This is the time of year I bring out the crockpot. Meals cooked in the crockpot always seem like comfort food to me, and this is the time of year for comfort food.
For years I've had many issues with the crockpot and hardly ever used it. First, who wants to do all that work of preparing a meal before you go to work? I am not a morning person, so that was never an option. Second, for years, everything I made in the crockpot tasted the same, dull, bland and overcooked. Then my friend Lisa turned me on to a great cookbook, Slow Cooker Revolution. It's published by America's Test Kitchen. They have a show on PBS that I love to watch. I have several of their cookbooks, and get their magazine, Cooks Illustrated. They test recipes, until they find the best version. I have never made anything bad from one of their recipes.
Back to the crockpot. The people at America's Test Kitchens believe, that you need to develop flavors when using a crockpot, which makes a ton of sense to me, since everything is always so bland. This takes a few extra steps, but it's so worth the time. I also discovered, that I don't need to cook things for 8-12 hours. Usually six hours works just fine. No wonder everything tasted overcooked!
So as I said, my other issue was the prep thing. While I am not a morning person, I do get up in the middle of the night a lot--don't ask. I started preparing things at night, putting them on to cook and turning them off when I woke up to use the bathroom. Then in the morning it was cool enough to put in the refrigerator until dinner. If you have a timer on your crockpot, you can just set the timer and it will be cool in the morning. Ok, so you don't get up in the middle of the night, and your crockpot doesn't have a timer. How about preparing the meal at night, putting the ceramic pot in the fridge overnight and taking it out and turning it on in the morning? The heat is very low, so it won't crack the cold crock. That works!
This recipe is an adaptation from another crockpot cookbook and the techniques I learned from America's Test Kitchen. I know, you are looking at this recipe and thinking, "Is she crazy? There are a million ingredients in this thing! How is this quick and easy?" Trust me, it is. The only ingredient I had to purchase for this meal was the olives. Everything else, I had on hand. Check out my pantry page links at the top of the blog. By the way the prep time for this was just 30 minutes.
Just a quick word about the ingredients. Boneless, skinless thighs work best in the crockpot. They have more flavor, and don't dry out, and they are cheaper, but you can substitute breasts, if that's what you have. I get the olives at the olive bar of my Shop Rite, but if you hate olives, leave them out! Remember what I said in an earlier post; these recipes are meant to be adaptable. If you don't like an ingredient, substitute another or leave it out. I use sun dried tomatoes packed in oil. They keep forever, so I always have them on hand. Now you are thinking, "What do I do with all that leftover tomato paste?" I put it into the freezer. Each time I need it, I defrost it for a minute or two and scrape off the tablespoon or two that I need and put it back into the freezer. I use it often to develop the flavors in crockpot meals, so now I always have it on hand! No big deal! Here we go.
1 to 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
1 onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tablespoons minute tapioca
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
12/ cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 lemon, thinly sliced
Begin by chopping the onions and garlic. I use the Pampered Chef chopper and it is a real time saver, and the whole thing goes right into the dishwasher. Combine the garlic, onions, tomato paste, oregano and 1 Tablespoon of the oil in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 5 minutes. This step is where the flavors are developed, so don't leave it out. Transfer onion mixture to the bottom of the crockpot and add bay leaf, rosemary, lemon zest, salt, pepper, tapioca, (for thickening) and sun dried tomatoes. Give a good stir to combine. Put the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Trim any bits of fat off the chicken and add it to the skillet. Cook about five minutes, turning once, just until it begins to lightly brown. Transfer the chicken to the crockpot and cover with lemon slices. Add the wine and chicken broth to the skillet that you used for the chicken. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil, scraping up any bits stuck to the pan. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes, just until the alcohol cooks off add this to the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve over rice, orzo, or noodles. Add a green vegetable and you have a great meal.
Give this recipe a try and let me know how it turned out. Also, let me know any changes or additions you made. Good luck and remember to have fun!
Happy Cooking!
Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie
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