To catch you all up....
- I survived student teaching
- I finished undergrad
- I'm a grad student
- I have a fancy phone (bringing you fancy pictures)
- I got engaged
- I live in NJ.. fist pump YEAHH (....wait, the show got cancelled? Never mind...)
I'll never leave you again, Crock Pot.
Now that it's fall I officially declare it Crock Pot Season (fa la la la la la la la la la).
The beginning
The Teacher went back to school today so I scoured the internet to surprise her with dinner when she got home. I found this gem sitting in my crock pot Pinterest board (side note: I "pin" things and then never make them, if only the act of pinning something actually accomplished anything) and decided "Yes! This will be the recipe that gets me back blogging!" (Those words exactly). But seriously, go check out that blog, it's cute.
I added and changed some things from the original recipe:
The characters
2-3 pounds of chicken breast (I think I used two...)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped in large pieces (the original called for baby carrots. I LOATHE baby carrots so I used the only two carrots I had available, see note below)
1 bell pepper, chopped in large pieces
Several dashes of ground ginger
1/4 c honey plus a few extra squeezes
3/4 c chicken broth
1 tbs of sesame oil (I so happened to have this because I was in The Teacher's kitchen. If you don't have it, don't go out and buy it for one tablespoon. That's stupid.)
2 cloves of garlic minced
The Sauce*
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c of cold water
1/4 c of corn starch
*The original recipe added a few tablespoons extra, but you really don't need to
Garnish
Sesame seeds (I didn't toast mine)
Green onion if you have it
To be honest, I found this partially thawed in the fridge and decided to use it. I don't know how much is in there. Blog fail.
Didn't have to buy a single thing for this recipe..thanks, The Teacher.
The plot
Spray your crock pot with cooking spray- this helps with the clean up and keeps it from staining apparently. Dump your chicken in. Cut up your vegetables (note: when putting vegetables in the crock pot, keep them big. Things tend to get mushy and lost in the world of slow cooking) and dump them on top of the chicken. Dash away with the ground ginger on top of everything.
In a separate bowl, add your minced garlic cloves, honey, sesame oil, and broth and mix. Pour mixture over chicken and vegetables and cook on low for 5-6 hours.
For the sauce:
After chicken is done, remove that and the vegetables onto a plate or platter using a slotted spoon. Pour the leftover liquid through a colander and into a sauce pan. In a separate bowl, whisk the soy sauce, water, and corn starch together and then add to the sauce pan of liquidy goodness. Stir over high heat until the sauce is thickened.
It looks weird, doesn't it? Like it's flipping me off?
Remember: chop them big or they'll turn into unappetizing mush
(Note: I only had two carrots, but if I had more, I would have used at least 6 carrots)
Dumpity dump dump
Dash dash dash
Mincing the garlic
Mid-honey pouring shot (thanks iPhone!)
Sesame oil
Pouring in the chicken broth: I used Better than Bouillon because I didn't want to open a can for only 3/4 c, so I had to dissolve it in hot water.
Mixture going in...
Before....
....after!
Use a slotted spoon to take all that wonderful chicken goodness out of the juices
...the juices
Keep the chicken and vegetables covered while you make the sauce
The juices after straining them (didn't get a picture of that because well, I'm not an octopus)
For the sauce- soy sauce
Add the water....
and corn starch. Whisk away!
Add soy sauce, water, and corn starch to the strained juices. Cook on high
Once thickened, add to chicken (note: this made A LOT of sauce, so I didn't add the whole pot)
Sprinkle on sesame seeds, stir
Yummmm
Deeeelicious.
The conclusion
Really, really, really good. The Teacher gave it an A+.
This recipe makes A LOT of sauce, so add the amount of it to your chicken and vegetable mixture to your liking.
Moral of the story
I'm backkkkkkkk!
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