Crockery Cookery
Last weekend I knew that I would be really busy so I looked for a way to do dinner without "doing" dinner. I am famous for buying appliances and then deciding after using them once or twice I wasn't that happy with them. There is an exception to every rule and I have one; the Crock Pot. I have been married almost 27 years and still have the very first crockpot that we were given. It's the kind that you can't take the ceramic bowl out of to wash, so it got little use. What a pain in the keester.
I was cruising through Sam's one day and saw a Crock Pot on sale for around $50. I checked out the box and it had the removable kind of bowl and a second bowl that was divided into a main dish and the "what ever" section. I am guessing the "what ever" is meant to be a side dish of some sort to accompany the entree. I have never used that bowl but maybe some day I will.
I love things cooked in my Crock Pot. Since I am trying to lose more weight I had to find something that would come close to a Weight Watchers recipe. I found such a recipe in the book Mable Hoffman's Crockery Cookery.
The recipe is called Chicken Cacciatore. It was so simple and it really was great when it was done. As usual I didn't really follow the recipe. Why should I change now?
Chicken Cacciatore
Serves 5-6
1 (2 ½ to 3 ½ pound) broiler-fryer chicken, cut up
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp dried basil or oregano
½ tsp lemon
¼ tsp salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup rose wine
1 TBS sugar
½ green bell pepper, sliced
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup mushroom, sliced
Cooked pasta
I threw in all the ingredients in, covered the pot, set the timer and walked away knowing that dinner was going to be ready when I said so! The especially nice thing about this crock pot is the fact it has a timer for 4, 6, 8 and 10 hours of cooking. The recipe called for 5-6 but I set it for 8.
I threw in all the ingredients except the pasta and just let it go all day. We did eat the dish over pasta. I had bought the Garlic and Basil Penne pasta from Trader Joe's so we ate that. I have to say that my kitchen smelled like heaven while the chicken was cooking all day. Later while the pasta boiled, my mouth got watery smelling that in conjunction with the Cacciatore. I will warn anyone who does do this dish to be aware about how tender the chicken and how you will have to pick for bones before you eat too far into the chicken. I could not get it out of the crock pot without it just falling off the bones. That part was tricky, but well worth it.
posted by vlb5757 @ 3:48 PM
7 Comments:
What is a crock pot really? never heard of it! I kind of deduce from what you write that it cooks for hours, presumably on low temperature, or maybe there is a timer?
Btw, did you see that you have inspired me to create a meme? Yet another reason for you to blog on!
I do not own a crock pot. I guess I'll have to wait until my marriage to get one LOL. But my mother has one and only uses it for two dishes--chilli con carne AND shrimp jambalaya. Perhaps I could pass along your recipe to her so she has another recipe to use HER marriage-received crock.
I own a crock pot, but I haven't used it as much as I should. Maybe I should crack my cookbook open! Sounds good, but I never buy rose wine...I wonder if I could use white?
I've never owned a crockpot 'till meeting my husband- he's got the same, old-fashioned one as you. Brick red, and a non-removable pot. We use it very infrequently.
The cacciatore sounds like good stuff, though!
Melissa, I grew up eating things from slow cooking pots and this is just the modern way of doing it and I LOVE IT! Anything that makes life easier and I can still eat on program!!
Ilva-you are correct about what a crock pot is. It slowly cooks your food. Mine has four settings. The shorter time 4 hours is considered hottest of the four times. If you look closely at the crockpot in my picture, you can see the little numbers that say 4, 6, 8, and 10. The book that I used tells you a time and you can set the crock pot to do that. The recipe I used said 5-6 hours but I wanted it to go longer and it didn't affect the recipe at all.
Dica-don't wait to get a crockpot. It's great for a single gal. You can do things on the weekend and then eat on them during the week. I used to do that when we had no kids. Once the kids came the minute it was cooked-it was GONE! Boys have hollow legs.
Dawn-you can use whatever kind of wine you want. I think I would use a white if I had a lemon based sauce. It doesn't even need wine if you don't have it. I think I used Merlot. I don't buy Rose either!
S'kat-I knew that my husband was all about the food when he gave me a Toaster Oven before we got married. What kind of guy gives that kind of a gift?? One who prays the woman he is about to marry can cook. Mine made a bad assumption! LOL!
Oh Vickie, this looks lovely! I absolutely love chicken cacciatori and after coming home from eating at chain restaurants for a week and yearning for healthy, homecooked foods, this is a recipe I will have to make! I also don't use my crockpot nearly enough! It looks like you've been busy! I love Trader Joes - what wonderful purchases you've acquired from there! I also like your culinary challenges list and there are many of them I would like to make as well and have no idea how to make them! You really should definitely use your homemade pasta machine more often (it's soooo yummy) and if you're looking for a mellow fish to try, try halibut. It's very mild, and delicious. If you don't like salmon, there are lots of other fishes to try! I'll drop you an email soon!
Michelle!!!! I am so excited that you are finally home. I check your site everyday. I am looking forward to your posts again.
I love Halibut but rarely cook it. So I will do the fish "thing" here shortly. The weather has been so mild here that we can still cook outside on the grill. This weekend might be the time...glad you are home safe and sound!!!
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