ribs

One of the most coveted gifts this past holiday season was a slow cooker. Gadget minimalists and the counter space-conscious make an exception for this piece of machinery. It’s versatile (<a href=http://www.chowhound.com/recipes/slow-cooker-steel-cut-oatmeal-30656 target=_blank style=font-weight:700>oatmeal</a>! <a href=http://www.chowhound.com/recipes/slow-cooker-hot-wings-30963 target=_blank style=font-weight:700>hot wings</a>!) and makes cooking healthy meals easy since dishes get their complexity from herbs and spices infused over hours. Yes, you can toss ingredients in and let it run. But a modicum of additional effort transforms Sunday football-watching grub to a special Saturday night dinner. For a restaurant-quality recipe, we went to Craig Koketsu, chef-partner of the inventive <a href=http://parkavenyc.com/ target=_blank>Park Avenue restaurant</a>in New York City. The recipe uses nuoc mao, a dark caramel syrup and a staple of Vietnamese cooking, which can be found in Asian grocery stores, or <a href=http://www.foodwoolf.com/2010/09/vietnamese-caramel-sauce.html>made at home</a> using sugar and water. (Substitute molasses if unavailable.) The purple potatoes also contain antioxidants, the same ones that make blueberries blue, and bok choy is a great source of vitamins A and C. No slow-cooker? A Dutch oven works, too–adjustments below.

Slow cooker short ribs

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