And we're back

Yet another campaign has come to an end and yet again I am enjoying some free (unemployed) time. Its so great for about a week but then the boredom sets in and you create errands like driving out to Virginia in the middle of the day to buy a Scrabble board. By the way Facebook Scrabble is by far one of the greatest creations of the last year.

So this morning I decided to pull out the slow cooker. I have a pretty small one with only one temperature (note to self - buy better slow cooker) ... which i normally only use for this Chocolate Spoon Cake (the recipe is also below because it is SO DAMN GOOD) but today I needed to cook a bunch of chicken and various other veggies. So I decided to try Chicken Cacciatore in the crock pot.

While this was the easiest chicken dish i've made in about a year... it wasn't the greatest thing ever to come from my kitchen. I used breasts instead of thighs which was not the correct move and the chicken- which was swimming in a great tomato sauce - was still dry. I'd say use thighs and brown them first. other than that it tastes just like a chicken cacciatore that i'd make on the stove and I was able to go buy Scrabble at target while it was cooking so score all around.

Ingredients - i used about half of everything listed here because of the size of my slow cooker.
1 medium yellow onion, cut into half rings
1 jar marinara sauce (or use homemade)
1 bell pepper - chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Handful of mushrooms - chopped
1 pound chicken thighs
Basil, oregano, rosemary and red pepper flakes - to your liking

Layer half of the marinara sauce in the pot and place onion, pepper and garlic on top. Sprinkle mushrooms on top of that and then add the chicken. Add in the italian spices you like and then top it all off with the rest of the marinara sauce. Turn the puppy on and let it cook. If you have a varied speed crock pot cook it for 5-6 hours on low or 2-3 hours on high.

If you like a thicker sauce: Once the chicken is finished remove it from the sauce and then add 2 teaspoons of flower, 2 tablespoons of dry white wine and 2 tablespoons of water and cook on high for another 15-20 minutes or until you like the consistency.

I served mine over large shells but it really doesn't even really need a pasta or rice if you don't feel like it.

I'll post the Chocolate Spoon Cake recipe tomorrow... its late and I plan to go dream about it first.