Slow cookers are surging back to popularity. Gone are the days of cream of mushroom soup-coated roasts, simmered into bland oblivion. Now, foods as fresh and complex as creamy risottos and braised Basque chicken have ended up in the slow cooker — and the results are downright yummy.But talk to any professional chef, including three who have penned recent cookbooks on the art of slow-cooker cuisine, and chances are, you’ll hear sheepish confessions. “I have to be honest. It wasn’t my go-to for a long, long time,” says Cordon Bleu-trained Diane Phillips, author of “Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever” (Chronicle Books, 544 pp., $24.95).“Some of the food in these (old) cookbooks is really disgusting,” she says. “The dump-and-run theory is really what has turned a lot of people off.”It took a bout of physical therapy — and the upheaval that the schleps to rehab wrought on dinner prep — to motivate Phillips, a San Diego-based chef who teaches classes several times a year at Draeger’s cooking schools in San Mateo, Menlo Park, Los Altos and Danville, Calif.“When I finally figured out what it took — well, this thing is really pretty great, and no one knows it,” Phillips says. “I preach the slow-cooker gospel now.”The trick is to put in extra effort on the front end. What you’re doing isn’t a dump-and-run, it’s a low, slow braise, and that’s a culinary technique with a long and beloved history. It’s what inspired Michele Scicolone’s Crock-Pot epiphany in Rome, too.“Every day I would pass this restaurant where there was a window, and you could see beans simmering in a wood-burning fireplace,” the cookbook author recalls. “I thought, ‘If only I could cook that way.’ But I live in a Manhattan apartment, so slow cooking … slow cooking, hmm … slow cooker!”Back stateside, the author of “The Sopranos Family Cookbook” and the new “The Italian Slow Cooker” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 240 pp., $22) bought a Crock-Pot — her first slow cooker ever. Scicolone was well aware of the disdain many people have for the homely appliance, and she knew how it earned that bad reputation.“People weren’t using fresh stuff,” she says. “They were using canned soup or a package of this or that. It’s only as good as what you put into it. The first thing I did was make beans. They came out so tender and creamy, just the way I remember having them, infused with the flavors of the herbs and the garlic. Every one was perfectly plump.”The key, say Phillips and Scicolone, lies in browning the meat before you drop it in, cooking with dried herbs, and adding fresh herbs for a last-minute punch of flavor. Suddenly, that slow cooker becomes not just a work horse but the provider of fragrant, braised Basque-style chicken and peppers, tomato-kissed Italian short ribs, kid-friendly tamale pie or pulled pork sliders for that Super Bowl party.“Ethnic flavors really shine in this kind of cooking,” says Phillips. “The French have been doing it low and slow for a long time. The Italians, the Indians, every cuisine has this kind of thing.”There’s an economical element, too. Cheap, tough cuts of meat turn fork-tender. And a slow-cooked pork shoulder will yield carnitas, tacos, pork ragu and other dinners all week long.“If you do that big brisket,” says Phillips, “you’ve got lots of leftovers you can use for other things.”Of course, not everything should go in the pot. Cooking filet mignon in a slow cooker is a waste of money. Bacon-wrapped scallops are ghastly, says Peninsula blogger Stephanie O’Dea, whose “Make It Fast, Cook It Slow” (Hyperion Books, 454 pp., $19.99) cookbook has spent weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. And broccoli that has been cooked for eight hours is about as horrible as you’d expect.But the rest of the menu is fair game. It was créme brûlée that turned O’Dea’s slow-cooker lark — her blog, CrockPot365, chronicled the year she spent using a slow cooker — into something serious. The next thing O’Dea knew, she was on Rachael Ray’s show doing a Crock-Pot créme brûlée demo, and her blog was drawing 15,000 visitors a day. Now the blog has turned into a successful cookbook, and O’Dea is working on a second, budget-conscious volume.“With the state of the economy, the one thing people can control is their food budget — and there’s no easier way,” she says.And with a new baby and two young daughters at home, O’Dea keeps her slow cooker at a steady, burbling simmer. She couldn’t, she says, live without it.

TIPS & TRICKS• Enhance flavor and texture by browning meats and onions in a skillet before slow cooking.• Use dried herbs, not fresh, in slow cookers. But you can punch up the flavor remarkably by adding chopped, fresh herbs at the very end, just before serving.• Don’t peek. Every time you lift the lid, you’re letting heat escape.• Anything that cooks on low in 6-8 hours, can be cooked on high for 3-4 hours.• Even the most economical, sturdy cut of meat becomes tender and flavorful after a long, slow braise, so a slow cooker can help pare budgets. But not every food benefits from cooking in what is essentially a steam bath. Don’t use expensive or delicate cuts of meat or seafood.• Slow cookers can be used for stews, but also risottos, polenta and desserts. Use them to keep mashed potatoes warm or hot dips toasty during parties.• Don’t limit your slow cooker use to the chilly winter months. Use a Crock-Pot during the summer months and you won’t heat up your kitchen.

BRAISED BASQUE CHICKEN—Yield: 6-8 servings

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil10 chicken thighs, skin removed1 1/2 teaspoons salt1/2 teaspoon black pepper2 medium onions, sliced into half-rounds2 cloves garlic, minced2 red and 1 yellow bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices1 teaspoon sweet paprika1 teaspoon dried thyme2 tablespoons sherry vinegar1 cup chicken broth4 ounces Spanish chorizo or sopressata, cut into 1/2-inch dice

Procedure:1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Add chicken to skillet, in batches, if necessary, and brown on all sides. Transfer to insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker.2. Add onions, garlic, bell peppers, paprika and thyme to skillet and sauté until soft, 7-8 minutes.3. Deglaze pan with vinegar and broth, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of the skillet. Add to slow cooker, along with chorizo, and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours (or high 3-4 hours), until chicken is tender and cooked through.

Source: “Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever,” by Diane Phillips

PULLED PORK—Yield: 10-12 servings

1/2 cup vegetable oil1/4 cup red wine vinegar1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar1/2 cup soy sauce2 cups ketchup1 teaspoon garlic powder or garlic salt1 large onion, coarsely chopped2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce1 (5-pound) boneless pork shoulder roast, fat trimmedBarbecue sauce

Procedure:1. Whisk oil, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic powder, onion and Worcestershire sauce together in mixing bowl. Pour into large zipper-top plastic bag. Place pork in bag with marinade, seal bag and turn pork to coat. Refrigerate overnight, turning bag once or twice.2. Pour entire contents of bag into insert of 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 10 hours, until pork is fork-tender. Remove from slow cooker, cover with foil and let rest 15 minutes. Meanwhile, skim off any fat from sauce.3. Using two forks, shred meat, then return it to sauce. (At this point, the pork may be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 months.) Serve warm, with additional barbecue sauce. For sliders, pile the meat into soft rolls; serve with slaw and baked beans.

Source: “Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever,” by Diane Phillips

TAMALE PIE—Yield: 6 servings

FILLING1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed1 (15-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes1 (15-ounce) can corn, drained1 tablespoon chili powder1 teaspoon ground cumin1/2 teaspoon paprika1/4 cup diced onion1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

CORN BREAD TOPPING3/4 cup cornmeal1 1/4 cups flour1 teaspoon baking powder1 cup milk1/4 cup sugar1 large egg

Procedure:1. Spray inside of 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Pour in all filling ingredients  and stir well, taking care to evenly distribute spices.2. In separate bowl, mix corn bread topping ingredients. Pour batter evenly over filling, spreading it with spatula. Cover and cook on low 4-7 hours, or on high 2-4 hours.

Source: “Make It Fast, Cook It Slow,” by Stephanie O’Dea

COUNTRY-STYLE PORK RIBS WITH TOMATOES AND PEPPERS—Yield: 6 servings

4 pounds country-style pork ribsSalt and freshly ground pepper2 tablespoons olive oil2 medium onions, chopped2 large garlic cloves, chopped1/2 cup dry white wine2 tablespoons tomato paste1 cup tomato puree1 teaspoon dried oregano4 medium red bell peppers, seeded, in 1/2-inch slices

Procedure:1. Pat ribs dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. In large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add as many ribs as fit without crowding. Cook, turning occasionally, until nicely browned on all sides. Place browned ribs in slow cooker. Repeat until done.2. Add onions and garlic to skillet and cook 5 minutes, or until softened. Stir in wine and tomato paste and cook, scraping bottom of pan, until liquid begins to simmer. Stir in tomato puree, oregano and salt and pepper to taste.3. Scatter peppers over pork in slow cooker. Pour sauce over meat and peppers. Cover and cook on low 6 hours, or until meat is tender and coming away from bones. Discard any loose bones and skim off fat before serving.

Source: “The Italian Slow Cooker,” by Michele Scicolone

BASIC POLENTA—Yield: 6 servings

1 cup coarsely ground cornmeal, preferably stone-ground1 1/2 teaspoons salt5 cups water (or half water and half broth)Additional water, milk, broth or cream, optional

Procedure:1. In large slow cooker, stir together cornmeal, salt and water. Cover and cook on high 2 hours.2. Stir polenta. If it seems too thick, add a little extra liquid. Cook another 30-60 minutes, until thick and creamy. Serve hot.

Source: “The Italian Slow Cooker,” by Michele Scicolone

Remains believed to be those of Colorado Springs filmmaker David Hames were found Monday in Haiti. Photo by