Crock Pot Chicken

I always *want* to use my crock pot more. I just don't know what to do with it. Crock pot meals are always so 'DONE.' And maybe a little mushy. That probably doesn't make sense but I think the food breaks down too much in the slow cooker. My work days are longer than the 6 to 8 hours cooking time that's normal for slow cooking. I know I could get a timer but it's never been really worth all of that. In spite of all this, I used my slow cooker twice this week! And it worked out well.

The first is a BBQ Chicken. Remember the chicken I thawed for the sweet and sour dish?? It was a huge package of bone in chicken breasts (for the sweet and sour chicken, I deboned them) and I had three left. I think I feel better about the slow cooker now. :)

Pulled Chicken

3 Large Chicken Breast
1 Bottle of Sweet Baby Rays Chipolte BBQ Sauce
1 Large Onion, Sliced
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder
1/2 Bottle of Beer

Place the chicken in the slow cooker and place the sliced onions on top. Mix the BBQ sauce with the beer and the spices. Pour over the chicken; cover the pot and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove the chicken breasts and shred using the two-fork method. Return to the pot to coat with the sauce. Serve on fresh bakery rolls (or the cheap rolls in the bread aisle...it doesn't really matter).

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I'm not one to be left out so I needed to get on this sweet and sour chicken bandwagon. Credit goes to Melissa at http://madebymel.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/sweet-and-sour-chicken/ for the inspiration. She credits a few other bloggers for the recipe as well.

I don't cook anything Asian and have it turn out tasting Asian. And when I read things that say 'better than take-out,' I'm thinking yeah, right.... I was going to first make this for my mom on her birthday and then I chickened out; then it was on our weekly menu for two weeks after that but I somehow managed to avoid it.

But then I THAWED THE CHICKEN. And that means commitment in our house! So here ya go. I followed the recipe exactly but next time I would add some red pepper flakes to the sauce. Also I chunked the chicken into about 1 inch cubes but some of the pieces were thinner and smaller due to the dynamics of the chicken breast of course... anyway, Mark commented that he liked the smaller pieces better so I will cut them smaller next time. Oh....one more thing -- I had to read and re-read the cornstarch and egg bit because it seemed backwards to me. But it works -- dredge in cornstarch and then roll them around in the egg. Gives it a great crunch and color.




Sweet and Sour Chicken

Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar ( I used rice wine vinegar)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stove top. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.