5 stars (out of 5 - delicious and pretty stress-free!)
I wanted to try out the new slow-cooker cookbook that I just received from MM, and this recipe stood out. I decided to make it Sunday morning, as it needed to cook for 7-8 hours. I think I might have attempted a recipe similar to this before (the smell reminded me of something)... so hopefully it turns out! I am also really into trying to find a great slow-cooker recipe that I could serve to guests with confidence. This recipe was from the Company's Coming Most Loved Slow Cooker Creations book; I really like their recipes, as they are usually pretty simple and almost always turn out well (unlike some other companies, I think Company's Coming actually tests their recipes out! Imagine that).
Ingredients:
6 slices of bacon, diced
1/4 cup (60 mL) flour
1/4 tsp. (1 mL) paprika
6 chicken thighs (bonelss, skinless)*
1 pack (up to 4 cups) white mushrooms, halved
1 cup (250 mL) chopped onion
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup (125 mL) dry red wine
1/2 cup (125 mL) prepared chicken broth
1/2 tsp (2 mL) dry thyme
{*Note. The original recipe calls for 12 chicken thighs. I did two, but I think I would comfortably do up to six. Any more than that, I am not sure how I would fit them into the slow-cooker!}.
My new cookbook stand:
1. First I cooked the bacon on medium heat, until it was crisp. I then removed the bacon and diced it up.
2. While it was cooking, I added the flour and the paprika to a Ziploc bag, and added the chicken to coat it.
3. After the bacon was removed from the pan, I added the chicken, using the bacon drippings as oil. I cooked it for about 8 minutes, just so that it was brown on all sides.
4. As the chicken cooked, I prepared the other ingredients, by chopping up the onion, and slicing the mushrooms in half.
5. When the chicken was ready, I removed it from the pan and placed it in the slow-cooker.
6. I then added the mushrooms, onion, and garlic to the same frying pan, and sautéed for about 2 minutes.
7. Once the onions had softened, I added the mushroom soup, chicken broth, wine, and thyme to the pan, and brought it to a boil.
8. Once it was boiling, I poured it over the chicken, covered the slow-cooker, and placed it on "Low" for 7-8 hours (or on "High" for 3.5-4 hours).
Final Product:
Overall, this was a delicious meal, and SB loved it. It took a bit of time to prepare before throwing into the slow-cooker, but was well worth it. I look forward to serving it to guests - I especially love doing slow-cooker meals when having people over because it means I don't have to cook and visit at the same time (I am so bad at doing this!) and the house smells so great. One note: I would combine the cream of mushroom soup and the wine/broth together prior to adding it to the pan. It took a while to get the lumps out, and my frying pan isn't so deep, so I spilled a lot in the process. Other from that, this recipe is pretty straight forward, and easy to do.