Crock Pot Chicken Marengo

Chicken Marengo was supposedly served to Napoleon after the battle of Marengo in Italy in 1800.  Don’t know if that’s really true, but I can tell you that it’s delicious.  It can be served over french bread, but we like it over rice.

 

1 whole chicken, chopped up and skinned
salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced or pressed (or 1 tsp minced)
1 cup dry white wine
1 14-1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
12 ounces mushrooms, washed, dried and sliced
1 tablespoon cognac (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

As most crock pot meals, this recipe is fairly simple.Mix salt, pepper and flour in a bowl and dredge chicken breasts in it. Saute breasts in butter and oil until brown.  Place in crock pot.  Add onion and garlic to pan and saute about 5 minutes.  Add rest of ingredients, except fresh basil.  Stir and pour over chicken.  Cook on LOW 6-8 hours or HIGH 4-6 hours. Add fresh basil about 30 minutes before serving.  If using dried basil, add along with other ingredients.  Serve over bread or rice.

Hibernian Cider-flavoured Chicken

Hibernia is the Latin name for Ireland. This braised chicken dish, flavoured with cider and mushrooms, is made with typical Irish foods.

 

1 frying chicken, about 3 pounds, cut up

Salt & pepper

All-purpose flour

3 to 4 tbsp butter

1 slice bacon, diced

1 medium leek, white part only, cleaned and sliced

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1 cup heavy cream

½ cup apple cider

Fresh watercress leaves (garnish)

Rinse chicken pieces, pat dry. Pull of and discard skin. Season with salt & pepper. Dip each chicken piece into the flour to coat lightly on all sides.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces and brown on all sides. With tongs, remove the chicken to a plate and keep warm.

Add the bacon and leeks to the drippings in the pan. Sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms; sauté about 3 minutes. Return the chicken pieces to the skillet. Pour in the cream and cider. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, until chicken is tender, about 35 minutes. Season with salt & pepper, and serve garnished with watercress leaves. Makes 4 servings.

This dish can be made ahead of time, and cooked just before serving.

Home Made Chicken Pot Pie

What's better on a cold Fall night than the aroma of a fresh, hot, home-made chicken pot pie? Sharing it with our loved ones! I had left over chicken from our last Thursday night meal, so I made up this delectable delight. Very simple to make, and it freezes well, too!

Ingredients

1 – 2 lbs chicken breasts (or left over chicken, deboned)

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup frozen pearl onions

1 cup frozen peas and diced carrots

½  cup frozen corn

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken stock (I use home made)

1 cup heavy cream

1 store bought pie crust, unbaked and thawed if frozen

1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Sprinkle the chicken with paprika, sage, oregano, salt and pepper. Heat a 10-inch pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil begins to swirl, add the seasoned chicken and saute until cooked through. Remove the chicken to a plate, leaving the oil in the pan. Rest the chicken for a few minutes, and then chop into 1/2-inch cubes.

To the same pan, add the onions, peas, corn and carrots and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir and cook until the onions become tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Sprinkle in the flour and stir until the flour dissolves into the vegetables and juices. Add the chicken stock and raise to a simmer, stirring until thickened. Once the liquid has thickened, stir in the heavy cream. Season with salt, if needed.

Return the chicken to the pan. Heat everything until warm. Place the bottom pie crust in the pie pan, and carefully spoon the filling into it. Do not pre-bake the curst. Add the top crust, make sure you crimp the edges togeter. Brush the crust evenly with the egg wash. Using a knife, gently cut 3 vents in the top of the crust. Place in the oven and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

We like to sprinkle the top of ours with grated cheese when done. Adds a nice flavor!

Thursday Night Supper: Roasted chicken and fixin's!

Thursday Night Supper: Herb Roasted Chicken, Scalloped Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli, Buttered Brussell Sprouts, Sage Stuffing, Garden Salad, and Fresh Rolls.

Every Thursday night, we switch off with a friend of ours, and have a “family” supper. This last Thursday was here at the house, and we had a great time. I spent the afternoon cooking, and made some delicious food! Nothing was difficult to make. The longest time consuming item was, of course, the roasted chicken. You will notice I list the chicken as a fryer chicken.  I have tried both frying chickens and “young roasting” chickens. Really can not tell a difference, and the fryers are typically $.25-.$35 a lb cheaper!

Roast Chicken

1 Frier Chicken
½ stick butter
2 tbspn Italian Seasoning
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tsp garlic salt
1tsp black pepper
1 large onion, cut in half

Defrost the chicken enough to clean, and pull out the gizzards. At the bottom of the breasts, slide your fingers up under the skin, loosening it all across the breasts. Mix the butter, Italian seasonings, and garlic together. Split the butter mix in half, and slide each half under the skin on each breast. Work it all the way up under the skin, coating the whole breast. Slide the onion into the cavity. Truss the legs together, tuck the wings under. Sprinkle the top with the garlic salt & some pepper.Bake in a 400 oven, basting about every 15 minutes, until a thermometer reads 165 degrees or higher. If it browns too quickly, cover loosely with tin foil.

Rolls

The rolls are the other time consuming item. If you have the time, let them sit for four hours to defrost. Otherwise, how I do it is much quicker. Since the oven is already heated and cooking the chicken, place 2 roll balls into each cup of a muffin tin. Make sure you have sprayed the muffin tin before hand. Place the tin on top of the stove, and allow the rolls to rise as the chicken is cooking. The heat from the oven should be plenty enoughe. Keep an eye on them, as you do not want them to rise too quickly though. If you see they are rising too quickly, move them from the stove top to the counter to rest. When the chicken has about 10 minutes left of cooking, place the rolls into the oven and bake until golden brown.

Veggies

      
1 bag frozen Brussell Sprouts
1 bag frozen Broccoli
1 box Scalloped Potatoes
1 box Stuffing

For the brocolli: place about an inch of water in a medium pot, along with a vegetable steamer wrack. Bring the water to a boil, place the brocolli in the wrack, cover and steam for 7-10 minutes. You want it hot, but not over cooked. If it cooks too long it gets mushy.

Scalloped Potatoes: prepare acording to the box instructions. I place mine on the bottom wrack while the chicken is cooking, as they take about an hour to cook. Try adding some freshly grated cheddar cheese to the mix. This makes them even cheesier, and very tasty!

Bussell Sprouts: In a medium pan, melt a half stick of butter with a tbsp of garlic salt. Add the sprouts, and simmer for about 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through.

Stuffing:

I use a boxed stuffing mix, but accentuate it with my own additions. Before making the stuffing, chop up 2 celery stalks, half a medium onion, and a clove of garlic. Toss these into a pot with about 3 tbsp olive oil, and cook for about 5-8 minutes, or until the onions are clear. Add chicken stock (as much as the box calls for water for the stuffing) and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, add the stuffing mix, cover and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with a fork when ready to serve.

If you time everything right, it should all come together and be ready at the same time.




This is a fairly easy meal to make, and tasty too! As you can see, I doubled the porportions when I cooked, to feed 6 people, and have left overs. The extra chicken I used in the Chicken Pot Pie. THAT recipe is coming up next!