As winter approaches, people are preparing for their tried and trusted methods of keeping warm. They may take out the thick, snuggly clothes and blankets or dust off the heater. Some stock up on warming drinks like hot chocolate, fortified wine and vodka. Most also get ready to prepare those rich, comforting, hearty meals that will drive the winter blues away. With a couple of crock pot chicken recipes, you can prepare great winter comfort food without having to slave away in the kitchen.
A crock pot is a kitchen appliance. While the name officially refers to a specific brand, many people use it to describe any kind of slow cooker. It cooks food at a very low temperature, which means that the cooking time is extended for several hours.
The extended cooking time means that you can't decide to use your slow cooker fifteen minutes before meal time. However, it's a wonderful time-saving appliance. Once you've added the ingredients to the pot, you simply close the lid, set the timer and let the cooker do its work. You don't need to watch it all the time, so you can go to work and tonight come back to a prepared meal. The slow cooker is a godsend for less talented cooks too because it's almost impossible to burn anything in it.
A good stew or flavorful curry needs slow cooking at a low temperature to be at its best. In this way, the flavors really get to develop. Moreover, long, slow cooking makes meat extra tender so you can use those cheaper, tougher cuts.
Another type of dish that seems to have been made for the slow cooker is soup. Hours of simmering makes the vegetables so soft that they'll almost dissolve in the stock. If you want a creamier soup, simply ladle a bit into a blender and liquidize it, then add it back into the pot. A chicken soup can be kept thin, more like a broth, to sip on when you're feeling under the weather, or you may want to add noodles to give it some substance.
It's not only stews and soups that you can make in a slow cooker. Tandoori chicken is prepared slowly too and if you don't like Indian food, it's easy to do a simple, traditional roast. If you have lots of ripe tomatoes, use them for jars of home-made spaghetti sauce. Fruit and berries can be turned into delicious preserves and jams and you can even make slow cooked desserts.
Preparing food in the slow cooker means that you need to use less liquid, since the evaporation rate is much lower. Adding too much liquid will leave you with a soup when you didn't intend to make one. You also need to be careful about overcooking vegetables, since they might lose some of their flavor. One way to preserve flavor is to saute your chicken or other meat and vegetables first before adding the liquid. If you're worried about nutrients being destroyed by extended cooking, simply add something like lime juice or fresh herbs just before serving, since these will add some Vitamin C.
When you buy your slow cooker, you'll usually find that he packaging includes a booklet with recipe ideas. Use these as a basis and then experiment until you find the crock pot chicken recipes that work best for your tastes. You'll also find lots of inspiration online on cookery websites.
A crock pot is a kitchen appliance. While the name officially refers to a specific brand, many people use it to describe any kind of slow cooker. It cooks food at a very low temperature, which means that the cooking time is extended for several hours.
The extended cooking time means that you can't decide to use your slow cooker fifteen minutes before meal time. However, it's a wonderful time-saving appliance. Once you've added the ingredients to the pot, you simply close the lid, set the timer and let the cooker do its work. You don't need to watch it all the time, so you can go to work and tonight come back to a prepared meal. The slow cooker is a godsend for less talented cooks too because it's almost impossible to burn anything in it.
A good stew or flavorful curry needs slow cooking at a low temperature to be at its best. In this way, the flavors really get to develop. Moreover, long, slow cooking makes meat extra tender so you can use those cheaper, tougher cuts.
Another type of dish that seems to have been made for the slow cooker is soup. Hours of simmering makes the vegetables so soft that they'll almost dissolve in the stock. If you want a creamier soup, simply ladle a bit into a blender and liquidize it, then add it back into the pot. A chicken soup can be kept thin, more like a broth, to sip on when you're feeling under the weather, or you may want to add noodles to give it some substance.
It's not only stews and soups that you can make in a slow cooker. Tandoori chicken is prepared slowly too and if you don't like Indian food, it's easy to do a simple, traditional roast. If you have lots of ripe tomatoes, use them for jars of home-made spaghetti sauce. Fruit and berries can be turned into delicious preserves and jams and you can even make slow cooked desserts.
Preparing food in the slow cooker means that you need to use less liquid, since the evaporation rate is much lower. Adding too much liquid will leave you with a soup when you didn't intend to make one. You also need to be careful about overcooking vegetables, since they might lose some of their flavor. One way to preserve flavor is to saute your chicken or other meat and vegetables first before adding the liquid. If you're worried about nutrients being destroyed by extended cooking, simply add something like lime juice or fresh herbs just before serving, since these will add some Vitamin C.
When you buy your slow cooker, you'll usually find that he packaging includes a booklet with recipe ideas. Use these as a basis and then experiment until you find the crock pot chicken recipes that work best for your tastes. You'll also find lots of inspiration online on cookery websites.
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