Crock pot chicken experiment
I made chicken in the crock for dinner tonight - my son's request for his birthday dinner. I did my usual thing - put some cut up carrots and onions in the crock and set a whole chicken on top. But I thought it seemed a bit boring - same old, same old, you know. So I cut up an apple, stuffed half of it inside the chicken (it was a BIG apple) and put the rest around it. (This turned out to be a VERY good idea because when stuffing the apple into the chicken, I discovered I'd forgotten to take out the giblet package... OOPS!)
Then I rubbed the chicken with some lemon juice and a bit of olive oil, and then I sprinkled paprika liberally over the whole thing. I added a cup or so of water and a chicken stock cube (since I'm temporarily out of homemade) and cooked on low for about 8 hours or so.
I served it with a salad, noodles, and crusty french bread. Somehow the apple and lemon juice really perked up the chicken. And the paprika gave the skin a nice reddish brown color and some extra flavor. My husband said the chicken tasted even nicer than usual, and my mom-in-law (who isn't really a huge chicken lover) even had seconds! In fact, there is very little in the way of leftovers (which is both good and bad - I was rather counting on having enough leftover chicken and noodles to make a casserole for dinner tomorrow, darn it!)
Then I rubbed the chicken with some lemon juice and a bit of olive oil, and then I sprinkled paprika liberally over the whole thing. I added a cup or so of water and a chicken stock cube (since I'm temporarily out of homemade) and cooked on low for about 8 hours or so.
I served it with a salad, noodles, and crusty french bread. Somehow the apple and lemon juice really perked up the chicken. And the paprika gave the skin a nice reddish brown color and some extra flavor. My husband said the chicken tasted even nicer than usual, and my mom-in-law (who isn't really a huge chicken lover) even had seconds! In fact, there is very little in the way of leftovers (which is both good and bad - I was rather counting on having enough leftover chicken and noodles to make a casserole for dinner tomorrow, darn it!)