The crockpot, a cooking tool that I have many feelings about, both positive and negative. Recently I’ve been using my crockpot more on weekends so I can have a good meal, but not feel like I’m slaving in the kitchen all day. The one bonus that Crockpots give cooks, is you can cook food from frozen to hot without needing to worry about thawing time. Today I decided to make an ‘asian style’ chicken in the crockpot.
Looks like a lot, but they work together very well!
You will need:
6-8 bone-in chicken breasts
2 tbsp vegetable hoisin sauce (has less salt)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce (low sodium please!)
2 tbsp agave syrup (replace with honey if you don’t have agave)
1.5 tbsp sriracha sauce
1/2 tbsp seasame oil
2 tbsp szechuan peppercorns (crushed in mortor and pestle)
5 cardomen pods (cracked, but left whole)
1 tbsp lemongrass seasoning (if you can’t find use lemon juice, zest, or broken lemon grass)
2 tbsp moroccon seasoning
2 tbsp minced ginger
salt and pepper to taste
1/5 – 3/4 carton of low sodium chicken broth
Method
This is easy, maybe too easy! Mix all of the ingredients, aside from the chicken in a bowl. Once everything is mixed, put the chicken in the crockpot, and pour the marinade over top. Let cook in the crockpot on high for 5 hours (from frozen).
The chicken ends up coming right off the bone. Its more like a pulled pork consistency, than cooked chicken. If you don’t like this, then I recommend lessening your cooking time, and cooking your chicken from raw vs. frozen.
Also, I don’t recommend using the leftover juices to make any sauce. The downside to cooking food in a crockpot is it renders a lot of fat. Your food in the end is healthier, but it will be virtually impossible to make a sauce that isn’t too oily. When I poured the leftover juices in a bowl, over half of the juices were oil and fat.
Might not look great but it tastes fantastic!
To go along with the chicken I made a potato dish.
Curried Potato Cake
3 potatoes shredded
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp curry powder
How to:
Mix the above in a bowl. Make sure that the curry powder is coating all of the potatoes. Put the potatoes in a hot frying pan with 1 tbsp olive oil. Let cook in stove top until the base is golden brown. Once the base is golden brown flip over. I used a plate to do this, I don’t have the finesse to flip in the pan. Finish cooking for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven. When cooked, cut in cake like pieces. If the curry makes the potatoes too spicy, serve with plain yogurt or sour cream.
Notes and Substitutions
1. Agave Syrup is an popular new sweetner. I find that I prefer the taste and consistency to honey. Agave is healthier for you, but more importantly it doesn’t have the same harshly sweet taste. Agave is harder to find, and therefore honey is still a great option if you don’t have or can’t find agave.
2. Some of the seasonings and pairings that I used might not work for people who don’t like their food with too many spices. If you want it less spicy, I suggest taking out the cardomen, as it has a very distinct flavor, and halfing the szechuan peppercorns, again because their flavor is very distinct.
The Thrifty Blogger 