It's back to school time and I'm seeing more and more requests for crock-pot meals for busy parents who want to come home to a meal that's already to be served.
I've posted some others in the past (beef stew, pulled pork, etc . . .) but you can also "roast" an entire chicken in a crock pot and it comes out moist and delicious. And it's easy!
Line the bottom of the crock pot with one onion, cut into large slices, 3 celery stalks, and 2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced in half. Sprinkle with a little bit of salt, just to release the water in the chicken.
Season your chicken as you usually do (here's how I like to do mine -- brining is optional, but does improve flavor and juiciness -- http://judyfoodislove.blogspot.com/2013/10/roasted-chicken.html.)
Place the chicken on top of the veggies, cover your pot, turn it on, and let it cook for 6 hours.
The meat will be fully cooked and fall-off-the-bone tender. But the skin will be (there's no other word for it) flaccid. You can simply peel off the skin, or if you'd like, put it underneath the broiler for 2-3 minutes to crisp it up.
There will not be adequate juices or fond in the pot to make gravy. You could do a little bit of pan gravy with chicken stock if you'd like:
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil, and whisk in 2 tablespoons of flour. Once it's cooked for a minute or two, whisk in a cup of chicken stock and keep whisking until it's reached the temperature and consistency you like. You could use a little white wine or lemon juice for extra flavor as well.
Hope this makes your weeknight dinners a little more special!
Can't wait to try it. We never seem to succeed with crockpot food, in fact my attempts should be called crackpot food, but with your magic touch, I will try again
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