Slow-Cooker Country Chicken Stew

Comfort food! That is what we need!!! Especially after all of the storms, etc. And wait? ANOTHER NorEaster is predicted for Thanksgiving week in NJ? You don't say. Sigh. I'll start praying now it won't wreak much havoc to our already damaged state.

I made this "Before the Darkness" as some of us are calling the hurricane period. I loved it. My mom & pop-in-law loved it. The tot loved it. I think the cat loved it too. Who did not? My hubby. Whatevahs. This.is.so.good. Chicken fall off the bone good. Make a big pot of it & relax....

<3 Lishie

Slow-Cooker Country Chicken Stew

• 1 1/2 lbs baby red potatoes
• 4-5 carrots, cleaned & cut into thirds
• 4-5 parsnips, cleaned & cut into thirds
• 4-5 celery ribs, cleaned & cut into thirds
• 1 medium onion, skinned & cut into quarters
• 2 lbs bone-in chicken thighs & drumsticks
• 1/2 c water
• 1 TBSp herbs de provence
• 1/2 tsp black pepper 
• 1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
• 3 TBSp cornstarch
• 1/2 c milk

Prep slow cooker with cooking spray. Place potatoes, carrots, parsnips, celery & onion in slow cooker. Place chicken on top of vegetables. Mix water & seasonings in a small bowl until well blended. Pour over chicken & vegetables. Cover.
 

Cook 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
 

Last hour of cooking- combine the cornstarch & milk in a small bowl until smooth. Stir into sauce in slow cooker. Cover & cook 15 minutes longer on high or until sauce is thickened.

Serve over egg noodles.

Swap time! Bloggers Choice ~ Lentil Bolognese

I love these swaps, especially when I find a recipe that I love!!! This week, we have the ever popular "Swapper's Choice" which means our Blog Swap Queen, Sarah at A Taste of Home Cooking gives us a URL of a fellow blogger & we can pick ANY recipe we want to make. It is not easy. Well, unless you, as I do, have had a recipe bookmarked to try.


And bookmarked, I had this gem: Lentil Bolognese. Only thing is, my hubby won't eat lentils or any beans for that matter. When I read Nicole of PreventionRD's post, it struck me as funny because this recipe was one in a week full of non-hubby approved ones. I, too, having the same issue, chose this one to make now for my lunches while off from work a couple of days. I cannot believe I waited so long to make this! It is delicious. The lentils add so much to the sauce. I pretty much stuck to the recipe except I thought I had carrots (well, I had them but used them all in salad not thinking the night before). I love carrots... Next time!


Check out Nicole/PreventionRD's blog- it is wonderful! The pictures are amazing & I love all of the nutritional information. She is a Nutritionist!


<3 Lishie

Lentil Bolognese 

slightly altered from PreventionRD(through My Bizzy Kitchen)

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 c diced celery
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 c low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 c dried lentils (any color – mine were brown)
• 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes with juice
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp dried basil
• salt & pepper, to taste

In a large stock pot, heat oil on medium-high. Add celery & garlic. Cook, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Add vinegar and scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in the broth, 1 c water, lentils, tomatoes, oregano, parsley & basil. Reduce heat to medium & simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes, stirring occassionally. Yield: 6 servings (6 cups).

For Nutrition Information go here. 

Chicken Vesuvio (chicken of volcanic portions)

My family loves this simple, rustic meal. It definitely has a lot of taste, the chicken is juicy, & it's easy to make on a weeknight with my adaptations & preparation methods.

I always need familiar dishes for when I am not feeling well. So I had a whole chicken in the fridge, waiting to be cooked & I was set to make a whole other dish... but not the energy... Enter: Chicken Vesuvio, a Giada De Laurentiis "go to" meal.

I 

I prep it & partially cook the dinner the night before so I can come home, slip my Dutch oven into the oven, & have dinner on the table within an hour.  With this in mind, I began this dish on Wednesday night & finished it tonight- Thursday.
And boy was it delish! :)

Here's what I did:

Chicken Vesuvio

(adapted from Giada De Laurentiis)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 whole Chicken, pieced (Giblets removed)
• S & P
• 1 lb new potatoes, halved
• 2 Celery Stalks, chopped into 2" pieces
• 4 large garlic cloves
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 & 3/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 can artichoke hearts 
• 
  

Heat the oil in large in a Dutch oven (or heavy pot) over high heat. S & P the chicken, then brown the chicken pieces on each side working in batches, about 10 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a bowl. Brown the potatoes in the same pot & then add the celery, saute it for another minute. Add the whole garlic cloves, just smashed. Add the wine, stirring to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the water, oregano, & thyme. Return the chicken to the pot. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.


This is where I turn off the heat, allow the dutch oven to cool, then place it in the fridge, covered first, with plastic wrap. And second, with the lid, to chill overnight till I get home the next day.

Next day... In the door... Oven at 450. Take off the cover & place inside the oven to bake, about 30 minutes, until the chicken is completely cooked through & the entire contents of the pot are steaming hot & the liquid is bubbling. Add in the artichoke hearts & cook, uncovered, for another 10-15 minutes. 


Transfer the chicken to a platter & arrange the potatoes, celery & artichoke hearts around the chicken. 
Serve & enjoy!

*Lishie tips- Placing the dutch oven into bake uncovered allows the chicken to crisp more. 
Adding the extra water allows for this to also be a good slowcooker meal. 
And not adding the butter at the end takes away fat. 


PS- Giada calls it Vesuvio after the volcanic mountain in Italy... for the steam that arises from the pot.

Carrot Salad - a nice change of pace

In the D household, we do salad Southern Italian-style, at the end of the meal. And, even if I don't blog it, we always have salad. It's just there... no point in telling you the greens today are... arugula! Or romaine! Or yes, iceberg, my hubby's favorite. But sometimes, especially when dinner is very "GREEN" meaning the color, not re-purposed, although yes, organic... variety in the salad is a nice change. Enter last night's Carrot Salad. Perfect for a weeknight dinner, a BBQ, a pot luck. Anything. Fresh & good for you!

Carrot Salad

• 1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 TBSp fresh dill, finely chopped
• S & P to taste
• 2 Cups (about 4-6 carrots) of Carrots, grated*
• 1/2 cup (about 1-2 stalks) Celery, finely diced

In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, dill & S & P. Add the grated carrots & finely diced celery & toss, coating the veg well with the dressing. Serve & Enjoy!

*Lishie tip- I box grate the carrots by hand on the large hole side but you can throw them in the food processor.

Recipe Swap! Chicken Cacciatore

Yummy, Rustic goodness!

This week's theme for the recipe swap was: Chicken. Everybody loves chicken & always want a variety so I was happy! I got Laurie's (LaurMS15) choice of Giada de Laurentiis' Chicken Cacciatore.

Laurie says, "Stole this recipe from my mom who adapted Giada's recipe to be her own. It's Chicken Cacciatore." & to serve with bread, a salad or rice or pasta.

The funny thing is, Giada's recipe is very similar to my own (I usually throw in mushrooms & green bell peppers too). I hadn't made it in a while so I was very happy to! Because I was cooking it on a week night & bone-in takes much longer, I used 2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Normally, I'd use chicken pieces, bone in & I'd make it on the weekend or in the crock-pot. I also omitted the capers because they are just too salty for our tastes. And with most recipes, there's some give & take with my health issues. So tomato & wine are both acidic, too much so for me combined... In order to get the a nice taste of both, I went with all of the 3/4 c wine but only a 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes with their juice & compensated with an extra cup of chicken broth (total- 1 & 3/4 cups). One last addition- about 2 TBSp of fresh, chopped parsley...

I really do chop the veg very rustic for this, in big pieces. We love our cacciatore served on egg noodles. A delicious, forgotten meal! It is very filling & comforting. And not too bad for a work, weeknight with my changes- It took me in total, an hour from prep to finish. Thank you, Laurie!

*Lishie tip- Add the basil at the very end as cooking usually destroys the flavor.

*Lishie facts- Cacciatore means hunter in Italian- Chicken Cacciatore is a meal prepared hunter-style. 

BTW- I supplied my Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki Sauce. YUM!