Review: Not Bad, but Not Great
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 23, 2012
There is a hyperlinked table of contents, which is helpful.The first recipe has a rather amusing typo, calling for "1/2 cup coca powder."  I am guessing that the butter, marshmallow cream, and icing sugar are for the frosting, but this isn't specified and no instructions are given for it.The fajitas recipe calls for "1 tab cilantro."  I would guess "tablespoon" is intended, but this is not a commonly used abbreviation for this unit.  It does occur elsewhere in the book, as well.The term "fajita" is misleading; it means grilled meat served as a taco, and the meat is not grilled or even browned in this recipe.  Personally, I brown beef before using it in the slow cooker, although I acknowledge that others may not feel this step is necessary.The Stuffed Peppers recipe calls for 1/4 cup white wine or stock, 1 cup ripe chopped tomato or canned tomato, and 1 cup stock or tomato juice.  The instructions say at one point to "pour over the stock or tomato juice," but the reason for the 1/4 cup and 1 cup measurements is not given, and the tomato is never addressed.  (Stuffed peppers aren't what I would think of as a Mexican dish, but apparently qualifies due to the inclusion of a sliced jalapeno.)The pumpkin soup recipe calls for "2 chicken breasts, sliced" but doesn't indicate whether the chicken should be raw or cooked.I would say that the description of "Mexican Style" is appropriate, given the use of cake mix with cinnamon added, packaged taco seasoning, canned enchilada sauce, canned Mexican-style tomatoes, jarred picante sauce, pasta sauce, chick peas, and the lack of pinto beans.  The pumpkin soup recipe is the closest to what I would think of as a more "authentic" Mexican recipe, including black beans, chipotle, and cumin.When considering this book for my own use, this gets an "okay" rating.  Most of the recipes just aren't that unique or special and there's not a lot of personalization.  There are also the content issues noted above in a couple of the recipes.  For someone who is new to crockpot cooking or recipe collecting, the recipes may be helpful, although I would recommend reading carefully.