I drank the chicken Kool-Aid.
Writer buddy, Shannon Stacey has been tweeking with a crockpot recipe that Angela James put on her blog. And while I’d love to have salad and try the French Dressing Recipe along with this chicken recipe–the price of a teeny tiny head of lettuce made me grab green beans instead.
Unlike Shannon, I can cook pretty well. ( Sorry Shan.) If you don’t feel like clicking over to Angie’s blog, here’s the recipe:
Crockpot Roast Chicken
Ingredients:
small roasting chicken (3-4 lbs). I buy mine at Sam’s Club. They’re two for a ridiculously cheap price (like…$4 or something)
about 1/4 cup butter (stick or butter spread)
1/2 package dry Lipton soup mix (flavor your choice)Thoroughly rinse and pat dry chicken. I like to line my croc pot with the crockpot liners from Reynolds because they make clean up much, much easier. Place chicken in crockpot breast down. Spread butter over the top of chicken, a thin layer but cover as much skin as is showing. Sprinkle the 1/2 package of dry soup mix (I like either onion or herb) over chicken. Place lid on crockpot. Turn crockpot on high. Cook for 4 to 5 hours. I baste my chicken usually two or three times during the cooking process but it’s not necessary. If you want to cook the chicken while you’re at work, cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
I serve this with mashed potatoes, gravy (recipe below) and a veggie, often salad with homemade French dressing (recipe below).
To make gravy:
I take drippings from crockpot approximately 30 minutes before it’s finished cooking. Put them in a small saucepan and allow to cool slightly, then skim major fat from the top and discard. Heat drippings to medium heat. Mix two Tablespoons flour in 1 cup of milk and whisk thoroughly. Then whisk flour/milk mixture into drippings slowly and bring to a boil. Let boil for several minutes while stirring to prevent scorching on bottom (if your gravy tastes floury, you haven’t boiled it long enough). Ta-da! Yummy gravy with no other seasoning needed (though I sometimes do a few grinds of the pepper mill into it)
I confess, I have never made gravy with milk–other than sausage gravy when I was in the USAF or SOS. But I’m going to try it this evening and hope all goes well. I figure I can do my Harlequin boards and write and not have to worry about dinner while I do. I love my crockpot and am always looking for new ideas and recipes. How about you? What’s cooking?
EDITED TO ADD:
Oh my! This is sooo good! I added a little bit of chicken broth to the crockpot about halfway through because I was afraid the butter would burn. Made an awesome gravy and there’s nothing left of the little chicken that could. Here’s what my finished meal looked like:
