Friday, July 2, 2010

Crock Pot Cookin' Mama


Oh my god. This thing is amazing!! Thank you to Valerie for convincing me to finally get a crock pot. Not that it took a whole hellofa lot to do...Just a cookbook (Make it Fast, Cook it Slow) and some tales about how easy and fast it can be to cook a meal. I had really been missing having some cooked food at home. I always loved to cook and I had been struggling to even make it to the grocery store with Callie to buy pasta! This thing is freaking amazing! The cookbook is based on this woman's blog where she decided to spend a year using her crock pot.

I made my first dish yesterday: Chicken Coq Au Vin. I took 6 chicken thighs (which I'd never used before) some bacon, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, chicken stock, red wine, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper and threw it in the stoneware, set the timer for 8 hours. And that's it! I was able to get it done in about 10 minutes while Bill and Callie were still snoozing in the morning. By the time Bill got home from work it was a thing of beauty. The chicken basically felt apart and it was delicious! I think next time I might try chicken breasts or finding skinless thighs as it was a little oily. I am definitely a convert.
Today it is going to be mediterranean chicken. This one was even faster! Chicken breasts, and some choice items from Whole Foods' antipasto bar: green olives with feta, peppercinis, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes and some diced tomatoes. It took maybe 2 minutes to throw it all in the pot. And voila! If it tastes half as good as it smells right now I'm pretty sure it will be devoured just as quickly as last night's dish!

1 comment: