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Table of Contents
Introduction
It comes to me that the world once revolved around the kitchens- sometimes meager rooms with only the barest of essentials and sometimes huge rooms filled with everything you could ever imagine and of course, all manner of kitchens in between. From these rooms, we would get the delicious, life sustaining meals that we often dream of, especially when we are down. And what do we eat these days? Microwaved nonsense that masquerades as food and for what? Why do we do this to ourselves? To save time in our busy days? Because it is cheaper to cook these things? Poppycock!
This book is going to show you how you take one simple, perfectly normal ingredient (the chicken) and then you add a few common spices, a little of this and a little of that and you bring back some of the magic of the old days but more importantly, you bring back the flavor. Think you will be stuck in the kitchen all day like your Granny, your Nonah, your Grandma or your Meemaw? Guess again, my friend because I am going to show you the magic of it all- the slow cooker or the crockpot if you prefer. Most of the recipes in this book take all of ten seconds to cobble together and then at the end of the day, a day spent off doing other things or napping (my favorite) you will have a delicious meal that is not only as good or better (sorry, Gram) than anything that was made in the old days.
You will notice that I do not always measure out everything precisely. In fact, I subscribe to the notion that since I am not in your kitchen, I dont know how much spice is too much. You will also notice that I sometimes forget to add notations about salt and pepper. I never use them, but that is solely personal. Always feel free to salt and pepper any dish to your taste.
The layout of this book will be a little more casual as well. I have divided it into just three chapters- and I think that once you start finding recipes that you like, you will know exactly which category you favor over the others. I do urge you to explore and to make notes of things you would like to try. Now, shall we grab our crockpot, a chicken and have at it?
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Chapter One: The Best of the Basics
Basic Chicken Stock
Whenever you need broth or stock you can reach for your own, homemade which is far tastier than anything you can find in the store. Because you make it, you can adjust your flavors and spices to suit your own needs plus you know the exact quality of everything you are using. Feel free to use different cuts of chicken here. You can also make this stock using the leftover bones from a whole chicken after the meal has been served.
You will need:
At least 3 pounds of chicken
3 quarts of cold water
1 large onion- there are some that leave the peel on while others peel and dice the onion. It is a matter of personal taste.
2-4 cloves of garlic, crushed ( You can add more if you would like a more robust stock)
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
To do:
Cook on low for at least 8 hours, high for at least 5. The longer this cooks, the more the flavors will develop so just let it go. You can skim the fat that comes to the top as you are cooking or you can wait and skim it when you are done. Split into portions (1-2 cups each) and refrigerate or freeze to use as needed.
Chicken Chunks for the Whole Week
This is one of the best things you can use your crockpot for. You will simply make chunks of chicken with minimal effort or flavoring so that you can use it for the entire week ahead. Figure that you will need about 2-6 ounces of cooked chicken per person, per meal so that you know how much chicken to make. The glorious part here is the ability to use even the cheaper cuts of the chicken (like the thighs) because you will only be using the meat. If you prefer, you can also roast the whole chicken or the pieces of the bones and then use the resulting liquid to make the chicken base.
You will need:
The desired amount of chicken. Most chickens will have more than enough fat/juice in them but if you are concerned, then you can add up to 1 cup of plain water.
To do:
Cook your chicken 1-4 hours on high, 2-6 hours on low. (Timing may vary depending on the amount of chicken, the size of your crockpot and whether or not they are boneless or bone-in.)
There are several recipes that you can make from this chicken- or you can add whatever ingredients you would like and make up your own dish. Chicken chunks can also be used in a variety of salads, sandwiches, wraps and more. Cooked chicken will keep in the fridge for several times and can be frozen for longer term storage in personal portion sizes.
Chicken Carnitas
Like the chunks above, you can make this recipe and then use the finished chicken in any number of ways from a salad to fajitas and more. This is a far more flavorful dish so you should definitely label it, especially if you make a batch of the plain chunks and then the carnitas at the same time. While you can skip the final step of putting the meat into the broiler you really should take that extra few minutes because it truly does enhance the flavor greatly.