Sunday, July 15, 2012

Crockpot Country Chicken


I love cooking in my crockpot. Especially during the summer when I don't want to heat up the kitchen by using the oven.
I receive a book about 2 years ago called "The Slow Cooker Bible" and there are several pages that are dog eared and stained from use already. I hadn't tried this particular recipe before but, now that I have, it may be a new favorite.
I love that most crockpot recipes are super simple, ie: throw everything in the pot and go watch a movie.
This one is no exception.
Super
De Duper
Simple.

Crockpot Country Chicken
(adapted from The Slow Cooker Bible)

Ingredients
4 carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
4 stalks celery, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
6 - 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, quartered
1 tsp dried tarragon leaves
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
salt & pepper
1 can (~10 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup (not diluted)
1 envelope (~1 oz) dry onion soup mix
1/3 cup cooking sherry (or white wine)
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Directions
Place carrots, celery, and onion in bottom of crockpot.


Arrange chicken breast pieces over vegetables and sprinkle with tarragon, thyme, and salt & pepper.


Spoon cream of chicken soup over chicken and sprinkle with dry onion soup mix.


Cover, cook on high for 3 - 4 hours, stirring once during cooking.
Blend cooking sherry (or wine) with cornstarch, whisking in a small bowl until smooth. Stir into the crockpot. Cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes - or until sauce thickens.


Serve over rice or pasta or egg noodles.


It really is that easy.
I have a little note about this recipe.
Well....about crockpots in general.
I find my crockpot cooks really fast.
I had it on low and it still only took about 3 hours to be done. I was thinking I had a good 5 hours on low...but...nope. Done in 3, on low.
It can be hard to plan when to start my crockpot as it cooks so much faster than most recipes state.
What I am trying to say is - know your crockpot. Learn how fast it cooks so you can plan out when to turn it on.
Because this was done in 3 hours on low in my crockpot I had to turn it to "warm" for the another hour until dinner time. It wasn't overcooked at all and the chicken was soooooo tender you could cut it with a fork.
OH...and...if you don't want to use alcohol in this dish you can just use apple juice.

Stop by Ms. enPlace and Hun...What's For Dinner and Carole's Chatter for some great links!

39 comments:

  1. How many people does this recipe feed?

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    1. That's going to depend on serving size, etc... BUT, that being said, I fed 6 people with this and had some leftover. (I used 6 chicken breasts when I made it)

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  2. Thanks for linking up this week. I agree about knowing your crockpot. Mine is old and temperamental. cooks sloooow on low and super fast on high. No middle ground there! I love the idea of having this meal during the summer...thanks to the crockpot not heating up the kitchen.

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    1. My crockpot is my best friend in this rediculous heat! Thank you for hosting again :) Have a great week.

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  3. Congrats! Your Crockpot Country Chicken was the most viewed link (by far!) from last week and will be featured @ this week's See Ya In the Gumbo.

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  4. This looks amazing! Can't wait to try it.

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  5. I tried this last night, and it turned out pretty good once I figured out that using the high setting on my crockpot was too high. It almost dried out after about 2 hours. I added water and turned it to low to cook for a couple more hours. It turned out very good after all. My crockpot is older than God (seriously, I've had it since 1983), but it still does a pretty good job!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it! Those crockpots can be tricky! lol

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  6. Super Yummy! I added fresh mushrooms with the veggies! Definatley going to be made frequently at our house!

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    1. I like the addition of mushrooms! I think I will try that next time :) glad you enjoyed it.

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  7. I tried it but used cream of chicken turned out wonderful

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    1. We used cream of chicken too! It's so yummy :)

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  8. I think adding small yukon gold potatoes might work to make it like a stew and skip having to cook separate noodles or rice...I am making this for a potluck.

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    1. Ooooh! Great idea. I think I will give that a try next time I make it. Thanks for sharing :)

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  9. I just totally messed up the last step meaning I didn't read all the way through so I mixed all the ingredients in the crock pot:( I am hoping for a good turn out anyway!

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  10. Making this as we speak.. Looks good .. Will comment later

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  11. Do you have any ideas to add other than any "cream of" soups"? My husband cannot have any dairy which means no yummy "cream of" soups.

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  12. Made this for supper tonight...it was a big hit! Thank you for sharing this recipe.

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  13. Made this for supper tonight was great except a bit too much onion flavors so next time will eliminate onion soup mix and reduce amount of chopped onion.

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  14. Sounds yummy, gonna try this on Thursday. Shop tomorrow, then cook on Thurs, will leave a comment then....

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  15. This sounds and looks super yummy! Thanks for linking to Simple Supper Tuesday!

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  16. Making thus tomorrow can't water. It looks so
    Good

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  17. about cooking times....a few months ago I read an article that said newer crockpots are much hotter than the older models and cooking times need to be adjusted accordingly.

    Shessh! The whole point of a crockpot is slow, attention free cooking! I just wish manufacturers would leave well enough alone......

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  18. Can you use something besides sherry?

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    1. You can use white wine or simply water - but water will make a bit of a change in the flavor.

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  19. I am confused. Early in the recipe directions it says to cook on high 3-4 hours, but later it says to set it on low.

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    1. Hi Jenny, the original recipe called for cooking on high 3 - 4 hours. Like most crockpot recipes you can also choose to cook it on a lower temperature for a longer period of time. I figured I would cook it on low so it would take 5 hours or so.... Unfortunately my crockpot cooked it in 3 hours on low as my crockpot tends to cook way hotter than most. That is why I said it really helps to know your crockpot. I didn't say to cook it on low - I just mentioned that I tried to cook it on low so it would take longer (which ended up not being the case). Hope that clears up any confusion.

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  20. Thank you for responding so quickly! I ended up cooking it on high for 2 hours as the chicken was almost done & then 1 hour on low. Smells wonderful!

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  21. i shred my chicken when cooked and put it back and cook noodles and add directly too it. but I have to add 2 cans soup and a little water. the family loves it so much

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  22. Be really nice If I could print just the recipe. Planning on serving it this coming weekend

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    1. It would be really nice @yukonmom. Unfortunately, as of yet, we don't have a print option available to us. We will continue to work on that!! (In the meantime, you can highlight what you want to print, right click, and then choose print. OR, you can copy and paste into a word document - that way you have more control over what you print out. Hope that helps!)

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    2. I have a recipe file I have used for years on my hard drive. Usually I paste into notepad, but if I want the picture (rarely) I use word. It is backed up to the cloud in case of hard drive failure.





























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  23. Am making this right now, smells good! Thank you for sharing:) God bless you

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  24. PS
    I'm also a twin, I have a twin sister.

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    1. That's awesome Jackie! Twins rule! lol We hope you enjoy it :)

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    2. It was really yummy!!! The family loved it :) sooo im making it again tomorrow.
      my twin and i are identical but we look different as we are getting older (later 30s)
      facebook.com/ignite4christ

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    3. im Jackie btw haha. im signed in as my other user. Thanks for the recipe

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    4. So glad you liked it Jackie :)

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