Nailed It of Failed It: Crock Pot chicken an easy win

Published 10:59 am Monday, May 14, 2018

I found today’s recipe at bunsinmyoven.com.

I like the ease of using a slow cooker. Supper can be on the table pretty quick after a day at work; so I didn’t hesitate when I saw today’s recipe.

When I was at the grocery one day, I spotted some Stove Top Stuffing in the sale bin and remembered this recipe. I grabbed two boxes.

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I decided early in the week I would prepare this dish Thursday, so I got the chicken out of the freezer and placed it in the refrigerator to thaw.

Since this dish only needed to cook for 4.5 hours, and I wanted to eat around 6:30 p.m., I decided I’d take my slow cooker and the ingredients to work and during lunch, I’d put everything together and let it cook until it was time to go home, where I’d plug it back up at home to finish cooking.

Thursday morning I decided to go ahead and chop the onion and the celery so I wouldn’t have to do that at work. I also put the 1/2 cup chicken broth in a small container.

After placing some of the ingredients in the refrigerator and the basket with the rest of the ingredients under my desk, I got busy with my work day.

About 1:30 p.m., I remembered I needed to get supper going.

I took a break and headed to my car to get the cooker.

I liked that this recipe didn’t dirty too many dishes. I was able to use the slow cooker as my bowl to mix everything.

I dumped in the stuffing. The recipe called for 14 ounces of seasoned stuffing, and even though each box was only 6 ounces, I figured it would be fine.

I added the already chopped onion and celery, two cans of cream of chicken soup and the chicken broth. I stirred everything in the slow cooker then sprinkled the sage on top, thinking it seemed like a lot.

I placed the chicken breast on top and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. I did not measure the salt and pepper.

I plugged in and turned on the slow cooker, placed a note on top stating it was my supper and to please not lift the lid. I headed back to my desk to finish out the day.

When it was time to go home, I unplugged the slow cooker, placed it in my car and headed home. The smell was making me hungry.

Since the dish had not cooked for 4.5 hours, I plugged the pot back in when I got home and started preparing some side dishes.

Brad arrived home and asked when supper would be ready. It was a beautiful evening and he was itching to get to the garden to plant his first three rows of beans. I let him know it would be about 30 minutes.

Supper was on the table in no time and we sat down, said a prayer and served ourselves. Instead of shredding or cutting up the chicken then stirring it into the rest of the dish, I was lazy and left it whole.

I don’t really like to eat what I call “soggy stuff” (e.g. really moist stuffing, or dressing as I grew up calling it). When I scooped the stuffing out of the slow cooker, I thought it looked rather soggy.

Brad and I took a bite and agreed it was a little too moist, but had a really good flavor.

We agreed that though the sage smelled strong, it didn’t overpower the dish.

We had enough of this dish leftover and agreed we would eat it again the following evening, but I would cut up the remaining chicken and see if that made any difference in the dish.

The next night, after heating up the meal, our opinion of the dish did not change. We liked it but it was still more moist than either of us like. Don’t get me wrong, this dish isn’t bad, because we did end up eating all of it.

Overall, I believe I nailed this dish. However, if I make it again I’ll probably cut back on some of the liquid ingredients and Brad has made a note to add shiitake mushrooms.

Sarah Condley is an amateur baker and chef who is compiling a cookbook of her favorite recipes.