Meals as a Mrs. ~ Garlic Lemon Chicken

I love cooking with the crock pot and like exploring new recipes that make use of the crock pot.  With my returning to work full time soon, I will most likely be digging out the crock pot and diving into new recipes thanks to a cookbook from my mother-in-law and a magazine from my Aunt Marie that specialize in crock pot recipes!  I love the aroma of the food cooking when I walk in the door thanks to the crock pot doing all the hard work throughout the day while out of the house.  

This recipe was a good one for trying a new dish but I will say that I was surprised the taste of the lemon was not stronger than it was.  It was more subtle of a taste rather than being prominent as I had expected it to be.  Something else I learned from preparing this dish was that two sprigs of rosemary equal two teaspoons of dried rosemary after you rub or crumble the rosemary in your hands.  I also found that when browning the chicken, I had to double the amount of time to brown the meat on both sides (i.e., six minutes on each side versus the three minutes as listed in the recipe).   Another adjustment to the recipe that I had to make was to double the flour from 1 – 2 tablespoons to 2 – 4 tablespoons to thicken up the liquid in creating the gravy-like sauces for the chicken just before serving it for dinner with a side of mashed potatoes.

Serves:  6

Ingredients:

    12 skinless chicken breasts and thighs (or other assorted pieces) - - I only used 7 or 8 pieces since we didn't need so many servings for just the two of us.

    8 oz. black olives

    2 lemons, divided

    8 cloves garlic, peeled

    2 sprigs rosemary

    1 white onion, diced

    1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

    1/2 cup water

    2 tablespoons olive oil

    1 teaspoon dried oregano

    kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

    1.  Season chicken pieces evenly with salt, pepper, and oregano.  Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large pan or skillet over medium-high heat.

   

 2.  Once oil is hot, but not smoking, add chicken (in batches) to the pan to brown on both sides (about 3 minutes per side).  Pour in another 1 tbsp. olive oil and brown remaining chicken.  Set aside.

 3.  Transfer chicken and juices to slow cooker and add garlic, onion, olives, chicken broth, water, the juice of one lemon, and rosemary.

 4.  Slice remaining lemon into thin slices and spread out over chicken pieces.

 5.  Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours, or until is completely cooked through; optional:  transfer chicken to serving platter and pour cooking liquids into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  A little at a time, add 1-2 tbsp. flour and 1-2 tbsp. butter to thicken the liquids and create a gravy-like sauce for the chicken.

Reading 1 Kings 2:2 tonight has me especially thankful for my hubby.

I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong and be a man! 

Adam demonstrated his strength in patience and perseverance in getting our new oven installed and up and running today (yay, can't wait to break in this new appliance soon!!).  I'm thankful for all the little, and big, things he does for our family every day even if I don't always do a good job of demonstrating my appreciation.  From taking out the trash every Sunday night to going out to the garage or down to the basement at least a dozen times in one day to get a persistent chore done to mowing the grass and doing yardwork in icky sticky hazy humid late summer weather to working around the clock during one of the busiest times of year for his work in order to provide for us, I'm glad he's such a great caretaker of us.  Thanks be to God for the gift of this husband and father in all of our lives ~ Charlotte's, the puppies', and mine!