Comfort Food Without A Fuss With Crock Pot Chicken Recipes

By Chasity Sheppard


One of the best ways to drive away the cold-weather blues is with a warm, comforting meal. Some people opt for pasta with a flavorful sauce while others want a thick soup or a hearty stew. These can take hours to make but crock pot chicken recipes can help you take the fuss out of preparing comfort food so that you can spend your time doing more important things, like snuggling under a blanket.

The crock pot has been a kitchen stand-by since the early Seventies. It's a slow cooker that stands on the counter top. It works on the principle of cooking your food slowly, over a couple of hours, at temperatures low enough to keep everything just simmering.

The great thing about a slow cooker is that it saves you a lot of time in the kitchen. You simply have to add the ingredients to the device, set the timer and leave it. Because you don't have to watch it constantly, you can leave your food cooking while you go to work, shopping or take a long nap. It's very difficult to burn anything in a slow cooker, which makes it perfect for people whose culinary skills aren't too great.

A common way to use slow cooking is to make stews. This is perfect if you have tough meat that you want to turn into something tasty, since the extended cooking time makes the meat soft and tender. Adding the right spices will help you to make a fragrant chicken curry too, just like you would in a tandoor, the clay oven used in Indian cooking.

Soups are best prepared slowly too. For extra flavor, simply saute the ingredients first. Then add your stock and let it simmer until the vegetables are tender. You can liquidize part of the soup in a blender before serving to get a creamier consistency. With a slow cooker, you can even make your own chicken soup when you have a cold, since you can just put everything into the cooker and then get back into bed with a hot toddy.

There are many other ways in which to use your slow cooker. It's great for preparing whole chicken that's so tender it falls off the bone. Sauces are tasty and full of flavor when they've been allowed to simmer for a long time. There are even ways to make desserts and candy in your slow cooker and it's perfect for making jams and preserves too.

Because slow cooking requires relatively low temperatures, the liquid evaporates much more slowly. Therefore it's important not to add too much water or stock to the pot or your meals will be watery. Another secret is to first saute your ingredients. This helps to seal in their flavor and some of the nutrient content. Before serving, add some extra vitamins to the meal by squeezing a bit of lemon juice over or garnishing the dish with chopped cilantro or parsley.

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.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment