Kelly Rossiter
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I know I've whined a bit in the last few weeks about having a bad cold. Well, all my heavy-duty coughing has resulted in a broken rib, which is astonishingly painful. The crock pot has been a real life saver for me over the past two weeks, because I can get an easy meal started in the early afternoon when I still have a bit of energy, and then I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the day,
Not only that, but I'm happy to be using The Canadian Living Slow Cooker Collection, which is a cookbook aimed at families. There are lots of recipes that taste very good, but don't have a lot of complicated flavours, which appeals to kids and to people with mending bones. The chicken recipe I'm sharing today is a perfect example. This is a dish my kids would have loved when they were younger, and my husband and I quite enjoyed it. I have to admit that by the time dinner time rolled around I couldn't get myself together to chop the green pepper and add it, but it was fine without it. There was lots of sauce with this recipe to spoon over rice or asian noodles.
This cookbook is also very economy-minded. All of the chicken recipes call for chicken thighs, partly because the authors felt that thighs gave the best results, but also because it's the cheapest part of the chicken. My husband just doesn't care for dark meat, so I used chicken breasts instead.
Soy-Glazed Chicken Hot Pot
2 tsp vegetable oil
8 chicken thighs
1 cup mushrooms, halved
1 onion, sliced
1 piece ginger, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
pinch hot pepper flakes
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup sodium-reduced soy sauce
1 tbsp granulted sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 sweet yellow or green pepper, chopped
1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown chicken, in batches if necessary. Transfer to slow cooker.
2. Drain fat from skillet. Fry mushrooms, onions, ginger, garlic and hot pepper flakes over medium heat, stirring occasioanlly, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Scrape into slow cooker.
3. Add chicken broth, soy sauce and sugar to skillet. Bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Scrape into slow cooker. Stir to combine.
4. Cover and cook on low until juices run clear when chicken is pierced, about 4 to 5 hours. Skim off fat. Move chicken and vegetables to one side.
5. In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch with 1/4 cup water; whisk into liquid in slow cooker. Stir in yellow pepper. Cover and cook on high until thickened and pepper is tender-crisp, about 15 minutes.
Difficulty Level: Easy
From The Canadian Living Slow Cooker Collection by Elizabeth Baird and the Canadian Living Test Kitchen
More Crock Pot Recipes
A Crock Pot Recipe for a Cold Day: Puttanesca Sauce
Crock Pot Beef Stew Perfect for a Rainy "Summer" Day
Make White Beans with Rosemary in your Crock Pot
