17 December 2007

Slow cooking, swaying to the sauces

So I finally did it. I attempted the Tangy Tender Chicken in the slow cooker I talked about last week. Part of my fear of trying this was leaving the SC on all day. That's not usually the thing I do. But I did and it was okay.

Of course I didn't follow the recipe completely, because I never do, and so maybe that's why I wasn't as pleased with it as I hoped. The recipe calls for onions which I hate so I didn't put those in. I don't like mushy carrots but I did leave those in. It also says to only cook for 8-9 hours and I'm at work for 12 so that didn't work either. I wasn't impressed with the chicken...it wasn't tangy, though it was tender. In fact, I thought it fairly bland, but the sauce was good.

So anyway, probably won't be making this one again. But just in case any of you would like to try it and actually make it according to instructions, here's the recipe:

Tangy Tender Chicken
1 pound baby carrots

1 medium green pepper, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 can (20 ounce) pineapple chunks
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
Hot cooked rice

In a slow cooker, layer carrots, green pepper and onion. Top with the chicken. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Place pineapple over chicken. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, bouillon, salt, ginger and garlic powder to pineapple juice; pour over pineapple. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours.

Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into cooking juices. Cook 30 minutes longer or until sauce is thickened, stirring once. Serve over rice. Yield: 4-6 servings.

- 2002 Taste of Home's Quick Cooking Annual Recipes book

5 comments:

jb said...

"this tastes gross. here, try some."

i giggled a little. but thanks for sharing your disappointing recipe with us, anyway. :)

Karen Elizabeth said...

I love reading your blog. :)

~moe~ said...

Thanks, Ellen (JB). :) I love that joke. Thanks for getting this one.

Actually, the reheat today wasn't too bad. And I probably should have used rice instead of the potato flakes I used. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad. :)

But who knows? Try it and let me know what you think. :)

Anonymous said...

Recommendation on slow cookers and being gone longer than the slow cooker needs to cook.

I turn my slow cooker on and plug it into a Christmas light timer, then I set the timer for when I want the slowcooker to go on. I go to work, usually at 9:AM, but I don't want my slow cooker on until 1:00 for supper, so the Christmas light timer is perfect.

You could buy one of the crockpots that has a setable turn on timer, but I'm too cheap when i have a perfectly good crock pot and a cheap Christmas light timer works.

Just wanted to give a bit of advice.

~moe~ said...

Holy crap! CINDA!!! Where are you? How are you?

Thanks for the tip! I'll see if I can find one of those. Good thinking! You're so smart. :)