I'm on a crockpot kick right now. Crockpots are more than just an easy way to make shabbat meals. They're also great for weeknight dinners when I want to have something hot waiting for me the minute I get home from the gym.
For those of you who don't own a crockpot, they're dirt cheap (the low end starts around $15 these days) and incredibly easy to use. You put in the food. You put on the lid. You turn it on. That's all.
- 1 whole roaster chicken
- 1 pound baby new potatoes
- 3 tbsp oregano
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice (2 small lemons or one big one)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Put the potatoes at the bottom of your crockpot. Mix the oregano, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt into a paste. Loosen the skin of the chicken and smear the paste underneath. Trust me - you want it under the skin instead of over it. The flavor difference is incredible.
Put the chicken on top of the potatoes. This way, the juices will drip down and season the spuds. If there isn't enough room in your crockpot, then put the chicken in first and stuff in as many potatoes as you can wherever they'll fit.
Cook on "low" for 4 - 6 hours. I usually make this at lunchtime and come home to a hot dinner. I've never tried making this before work and coming home to it in the evening, so I don't know how the meat will react to 8 - 9 hours of cooking time. I suspect it'll be fall-off-the-bone tender. If you try, please let me know.
Variations:
- Add 1 tsp minced garlic to the spice mix.
- If you have an open bottle of white wine, pour 1/2 cup over the top of the chicken after the chicken and potatoes are arranged in the crockpot. Always cook with what you drink.
- Slice up 1 white or yellow onion. Spread the potatoes at the bottom of the crockpot, add the onions on top of the potatoes, and the chicken on top of the onions.
2 comments:
It's rare to find other bloggers whose recipes you trust, so I'm delighted to see you're back!
I've been on a dutch-oven kick since I received a handsome Mario Batali enameled number as a gift some months ago. One thing I've learned, that's readily transferable to crockpottery, is to only slow-cook with dark meat. It holds up so much better than white meat, which despite a chef's best attempts, gets dry and stringy -- especially by Shabbat lunch!
I also picked up another tip from America's Test Kitchen w/r/t braising chicken -- sear the chicken pieces over high heat until dark brown to render the fat and develop some nice fond, then discard the skin (or make it a sinful snack) before simmering the meat.
Hi there, Jabbett! Thanks for the kind words.
You're spot on about keeping meat moist in a crockpot. 8 - 12 hours is no problem. A whole day? Well...
For people out there who just don't like the dark meat, I recommend smearing an extra 1/4 - 1/2 cup of olive oil under the skin (regardless of the recipe).
For Shabbat purposes, take Jabbett's advice, or just stick with recipes that are extra moist to begin with. A lot of foods that have a pleasantly liquid sauce thicken up into a nice stew when allowed to cook for a day.
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