasts and the dish Larrivée made during a visit to the Star’s test kitchen — juicy short ribs braised for eight hours in sweet Italian wine.
“The reality is that people want the 15-minute meal,” he said, adding that a lot of15-minute recipes are not very good or actually take longer. Larrivée’s recipes are tested up to eight times by four people to make sure cooking times and measurements are fail-proof.
In Quebec, he is a household name; think of him as Martha Stewart with the animated demeanour of Céline Dion.
He has his own media empire of a long-running cooking show, a staff of 125 including six cooks and two writers, kitchenware, wine, a restaurant in Montreal, cookbooks and a magazine, Ricardo, in French and English.
Larrivée has stocked the Star’s test kitchen with a slow cooker as well as other Ricardo brand cookware.
The slow cooker frees up home cooks so they are not tied to the stove when guests come for dinner, and allows them to get on with their lives while dinner is simmering on the counter, says Larrivée. His recipes are easy to follow but do require some prep time.
“Yes, you have to work a bit, but the reward is so much greater than the effort of chopping carrots or searing meat for a few minutes,” Larrivée said.
“We did a survey at the magazine that people will allow 25, 30 minutes to prepare a meal,” he said. “If it’s in the oven or slow cooker, it doesn’t really count as prepping time because you’re not really doing anything.”
“I’m not a chef, so Master Chef isn’t about me,” says Larrivée, who isn’t a formally trained chef but got into cooking when he studied hotel management. “I’ll never do a show where I’m putting people down or telling people that they’re wrong. I’m a howto person. If I can do a show where I can teach, I’ll be there. If not, I’ll just do something else.”
Larrivée is more about a slow simmer when it comes to fame, preferring home cooks vouching for his recipes with their friends over seeing his face plastered on a bus.
“I don’t want to impose myself on people. I want people to know me coast-to-coast slowly, but surely.”
Ricardo’s MarsalaBraised Short Ribs
Ricardo Tested Marsala is a sweet Italian red wine frequently used in cooking. If you can’t find it, any fruity red wine will do.
Serve the short ribs with bitter greens and barley, couscous or brown rice. Reduce any leftover liquids to make a sauce. 3 tbsp (45 mL) cornstarch 2 cups (500 mL) beef broth 2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil 4 lb (1.8 kg) beef short ribs (3 ribs each cut in half) Salt and pepper to taste 11/2 cups (375 mL) Marsala wine 2 cups (500 mL) veal or chicken stock 1/4 cup (60 mL) diced chorizo 1/4 cup (60 mL) dried currants 4 shallots, sliced 2 carrots, diced 2 celery stalks, diced 1 spring fresh thyme In a bowl, dissolve cornstarch in beef broth. Set aside.
In a large skillet over high heat, heat oil. Brown short ribs in pan until golden-brown and caramelized on all sides. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer short ribs to slow cooker. Turn heat down to medium. Deglaze pan by adding wine. Let wine reduce for a minute. Add beef broth mixture and veal stock. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add to slow cooker. Add chorizo, currants, shallots, carrots, celery and thyme to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Before serving, skim off fat.
Makes 4 servings. karonliu@thestar.ca