Slow Cooker Chicken Provençal

I made you some chicken provençal. I mean, I wanted chicken provençal, but I knew, just as the craving occurred, that I'd write it down and give it to you, my readers. I've made this dish countless times on the stovetop and have taken massive liberties with it (Red wine instead of white? Sacre bleu!), so I know what I'm doing, and I knew it would be simple to translate into a slow cooker recipe.  And simple is what I wanted--no pre-cooking of chicken thighs, no removing skin, no fuss. I wanted to dump it in the pot and go.  And you know what? I succeeded.  This dish is delicious.  I hope you love it too!

Slow Cooker Chicken Provençal
Serves 4-6

6 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, crushed

6 oz white wine

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, with juice

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon herbs de Provence

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tsp lemon zest

1/3 cup kalamata olives, quartered

Minced parsley for garnish

In the bowl of your slow cooker, combine the chicken thighs, onion, garlic, white wine, tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, oregano, herbs de Provence, bay leaf and salt. Cook on low for six hours, remove from heat and add the lemon zest and olives. Salt to taste. Serve over pasta or polenta and garnish with parsley.

Enjoy!

If you want more delicious slow cooker recipes, check out my book, Before Baby!

Caribbean Baked Chicken with Pineapple Pilaf

I've been in the mood for quick, gourmet food, and when that particular craving strikes, I pull out my Cook's Illustrated magazine and America's Test Kitchen cookbooks.  Often, the recipes are too complicated for quick meals and I end up tweaking them to suit my needs.  Frequently I combine their versions with similar ideas from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman or my trusty red-and-white-checked Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

As though in answer to my prayers, America's Test Kitchen has started publishing seasonal 30-minute supper magazines... and I've become obsessed.  I haven't purchased every single one, but I have read them while sitting in my local bookstore.  America's Test Kitchen books and magazines are my new go-to guides on all things meal-related! 

Yet now it's December, and summer seems like a distant memory.  What I have left of summer is my 30-Minute Suppers Summer Edition, and just because I'm unwilling to stand in the frigid air over a grill doesn't mean I'm going to plop one of my favorite cooking resources back on the shelf until June.  We're baking instead of grilling, and I use pineapple instead of mango, but this dish lets me pretend I'm on a tropical beach soaking in the sun!

Caribbean Baked Chicken with Pineapple Pilaf
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers, Summer 2011

1/2 cup olive oil
6 garlic cloves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Salt and Pepper
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 6 oz can pineapple chunks
1 1/2 cups white rice
~2 1/4 cups water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, garlic, cumin, chili powder, allspice, cinnamon, salt and pepper.
3. Place chicken in a small, oven-safe dish and pour half of marinade in, turning chicken to coat. Cover with tin foil and bake 30-45 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
4. Preheat saucepan over medium heat and add remaining marinade, sautéing about 30 seconds or until garlic starts to brown.  Add rice and sauté about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Drain pineapple juice into a large measuring cup and add enough water to equal 2 1/4 cups liquid; add to rice.  Add pineapple chunks to rice, stir, cover and bring to a boil.  Turn down heat to low and simmer ~25 minutes, or until all the water is gone and the rice is soft.
6. Serve the chicken sliced with a bit of the marinade drizzled on top.

Enjoy!

Chicken Fried Rice

On Thursday nights, Ben hangs out with the guys and I usually relax with the ladies.  We call it craft night but really we get together, drink wine and enjoy each other's company.  Sometimes we go out but mostly we gather at someone's house and the host will make a main dish while the rest of us bring sides, dessert and wine.  I tend to prepare spicy chicken soups and robust stews, but I recall one memorable evening when one of the girls' made carne asada.

Unlike the ladies, guys' night almost always involves take-out and the dregs of the pizza, Chinese or Indian appear in our fridge the next morning.  Recently Ben brought home pork fried rice, and while it was delicious, it made both of us horribly sick!

Now, I love fried rice and wasn't going to let that take-out disaster define my fried rice experience, so I decided to make my own.  This recipe is a concoction of what I had in the fridge and is a bit fresher than traditional restaurant fried rice.  I use high-heat safflower or sunflower oil for any cooking above medium heat, because unlike olive oil, high heat safflower or sunflower oil doesn't oxidize at those temperatures and still provides healthy polyunsaturated fats.

Try this recipe as I've written it or make your own additions!  I bet this would be lovely with fish sauce instead of soy sauce--and lots more veggies!

Chicken Fried Rice

1 cup brown rice, 2 cups water

2 tsp high heat safflower oil

1 chicken breast, thinly sliced

1/2 onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, diced
1/8 tsp chili flakes
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 cup pineapple, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce or wheat-free tamari
Hot chili oil to taste

1. Bring water to a boil, add brown rice, cover; reduce to simmer and cook until tender.
2. In a large saute pan, heat 1 tsp safflower oil until shimmering and add thinly sliced chicken.  Cook quickly, stirring frequently until cooked through.  Remove chicken to a bowl and cover.
3. In the same pan, heat the remaining 1 tsp safflower oil over medium heat and add onion and carrots, cooking until tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Add chili flakes, garlic, and ginger and cook until fragrant but not burned, about 20 seconds.
5. Add rice, peas, cooked chicken, pineapple juice, soy sauce and hot chili oil.  Turn the heat up slightly and let cook until slightly fried.

Serve with sake or warm jasmine tea.

Enjoy!

Chicken Provencal

Chicken Provencal

Do you have a favorite fall/winter dish?  Mine is Chicken Provencal.  I love any kind of meat that is stewed for a long time, succulent and falling off the bone, but Chicken Provencal has a special place in my heart.  I think it’s the lavender.  I know that lavender isn't traditional, but it adds a certain je ne sais quoi and a hint of fragrance that I find alluring.

Chicken Provencal cooking with herbs and spices 

Herbs de Provence is a blend of savory, fennel, basil, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, marjoram, oregano, mint, bay leaves and, yes, lavender.  When you look at recipes for Chicken Provencal (and I’ve looked at many), they often indicate that you can leave out the herbs de Provence.  Blasphemy, I say!  What is Chicken Provencal without herbs de Provence?  Nothing more than stewed fowl!

However, there are as many ways to prepare Chicken Provencal as there are little old ladies in France.  Here, I present you with my recipe, but feel free to make your own!  Traditionally, Chicken Provencal is prepared with white wine, but a few weeks ago I had none, so I used red.  It was delicious.  Experiment to find a stewed chicken dish that you love, and let it keep you warm on these cold fall nights.

Chicken Provencal with quinoa pasta and blanched kale

Chicken Provencal

1 whole chicken cut into parts with skin on, or 8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs

2 T safflower oil

½ onion, chopped

7-8 medium garlic gloves or 4-6 large cloves chopped or pressed

1 teaspoon anchovy paste

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup white or red wine

1 cup chicken broth (instant is fine)

1- 15 oz can diced tomatoes

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 T chopped fresh thyme leaves or 2 tsp dried

1 tsp chopped fresh oregano or ½ tsp dried

1 bay leaf

2 tsp herbs de Provence

½ cup nicoise or kalamata olives

1 T chopped fresh parsley

1. Move the oven rack to the lower middle position and pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees F.  Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.  Add half the oil to the Dutch oven and preheat over medium high heat.  Place half the chicken, skin side down in pan and cook until the skin is well browned about 5 minutes.  Flip the chicken with tongs and cook 5 minutes longer.  Remove the meat from the pan, add the rest of the oil and repeat until all the chicken is browned.  Drain off all but one tablespoon of fat.
2. Turn down heat to just below medium and sauté the onion for 7 minutes or until soft.  Add the garlic, anchovy paste and cayenne and cook for 30 seconds.  Add the wine, chicken broth, tomatoes and tomato paste, thyme, oregano, bay leaf and herbs de Provence.  Remove the skin form the chicken and place the meat in the pan.  Bring to a simmer, cover and cook in the oven until meat is falling off the bone, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
3. After the chicken is cooked through, add olives and parsley.  Serve over pasta or rice with a fresh green salad.

Enjoy!

Recipe modified from the cookbook The New Best Recipe from the editors of Cook’s Illustrated