Roasted garlic is a great flavour booster. Now you can make large quantities of it easily, thanks to the slow cooker. (Sun Media/HO-The Slow Cooker Collection)

It's the season to take it slow and easy.

With such an abundance of glorious autumn fruits and vegetables, we truly are enjoying a veritable cornucopia of seasonal flavours.

One of the best ways to enjoy the bounty is by slow cooking the goods. And one of the best kitchen investments is a good slow-cooker — that handy stand-alone appliance that can turn a handful of this, a bit of that into a delicious, slow-cooked work of wonder.

Just out to be enjoyed is The Canadian Living Slow Cooker Collection,(Random House) written by our own award-winning author Elizabeth Baird and the Canadian Living Test Kitchen. It's a treasury of Canadian Living’s best slow cooker recipes, complete with updated classics and brand-new recipes and ideas.

A boon for busy families, slow cooker recipes save time and money, letting you eat better for less — whether you’re entertaining for a crowd or serving up a simple weeknight meal. Many of the dishes can simmer away all day and are ready the minute the family comes in ravenous for good food.

The only thing you need to remember is savour the dish. Slowly!

Enjoy the following recipes.

Five-Spice Braised Pork Loin

Look for a roast with the backbone (chin) removed or with the chops separated at the backbone. From The Slow Cooker Collection.

3 lb. (1.5kg) pork loin centre roast, tied

1/2 tsp. (2ml) pepper

1 Tbsp. (15ml) vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. (30ml) gingerroot

3/4 tsp. (4ml) five-spice powder

1 cup (250ml) sodium-reduced chicken broth

1/4 cup (50ml) Chinese rice wine, sherry or water

2 cups (500ml) pearl onions (one 10oz./284g pkg.)

2 Tbsp. (30ml) cornstarch

Sprinkle pork with half of pepper. In dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat; brown pork all over. Transfer to slow cooker.

Drain fat from Dutch oven. Fry chopped onion, garlic, ginger, five-spice powder and remaining pepper over medium heat, stirring often until onion is softened, about five minutes. Add broth; bring to a boil, scraping up brown bits from bottom of pan. Scrape over pork along with rice wine and pearl onions; stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low until pork is tender, about 5 to 6 hours.

Transfer pork to cutting board; cover and keep warm for 15 minutes before cutting any strings and cutting across grain into chop-size slices.

Meanwhile skim fat from liquid in slow cooker. Move onions to one side. In small bowl, whisk cornstarch with 1/4 cup (50ml) water; whisk into liquid. Stir to redistribute ingredients.

Cover; cook on high until thickened, about 15 minutes. Serve with pork.

Serves 8.

Roasted Garlic

Roasted garlic is a great flavour booster. Now you can make large quantities of it easily, thanks to the slow cooker. From The Slow Cooker Collection.

6 plump heads garlic

1 Tbsp. (15ml) extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp. (5ml) dried thyme

Rub loose paper skin off garlic. If desired, cut off top to just expose tips of cloves.

Arrange garlic, root end down, in a single layer on large sheet of foil. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with thyme.

Pull foil up and around garlic loosely; fold in edges to seal. Place in slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low until fragrant and garlic cloves are tender and golden, about two hours. (Make-ahead: Let cool. Refrigerate in foil packet for up to 3 days. Or freeze packeg in airtight container for up to 4 weeks.

Roasted Red Pepper with Oregano Feta Crumble

Recipe courtesy of Crock-Pot.

½ cup (125 ml) feta cheese, crumbled

1 tsp. (5 ml) dried oregano (or 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) finely chopped fresh oregano)

¼ tsp. (1 ml) freshly ground pepper

1 each: onion, carrot, chopped

½ celery stalk, chopped

1 can (28 oz /796 ml) diced tomatoes, with juice

4 cups (1L) roasted red peppers, skins removed, chopped

4 cups (1L) sodium reduced beef or chicken broth

Juice of 1 lemon (about ¼ cup/50 ml)

¼ tsp. (1 ml) pepper

In small bowl combine feta, oregano and pepper, set aside.

In slow cooker, combine onion, carrot, celery, tomatoes, peppers and broth. Secure lid and cook on HIGH 4-6 hours or LOW 8-10 hours.

Working in batches in blender, food processor or using a hand immersion blender, puree soup mixture to desired consistency.

Return soup to stoneware and hold on WARM until ready to serve. Stir in lemon juice and pepper before serving. Garnish each serving with 2 Tbsp. (30 ml) reserved feta mixture.

TIPS: Use fall’s harvest of peppers or jarred peppers. Add leftovers to spaghetti sauce.

Serves: 6-8

Crème Brûlée

Recipe courtesy of Crock-Pot.

Custard:

¼ cup (50 ml) pure maple syrup

3 large eggs, separated

1 large egg

2 cups (500 ml) 35% whipping cream

Meringue:

3 egg whites

Pinch cream of tartar

3/4 cup (175 ml) sugar

Place six 6-oz (3/4 cup/175 ml) ramekins dishes into slow cooker's stoneware; add boiling water to come half way up sides of dishes.

In medium bowl, combine maple syrup, 3 egg yolks and 1 egg. In small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring cream to a gentle boil, remove from heat: very slowly whisk cream into egg mixture taking care to not add too quickly or it will cook egg.

Divide custard mixture evenly between ramekins dishes leaving 1-inch (2.5 cm) from top; close lid and cook for 1 hour or until set.

Remove carefully using tongs or oven mitts and let cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Place dishes onto baking sheet, refrigerate 2 hours or completely chilled up to 24 hours in advance.

Meringue: Just before serving or up to 1 hour in advance, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form, add sugar ¼ cup (50 ml) at a time and beat until glossy and stiff peaks form.

Preheat broiler to HIGH (500F/250C), pat each custard dry with paper towel to remove any moisture; top each with approximately ½ cup (125 ml) meringue, broil until meringue is golden brown about 2 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to serve or up to 2 hours.

Serves 6.

So what's a slow cooker?

It's a stand-alone appliance with a heating element and a ceramic inner dish that cooks foods with slow, moist heat, allowing the meal to be cooked over a long period of time. The insert is removable for easy cleaning.

Crock-Pot slow cookers are the original slow cookers. Research shows it was the Naxon Utilities Corp. of Chicago that developed the Naxon Beanery All-Purpose Cooker in the late 1960s. Rival Industries bought Naxon in 1970, and reintroduced the product under the Crock-Pot name in 1971. In 1974, Rival introduced removable stoneware inserts. The brand now belongs to Sunbeam Products, a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation.

Slow tips:

- Brown your meats before placing in slow cooker.

- No peaking. Every time you lift the lid you add an extra 15-20 minutes to the cooking process

- Watch the amount of liquids you use - the amount will increase as foods release their own liquids

- Always defrost meat and poultry thoroughly before using in slow-cooker

- Read slow cooker instructions thoroughly before you start.

Courtesy of The Canadian Living Slow Cooker Collection