Crock Pot "Mexican" Chicken For Two

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: Very good.
SHE SAID: Yum!

Years ago before the female half of this couple's cousin married her first husband, he introduced our family to this easy but yummy recipe.  Simple...simple enough for a teenager to make and easy on the pocketbook too.  We believe it was his own recipe.  He made it with sliced canned mushrooms, sliced black olives and shredded cheese melted on the top (baked).  We this without the mushrooms and olives since the male half of this couple doesn't care for them.

Before (forgot to take a  pic of the finished product)

For the salsa part of the recipe, it's really to taste.  Depends on how spicy you like your salsa, if you like it chunky or smooth...we've also made this with homemade salsa.  We normally serve this dish on rice...mmmm, but you can serve with tortilla chips if you prefer.  The amount of sauce you make also depends on how much you like the sauce.  If you're not into sauce, you may want to make just enough to cover the chicken...if you love sauce, make extra sauce for dipping.  The sauce tastes great as leftovers too!

The original recipe calls for the chicken to be baked in a 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour (until chicken is cooked, but not overcooked).  Using the crock pot made the chicken softer, but the sauce runnier.  We probably won't be making this in the crock pot again since the thicker sauce is easier to dip.  If you don't mind the runnier sauce (it doesn't taste bad, just hard to dip) and you're just pouring the sauce over the rice, the crock pot way is a bit tastier and as mentioned, the chicken is very tender.

It was another very busy day, dinner had to wait until 9:30PM, so we forgot to take a pic of the finished product!  Will definitely post one when we have leftovers.

RECIPE:

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 6- 8 hours on low
2-4 qt crock pot (depending on how much sauce you want)

6 - 8 pieces boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cut in half or whole)
2 small cans or 1 large can cream of mushroom soup (again, depends on how much sauce you want)
1-2 cups of salsa (your choice, depends on texture and spice you desire)
1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained (optional)
1 small can diced black olives, drained (optional)
shredded Mexican blend cheese (optional)

Rinse and pat dry chicken.  Place chicken pieces in crock pot.  In a bowl, mix cream of mushroom soup until smooth and creamy.  Add in as much salsa as you wish (we usually use at least 3/4s of a jar of salsa or more).  Mix in mushrooms and olives.  Pour sauce over chicken, be sure sauce covers chicken.  Cover and cook for 7-8 hours on low.  Sprinkle cheese on chicken just before serving...melt the cheese.  Serve over rice or with tortilla chips for dipping...or both!

Enjoy...we always do!

Crock Pot Coq Au Vin For Two

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID:  Good, but needs more salt and wine.
SHE SAID:  Same as above.

We promise, this looked better in person.

We've been wanting to try this Coq Au Vin recipe for a while now.  We used this recipe as a base but had to make a few alterations since our markets don't seem to carry baby portabella mushrooms and fresh herbs are expensive.  We also didn't realize we were almost out of red wine, so we used 1 cup instead.  Next time we may try this recipe found on WholeFoods' website.

Mmmm...bacon...who doesn't love bacon?  :-)  Well, other than vegetarians that is...even though there's almost no nutritional value in bacon.  You'll love the smell of this dish while it's cooking!  This is the first time we're cooking for frozen chicken in the crock pot which is suggested in the recipe, but the WholeFoods recipe as well as other recipes found on the internet suggest browning the bacon, chicken and veggies first to bring out the flavors.  Definitely trying that next time.

Definitely make sure you have 1 1/2 c. red wine for this recipe.  Our batch was good, but you could tell it was missing something and would have been a lot more flavorful.  We're making this again with the 1 1/2 c. red wine.

RECIPE:
Prep Time: 15 - 20 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours on low (most recipes recommend not cooking this dish on high)
4 qt crock pot (because our 2 quart doesn't seem to boil very good unless we use 6 thighs or less)

6 to 8 frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs (depending on the size and how many pieces each person can eat)
6 slices of cooked and crumbled bacon (we used turkey)
4 baby portabella mushrooms, sliced (we used crimini since we couldn't get baby bellas)
1 c. baby carrots
1/2 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 t. kosher salt
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 c. red wine
1 1/2 t. dried thyme

Before

Bake bacon, then crumble.  Place frozen chicken in crock pot.  Layer in all ingredients add the liquids last.  Cover and cook for 8 hours on low.  Halfway through you may want to quickly open your crock pot and use a spoon to push everything down into the liquid.

The recipe said to serve over pasta, which the male half of this couple would have loved, but we had leftover Japanese rice, so we had it over rice.

If you decide to use this recipe, change it to 1 1/2 c. red wine.  We used 7 pieces of chicken.  It was enough for the two of us, plus one leftover serving.

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Provencal for Two

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: Good.
SHE SAID: Very good...tastes like a lot of the other chicken with wine and tomato sauce dishes we've made, but you can taste the anchovy paste!

The male half of this couple doesn't like a lot of sauce on his pasta

We had a half cup of white wine leftover from cooking another dish, so we decided to try Chicken Provencal this weekend.  (Plus we saw a Chicken Provencal recipe in a Crockpot Cookbook at Barnes and Nobles a few weeks ago...mmm).

We were going to make fish, but we ended up having lunch at Nico's on the pier (two fish dishes - one very good and one just ok).  More on Nico's in another entry.  So, with fish on the lunch menu and the rain coming, we decided on something more comfort food-ish.

We decided to serve this on pasta...mmm.  Wine makes everything taste good!  The recipe is another one we tweaked to fit what we could find in our market...and it's actually a sauted recipes, but we decided to throw everything into the crock pot.

RECIPE:
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 7-8 hours on low (try not to cook on high)
2 qt crock pot

6-8 boneless skinless chicken thighs (wash and pat dry)
1 T. olive oil
3/4 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. freshly ground pepper
1/2 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. red or white wine
1 1/2 c. canned crushed tomatoes with juice
1/2 t. dried rosemary
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/3 c. olives (black, nicoise, kalamata or green)
1 t. anchovy paste
pasta of your choice, depends on how much you want and if you're low carb-ing it.

If you have the time, sear the chicken in a pan (use the oil and salt/pepper on your chicken).  Transfer chicken to crock pot.  Layer in onions, garlic, rosemary, thyme, olives, then wine.  Mix anchovy paste into crushed tomatoes, then pour mixture over chicken.  Cover and cook for 7-8 hours.  If you make the larger batch, you'll have enough for one leftover serving.  Serve over a bed of pasta.


Enjoy...we sure did!

Crock Pot Cuban Style Chicken for Two

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: Good, but didn't care for the sliced onions and diced tomatoes (texture)
SHE SAID: Good, could use more sazon

Our intentions were to make some fish in the crock pot this weekend, but we needed comfort food with the rain.  We've made Chicken Fricassee, the Cuban style one before and loved the flavors, so we decided to try a new Cuban style recipe.

The aroma from this dish as you prepare it is wonderful.  We took a recipe we found on the web and tweaked it to what we have available in the market here and added some sazon.

It was good, but next time we may cut down on the vinegar...it was good, but a bit overpowering.  We'll probably add some dry white wine and more sazon next time too.

RECIPE:

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 6-7 hours on low
4 qt crock pot

6-8 pieces boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 small can diced tomatoes
1 c. chicken broth (we used low sodium, free range)
2 T. olive oil
1/2 c. white vinegar
3-4 T. garlic, minced
2 T. cilantro (we used freeze dried this time)
1 T. cumin
1 T. garlic powder
1 t. kosher salt
1 pkg. sazon
avocado, sliced

Wash and dry chicken thighs, placed in crock pot.  Add all other ingredients except avocado.  Stir.  Cover and cook for 6-9 hours on low or 3-5 hours on high.  Garnish with avocado and a splash of vinegar.  According to the recipe we found, the splash of vinegar is a must!

We served over a bed of Japanese rice (because we were making musubis for the next day) and corn.

Enjoy..we did!

Crock Pot Chicken & Artichoke in a Creamy Tomato Sauce with Penne for Two

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: Tastes great, needs a little more zest.
SHE SAID: Yum, yes, lacks zest.

Over the past few weeks we've been putting a lot of thought into cleaning out our homes...purging.  One of the areas we've gone through...the kitchen.  We keep telling ourselves - we really need to use what we have in the cupboards.  The one can that's been haunting us - artichoke hearts.  Seems like it's been there forever!

We found an Artichoke Pasta recipe and made it our own.  It's very tasty, but we both love zesty Italian and although we did add rosemary and Italian seasoning, this dish really tasted like an Americanized pasta dish.  Well, it's probably because the chef forgot to add the seasoning in and threw some in about an hour into cooking and guesstimated on the amounts.  We're planning on fixing the leftovers up by "zesting" it up a bit.  However, the male half of this couple (he LOVES pasta) - he really enjoyed the dish (minus the artichokes).

RECIPE

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 6-8 hours on low (if you cook this without the chicken - 4-5 hours on low)
4 qt crock pot (we think we could've squeezed this into the 2 qt)

3/4 lb boneless, skinless thighs, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 - 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes (you can use diced Italian tomatoes - we use crushed since the male half of this couple doesn't care for chunks of tomatoes and we didn't have time to run the diced tomatoes in the food processor)
1 - 14.5 oz can of artichoke hearts in water, drained and lightly chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. pimiento stuffed olives, chopped in half (or whole)
1/2 c. dry white wine
1/4 - 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream (add in the last 30 minutes)
1/2 lb. cooked pasta (add later, we used penne)
1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese (add in the last 30 minutes)
shredded parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top (optional)

NOTE: If you're using crushed tomatoes, you'll want to add Italian seasoning (2 T.), some dried rosemary (1 t.), maybe some pesto, etc...whatever you'd like to add.  It's really a matter of taste.

Pour crushed tomatoes into pot.  Add chicken, artichokes, garlic and olives.  Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low.  During the last 30 minutes, mix in the heavy whipping cream and 1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese...you'll want to do this quickly since your pot will lose a lot of heat without the cover on.  Sever over cooked pasta, sprinkle parmesan cheese on the finished product.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Crock Pot Pollo In Potacchio for two MEALS

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: Very good!
SHE SAID:  Loved it, but it's not the same as Cafe VIII 1/2's

As mentioned in a previous post, Cafe VIII 1/2 here in Honolulu produces a great Pollo in Potacchio.  We haven't seen this dish on any other Honolulu Italian Restaurant yet.  What a treat!  The chicken just falls off the bone and the sauce is yummy (everything cooked in wine is yummy).

Before

We decided to make a large batch of this for a couple of reasons - the female half of this couple is trying to lower her carb intake, trying to save money by taking "home lunch" to work and wanted to use some of it for a lasagna the next night.

Cafe VIII 1/2 serves this dish with either rice or mashed potatoes.  There are several variations of this recipe online.

RECIPE:

Prep Time:
Cook Time: 6 -8 hours on low
4 qt crock pot

2 1/2 lbs boneless skinless thighs
2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed (we used minced since we have the big pre-minced Costco jar)
1 lg. onion sliced (the male half doesn't care for onions, so next time we will use a small onion or half)
3/4 T. red chili pepper flakes
1 can tomato paste (small can)
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. dry wine
1 c. chicken broth
1 T. dried rosemary

The end product, yum!

We put everything in the pot, but you can season your chicken with salt and pepper, sear the chicken, then transfer to the crock pot.  Here's how we did it and it still tasted great.  Put oil into crock pot.  Wash, dry and place chicken into pot.  Mix tomato paste with wine, pour over chicken.  Put the rest of the ingredients into the pot.  Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low.

We served this with homemade garlic mashed potatoes and corn.  Yes, we love corn!  We had some for dinner and kept the rest for the lasagna we made the next night.

Next time we'll amend this recipe to use less tomato paste, it tasted too "tomatoey" compared to Cafe VIII 1/2's dish.

Enjoy, we sure did!

Crock Pot "Anchor Bar" Buffalo Chicken Strips for Two

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: Very good
SHE SAID: Very good, but should have skipped the flour part...will be making this again and again!

It looked better on the plate next to some rice

The other weekend as show aired on Travel Channel, you know one of those "best of" types.  They mentioned coming up "the original Buffalo Wings" and we're a fan of Buffalo Wings, so the chef of this couple was all ears.  I never bothered to google this, but supposedly Buffalo Wings was created by a woman who owned the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York.  We had to google the recipe.

We found many variations of the Anchor Bar Buffalo Wing recipe and sorry, but can't remember which one we ended up with.  What we normally do is read through several recipes and the reviews and tweak the closest sounding recipe to our liking.

We loved this recipe!  We chose to use boneless skinless thighs even though wings are very tasty...thighs are easier to eat at work.  We followed the recipe, including the flouring up the chicken part, but that didn't go so well in the crock pot.  We realized it AFTER we turned the crock pot on, but by then it was too late to wash the chicken off.  We're posting the recipe minus the flour.

Neither of us has ever tried Anchor Bar's Buffalo Wings, so we wouldn't know if it tastes the same or not.  If you have tasted Anchor Bar's wings and are trying this recipe, let us know if it's close!

RECIPE:

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours on low
2 qt crock pot

6 - 8 boneless skinless thighs, cut into strips (depending on the size, 6 large thighs or 8 small thighs fits into our 2 qt crock)
1 T. olive oil
1 1/2 T. white vinegar
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1/8 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. tabasco sauce
1/4 t. kosher salt
6 T. Frank's hot sauce
6 T. unsalted butter

Put oil in crock pot.  Add chicken strips (or you can leave them whole).  Mix all other ingredients in a small pan and over low heat bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.  Pour sauce over chicken.  Cover and cook for 6 hours on low.

We ate this with Japanese rice (since we had leftovers from the fish the night before) and white corn (our favorite).

Enjoy, we sure did!