Kosher Crockpot Herbed Chicken

I whipped this up for a Chicago themed Murder Mystery Party where one of my guests didn't like garlic. Tragic, I know, but it happens. I wanted a crockpot main dish with a nice sauce to put on pasta and a vaguely Italian-American flair without that most stereotypical of Italian spices.

• 6 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 medium onion
• 2 bell peppers (your choice of red, green, or yellow)
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes
• 3 tbsp oregano
• 3 tbsp thyme
• 2 tbsp basil
• 1 tbsp rosemary
• 1/2 tbsp marjoram
• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Mix all of the spices, salt, and pepper together in a bowl.

Dice the onions into small pieces and pile them at the bottom of your crockpot. Trust me on this. If you put the meat straight on the bottom, the part touching the crockpot will end up tough and overcooked.

Sprinkle about 1/4 of the spice over the onions. Top them with a single layer of chicken. Now sprinkle half the remaining spice mix on top of the chicken. Add another layer, then add more spices - it's kind of like making an all meat lasagna at this point. If it looks like you'll need more than 2 layers of chicken, just make sure each layer gets a roughly equal amount of spicing.

Once your crockpot is full of onions and chicken, add the bell peppers. For this, I like them cut into large square pieces - perhaps 2 inches on a side. You're welcome to cut the peppers into strips if you prefer. Either way, spread them on top of the chicken. Now open the can of diced tomatoes and dump it on top of the whole mess.

Put the lid on your crockpot and turn it to "low" for 4 - 5 hours. Resist the urge to peek. When you take the chicken out, the breasts will probably fall into 2 - 3 pieces. You may have to be extra careful with the bottom ones. Oh, the juicyness.

If you're serving this with pasta, polenta, or rice, scoop the chicken out carefully, give the rest a good stir, and use it as a topping. Otherwise, I recommend a hearty bread to help soak everything up.

If you'd like a chunkier sauce, add another can of diced tomatoes after you remove the chicken. (I'd recommend a can of the basil, garlic, and oregeno spiced ones.) Stir well and use the sauce as a topping.

VARIATIONS

If you're making this for a seder meal, I recommend switching to bone-in chicken breasts with skin. They keep their form better when left overnight at a low heat. Rub a generous amount of the spice mix under the skin and coat the outside of the skin with the rest. Pile in as many breasts as you can squeeze into your crockpot. Shove the onions, tomatoes, and peppers in around the breasts. Set the crockpot at "keep warm" just before sundown and you should be in good shape for a hot meal at lunch the next day. I haven't tried this personally, so if you do, please let me know how it works out.

Unsurprisingly, I happen to believe this recipe would benefit greatly from 4 - 6 cloves of minced garlic.

A can of diced chile peppers added when you add the tomatoes could spice this up nicely as well.

Kosher Greek Chicken and Potatoes

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.

Kosher Passover Irish Beef and Beer Stew

Impress the family next Passover with a "Guinness" stew. No kidding. I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I love using it as an ingredient. It does wonders for any kind of beef in a crockpot. All of Ramapo Valley Brewery's beers are kosher, but their award winning HB Brew is also kosher for Passover (and, incidentally, drinkable by people with celiac disease. Some days, I really love modernity.) The tricky part of this recipe is finding the kosher for passover spices. One alternative is to buy fresh, refrigerated spices. If you can't find anything more than salt and pepper, use them liberally and trust the beer to provide the rest of the flavor.

• 2 pounds stew beef
• 2 large onions
• 4 large carrots
• 4 medium potatoes
• 1 bottle kosher for passover beer
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (or honey)
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tbsp minced garlic (or 2-3 cloves)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp fresh black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes

Dice the onions, carrots, and potatoes into large chunks, at least two inches. Add them to the bottom of the crockpot. Next add the meat. On top of that, sprinkle all the sugar and spices. Top it all off with the bottle of beer.

Cook on "low" for six to eight hours. Don't worry about over cooking. If you throw this in the crockpot before leaving for work, it'll be fine if you get home nine or more hours later.

When ready to serve, add the cup of mashed potatoes. Without this, the liquid will be tasty, but the flavors won't stick as well. The potatoes thicken up the stew and bind the flavors together. Like most stews, this one is even tastier after sitting in the fridge overnight.

WARNING

Resist the urge to make this stew too busy. You'll see Guinness Beef Stew recipes with rosemary, basil, marjoram - pretty much any western European kitchen herb. Don't do it. The simpler you keep this recipe, the better it turns out.

FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR

You can substitute 1/4 cup cornstarch well blended with 1/2 cup cold water instead of mashed potatoes. Both perform the same function as thickening agents.