Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

Well, I guess it is still winter, so let's make slow cooker chicken stew.

What I love about the slow cooker (a statement I never thought I'd make) is that you can really throw any combination of meat, broth and veggies in it and end up with a lovely satisfying meal with little to no effort. At the end of the day (literally) you can serve up a wonderful meal that satisfies both young and old alike.

I've added a ton of root veggies, some porcini mushroom stock, and lots of garlic for a very tasty and hearty stew. The veggies and mushroom stock add an earthy sweetness to the final product.

My neighbors have a ten month old baby. I offered some of this stew to him and he went crazy. He was eating with two hands, the meat, the stewed fennel and the carrots. He made all sorts of appreciative noises, too, and kept reaching for more. I couldn't ask for a better endorsement of the tastiness of this stew.

Well, I got one. My 14 year old daughter was skeptical at first, based on the not-so-pretty-ness of the chicken itself. Once I shredded it up and convinced her to give it a try, she was hooked. The meat was juicy and sweet and tasted of all the great veggies that surrounded it while it cooked.

If this slow cooker chicken stew can please kids aged ten months to 14 years old, then I think it's well worth making. Oh, and of course, the adults loved it, too.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

serves 8

Ingredients

  • 6 strips bacon, cut up into small pieces
  • 3 onions, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 2 carrots, peeled and cut into thick rings
  • 1 bulb fennel, fronds and hard ends removed, cut into chunks
  • 1 bulb garlic, skin removed, cloves crushed
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 2 sprigs fresh sage
  • 2 sprigs fresh oregano
  • 20 oil cured olives, pits removed
  • 6 chicken thighs
  • 1/4 cup rice flour
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil (or bacon grease, if you have it)
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 to 2 porcini mushroom boullion cubes (or you can replace the 1 cup of water with wild mushroom broth)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Method:

  1. Dry the chicken thighs and coat each piece thoroughly in the rice flour.
  2. Put the diced bacon in a small saucepan and over with water.
  3. Boil the bacon in the water for ten minutes, drain, dry and set aside.
  4. Heat a large skillet over medium to high heat.
  5. Add the bacon fat (or olive oil).
  6. Place each chicken thigh in the hot pan, skin side down. Do not crowd the thighs, you may need to cook them in batches, to make sure there is enough space in the pan.
  7. Cook on the first side for 5 minutes, then flip the thighs over and cook for an additional five minutes. Remove to crock pot and set aside.
  8. Once all of the chicken has been browned and removed, add the root vegetables and the boiled bacon to the hot pan. Brown on all sides, making sure to scrape up all the flour onto the veggies.
  9. Add the vegetables and bacon to the slow cooker, arranging the chicken to rest slightly on top of the veggies.
  10. Add the chicken stock and the porcini boullion cube to the hot pan, cooking long enough to dissolve the boullion.
  11. Pour the stock over the chicken and vegetables in the slow cooker. Add water to cover, if you haven't got enough liquid to get to the minimum fill line.
  12. Turn the slow cooker on to low and cook for 6 hours.

Perfect for Warm Weather: Slow Cooker Coq au Vin

Stews and soups seem odd for spring and summer cooking. If I can throw everything into a slow cooker at the start of a beautiful day, head outside, enjoy the weather and get home and have a meal waiting for me, I say "Huzzah, bring on the slow cooker!"

These nice long days are getting me outdoors more, leaving me a little less time to cook. The slow cooker sitting in my pantry has been calling my name. It's the perfect solution for a beautiful day. Just a half hour of prep, including a little bit of browning, and I was out the door with a promise of a great tasting coq au vin waiting for me at the end of the day.

I'm still figuring out proportions on my slow cooker recipes. Coq au vin is one of my favorite stews, so I thought I'd give it a go in the slow cooker. If you want to add or subtract some of the tomatoes or red wine based on successful slow cooker recipes you've used before, feel free to do so. And, get in touch with any slow cooker tips, especially about adapting standard recipes to slow cooker style recipes.

I have a friend (who blogs at Weekends So Sweet) that does quite a bit more slow cooking than I do. She has experimented with not browning ingredients before slow cooking and has had good results. Just wanted to mention this because a lot of these recipes end up looking like they have a lot of steps, but they can be simplified. I look at slow cooking as a good place to experiment. I've only had one real disaster (involving several acorn squash that just looked and tasted horrible after 8 hours on low in the slow cooker). For once, my attitude of throw it in the pot and see what you get can work here as real advice.

So get outside, enjoy yourselves and come home to a warm nourishing meal!

Slow Cooker Coq au Vin

Ingredients

  • 6 chicken thighs
  • 1/2 pound cooked bacon, chopped into pieces (cooking method here)
  • 2 cups red wine
  • 1 onion diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 to 2 cans canned tomatoes
  • 2 sprigs fresh oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
  • salt and pepper to taste

 Method

  1. Heat a large skillet over high heat, adding olive oil (or bacon grease if you have it) just before the pan is smoking hot.
  2. Salt and pepper the chicken thighs and place them in the pan, skin side down and cook for 5 minutes on high.
  3. Turn over the thighs and cook another 5 minutes.
  4. Place the thighs in the slow cooker along with the cooked bacon.
  5. Return the pan to high heat and sauté the garlic and onions until softening, and just turning brown.
  6. Add the onions, garlic, wine, tomatoes and spices to the slow cooker.
  7. Set the slow cooker on low for 8 to 9 hours.
  8. Serve with boiled potatoes, salad or over egg noodles.

 

 

Chicken, honey? Sure, but it's Honey Chicken.

One night, a few months ago, just when I started shooting almost every meal I made for this here site, my friend came to dinner.

She is a lovely tiny woman. But she can eat. Which is just the kind of friends I love to have. When she arrived, I realized I hadn't come up with a main dish. There were some chicken thighs in the fridge, so I started there. As I thought about what else I had in the house, I came across some fresh oregano and sherry vinegar. The recipe began to form in my head, all I needed was some lemon and a bit of honey and we were off and cooking.

It's a simple affair, if a little messy. I started by heating a pan to super hot, added some oil and salt and put the chicken thighs in skin side down. The fat splatters, so be ready for a little bit of cleanup. The extra step of searing these on the stove top before baking them makes the skin come out super crisp and delicious.

The key to this dish is the combination of the honey, sherry vinegar and oregano. You add these just before the chicken goes into a hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes. And let me tell you, the chicken comes out moist, a little sweet, and very tender. I served it with some roasted brussels sprouts and a quinoa salad. Most delicious.

This past weekend, I found myself with some chicken thighs and recreated the dish for my daughter. She ate two pieces and asked that I save the others for her dinner the next night. A hit, if I do say so myself, and a dish that is so quick to make, I can do it on a weeknight while helping with homework.

So if you are asked "Chicken, honey?" I hope that you respond "Sure, but it's Honey Chicken."

Honey Chicken with Oregano and Sherry Vinegar

makes 4 portions

Ingredients

  • 4 Chicken thighs, skin-on and with bones
  • 4 Tbsps Olive Oil
  • A pinch of Salt
  • 3 sprigs fresh Oregano (or 1 tsp Dried Oregano)
  • 3/4 cup Sherry Vinegar (Red Wine Vinegar works here, or just some leftover White Wine is good, too)
  • 2 Tbsps Honey (I like the dark amber kind)

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Heat up a large non-reactive skillet over high heat.
  3. Put the olive oil and salt in the pan once it is super hot (technical term).
  4. Place the chicken thighs in the pan, skin-side down.
  5. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the skin starts to curl up on the edges.
  6. Turn the thighs over. Cook for 1 minute more.
  7. Turn off the heat. Add the sherry vinegar.
  8. Turn the heat back on and cook for 2 minutes.
  9. Add the honey, turn off the heat and put the pan in the preheated oven.
  10. Bake on the top rack of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the chicken juice runs clear.
  11. Remove from the oven, let rest for 5 minutes, and then dig in.