Filed under: Poultry
Kalyn posted her sister-in-law’s recipe for white chicken chili (Amy’s Amazing White Chicken Chili) on Twitter recently, and I knew immediately I wanted to make it. I have a backlog of dinners I want to make when my parents are here — Hot & Sour Soup and Slow-Cooked Tex-Mex Chicken and Beans, to name a couple — but this chili sounded too good to put in the “to try, eventually” folder. I was not disappointed.
I followed Kalyn’s basic recipe, but instead of prepping chicken breasts specifically for the dish, I used leftover roasted chicken from the night before. It was mostly breast meat, with a little dark meat too. I removed all the meat from the bone and roughly chopped it into bite-sized pieces; I wound up with 3 cups worth. Then I picked up her recipe after she explained cooking the chicken. Using leftovers made this chili super-easy, and what a totally different way to make use of a chicken two nights in a row!
Other changes I made: I am apparently out of oregano, so I omitted it. My chiles didn’t say anything about the variety of pepper — I used two 4.5-oz. cans of Old El Paso chopped chiles. Even with this quantity it has a lovely warmth, but is not a gasp-for-beer spicy dish. Next time I would chose fresh jalapeño peppers instead, though I did enjoy the soft texture of the canned chiles. I used 3 cups of homemade chicken stock and did not add the additional flavor base — it didn’t need it. I rinse and drain my beans to cut down the salt content a bit. And I used a lot of cilantro, about a cup, chopped. You can add salt and pepper to taste.
We ate this chili with Bachman MultiGrain Tortilla Chips, the first time I’ve tried this variety. They were excellent and have a better nutritional profile than traditional chips. Me and my parents loved this meal, though not surprisingly the boys wouldn’t try the chili. A. ate a couple of chips, but perhaps because they were brown and somewhat healthy-looking G. could not be convinced to even eat those.
February 10, 2010
I first tried to recreate a restaurant-quality coq au vin at home last May, and although the result was pretty tasty it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. I found using bone-in chicken awkward, since the end result is like a stew, and the bones had to be fished out.
I came across another coq au vin recipe in a Better Homes & Gardens Ultimate Slow-Cooker magazine that I borrowed from Suzanne. It reminded me I wanted to give this traditional dish another go. I preferred this version, but it’s still not exactly right. It definitely needs some more seasoning — black pepper, a bay leaf, or maybe tarragon? Also, I liked the tomato paste called for in the first recipe I tried; it added some depth and nice color that I missed in this one. Plus the sauce in this recipe is very thin at the end. That’s fine if you’re putting it over noodles or rice, but it just lacked the right velvety mouth-feel I was looking for.
I’m posting the recipe as I made it, because my mother in law wants to try making it herself! That’s a lovely compliment to get. Also, A. told me that while this was cooking it smelled delicious, like pancakes. And he ate a whole piece of the chicken, sans veggies. I would make this dish with dark meat only, but I had some people eating with me that prefer white meat, so I used a combination of thighs and breasts.
Slow Cooker Coq au Vin, Second Try
Adapted from BH&G Ultimate Slow-Cooker
1 lb. frozen pearl onions
1 c. baby carrots (a large handful)
2.5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts)
20 oz. mushrooms, cleaned & quartered (I like baby bellas, white are fine too)
1 c. beef stock
1/2 c. dry red wine
In a large (6 qt.) slow cooker, layer the ingredients in the order listed above. Cook for 4 hours on high, then season to taste. Serve over egg noodles or rice to soak up the cooking liquid.
January 29, 2010
I was sure I had nearly a full bag of lentils in my pantry, but it turned out to be just half a cup. This turned out to be a happy mistake. Instead of the two full cups of lentils this recipe called for, I used a quarter of that and then filled in the rest with chunks of washed, but unpeeled, white potatoes from my farm share. They are perfect together, and create a really delicious Indian-inspired dish. Although there are green chiles in here, it’s not spicy, I promise.
I probably would have preferred the onions if I’d taken the time to caramelize them in some olive oil first. I also thought the flavor improved the second day, when my leftovers were reheated. Still, I will definitely make this recipe again, and it inspired me to think some more about other curry dishes for the Crock-Pot.
Crock-Pot Indian-Spiced Chicken with Lentils & Potatoes
Adapted from Indian Spiced Lentils with Chicken
½ c. lentils, picked through and rinsed
1 qt. potatoes (4-6 medium), washed and cut into chunks
1 medium onion, diced
1½ tsp. cumin
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. dried mustard
½ tsp. turmeric
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 4 oz. can chopped green chiles
1 small bunch fresh parsley, chopped
4 c. vegetable broth
1.5 – 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts, halved)
Place everything up to and including the vegetable broth in the slow cooker and give it a stir to combine. Lay the chicken on top. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Stir and serve over rice, if desired.
Note: the original recipe suggests leaving the lid off the Crock-Pot while it is still on high for the last few minutes of cooking if you feel there’s too much liquid left for your taste. I didn’t do this, but did use a slotted spoon to serve.
December 6, 2009
My friend Mae sent my this slow cooker recipe as part of an email recipe exchange, and it turned out great! It is super simple, too.
The finished dish has a bit more liquid than is appropriate for tortillas, but it is perfect over rice, which soaks up all the sweet and slightly spicy goodness. You could try draining off some of the pineapple juice before cooking to decrease the liquid as well.
I used fresh chicken, but Mae uses frozen chicken breasts and cooks it on low for 8-10 hours instead of on high for a shorter period.
Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken with Pineapple
From Mae
olive oil
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 15.5 oz. can black beans, drained
1 16 oz. jar salsa (I use a medium spiciness)
1 20 oz. can unsweetened, crushed pineapple
Brush a small amount of olive oil on the bottom of your slow cooker, and place chicken breasts in a single layer inside. Then pour the remaining ingredients on top. Set to cook on high for 4 hours. After 3½ hours, check that chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken breasts, shred the meat, and stir it back into the slow cooker. Continue cooking for remaining half hour.
November 14, 2009
I made this recipe last week at my friend Jen’s suggestion. What I love about getting recipes from friends, or from sites with lots of reviews for each recipe, is that you have some idea ahead of time of how to adjust the dish to maximize its potential. For instance, Jen told me not to cook it for as long as the recipe said, and that she would cut down on the wine next time because that flavor was a little overwhelming. OK, done.
We liked this dish a lot. The short, high temp cooking time helped the chicken breasts stay firm and much less mushy or mealy than they can sometimes get when cooked slow and low in a CrockPot. Although I’m not a huge fan of sweet potatoes, they worked well here. You must cut them into pretty chunky spears so that they do not disintegrate during cooking. I served this meal with some dinner rolls, which we used to mop up the sauce. Next time I might add some cornstarch at the end of cooking to thicken up the liquid, or else serve it over something absorbent, like rice.
Slow Cooker Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
Adapted from Chicken and Sweet Potato Stew
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into spears
8 oz. Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
2 medium onions, quartered
4 cloves garlic, peeled (keep whole)
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half width-wise (1.5 lbs.)
1 c. vegetable stock
1/2 c. dry white wine
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Add vegetables to the crock, and then arrange the 6 pieces of chicken on top. Pour the stock and wine over everything, and sprinkle it with the thyme.
Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or until sweet potatoes are soft and chicken is cooked through. Stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. Serve over egg noodles or rice to absorb the cooking liquid.
November 10, 2009
This original recipe, Cabbage with Turkey Sausage, fit my needs: I wanted a slow cooker dish that could use up the three-quarters of a large cabbage I had from my farm share. (I gave the remaining quarter or so of it to my parents for Cashew Cabbage Slaw with Sesame Dressing.)
I added an extra half cup of apple juice and omitted the sugar (seemed like it would be sweet enough from the juice alone). Because the sausage I used was pre-cooked, I added the 12 oz. package of Neshama Kosher and organic Country Apple chicken sausage about 45 minutes before the end of cooking — just enough to let it warm through, release some of the fat into the dish, and both impart some flavor to the cabbage and take on the flavor from the apple juice and mustard.
This was surprisingly delicious! It is really unappealing visually, though — not sure what can be done about that. The cabbage cooked perfectly; it wasn’t mushy but still soft enough. The combination of the sweet apple juice and slightly spicy mustard was very nice together. The cabbage alone without the sausage would likely make a good vegetarian side dish, also. Next time I would add more mustard. I used a whole grain Dijon, and I liked both the texture of the mustard seeds and the bite of it here.
Although I wouldn’t buy a cabbage specifically to make this recipe, it is definitely worth a repeat if I get one through my CSA again.
November 5, 2009
This is one of those easy but time-consuming recipes, and it was anything but relaxing cooking it because I could hear the boys on a wild rumpus in the other room while my family tried to rein them in. I don’t know what got into them today, but I am hoping they sleep it off.
Us adults really liked this recipe. The flavor is very assertive because of the olives and onions, but those are ingredients we enjoy. I wiped off a piece of chicken for A., which he ate several pieces of while I pondered whether we are well past the point where I should wiping “stuff” off of food for him. At least he got some protein with his whole wheat egg noodles; G. declined to eat anything. Not even the plain noodles. He made some half-hearted attempts at getting a snack before bed, but was easily dissuaded when I told him he was welcome to the dinner I’d prepared, and that was it. Best of all was my little niece’s response to the meal: she wiggled in her seat, eating the chicken and pasta and singing, “Happy, happy, happy!”
Thankfully it was just us womenfolk eating with the boys tonight — during our dinner conversation we discovered that pretty much none of the men in our family on either side like olives. I won’t offer them any of my leftovers.
Lemon Chicken with Green Olives
Adapted from Real Simple
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. AP flour (or white whole wheat)
1 tsp. cumin
2 lemons, zested and juiced
1 tsp. salt
black pepper
2 medium yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 c. dry white wine
1 7.5-oz. jar green olives, pitted (about a cup)
1/2 c. fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
Trim and rinse the chicken breasts, and pat them with a paper towel to dry them thoroughly. Set aside.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Combine flour, cumin, lemon zest (NOT the juice), salt, and a good measure of pepper in a small bowl, and then spread the mixture out on a dinner plate. Lightly coat each chicken breast with the seasoned flour on both sides, and then add to the hot pan. Cook the chicken for about 5 minutes on each side, until it is golden brown (it does not need to be cooked through). Remove chicken to a clean plate.
Add sliced onions to the same pan (you don’t need to clean it out first), and cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until they are soft and golden. Add remaining ingredients plus the reserved lemon juice, and raise the heat to bring the liquid to a boil.
Place your chicken back in the pan, arranging the onion and olive mixture on top of the chicken if necessary, and cover. Lower the heat and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.
October 29, 2009
Thursday night I made Chicken with Mushrooms & Peas. I got the seasoning right this time, but I used too small of a pan to cook it all and so the veggies were a little wet. Still, the mushrooms and peas could stand up to the slight sogginess, and it was a very welcome dinner on a chilly, rainy day. I served it with carnival squash from my CSA (similar to acorn squash) — halved and roasted cut-side down at the same time as the chicken.
I sliced up some of the chicken breast in the kitchen so that the boys could have it plain — I thought if they saw the chicken covered in the vegetables they’d immediately get turned off. After some initial complaint, A. tasted a piece and then couldn’t stop exclaiming how delicious it was. He also threw in a few “I love you, Mom”s for good measure. (Heaven!) G. was more reluctant to taste it, but J. surprised us all by arriving home early, and was able to gently coax him into eating a few bites along with some challah.
October 18, 2009
I really enjoy this Chicken and Figs recipe, which combines bite-sized pieces of chicken with figs, onions, and garlic in a vegetable broth-based sauce. With the cooler weather last week it was a perfect fit for dinner even though I felt like I was in the kitchen forever preparing it. However, getting to say “figlet” over and over makes up for the labor. Figlet. Don’t be discouraged, it’s an easy recipe and a good one to add to your repertoire for fall and winter.
September 13, 2009
I found this recipe for Eazy [sic] Greek Chicken & Orzo on Tasty Kitchen, a new cooking community developed by Ree, The Pioneer Woman. If I had to describe it in two words, I’d say: bland and gloppy. The predominant taste was of tomato, and it just reminded me of something soft, warm, and mild that you’d want to eat while recovering from an illness. Not offensive in any way, just so blah. That said, my other adult diners that night liked it a lot and took seconds! So my opinions was not universally shared.
I still like the idea of this recipe, so here’s what I’d do next time: I’d caramelize an onion in some olive oil, and brown bite-sized pieces of chicken breast in the same pan until it was golden brown. Then I’d add the tomatoes, vegetable or chicken stock instead of the water, and the orzo and spices. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the orzo is completely cooked, and then stir in the olives. I’d also add some spinach for color and to bump up the veggies. In fact, that preparation sounds so good I may just make it again next week for comparison.
I know Cristen at Savory But Sweet was planning to make the same dish for the first time this weekend, and I was able to tell her my impressions after I’d cooked it but before she did, so I’m eager to know how her version turned out.
August 9, 2009
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I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two boys, ages 4 and 6, and husband. Trying to feed my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 