Simple Slow Cooking: Rosemary Garlic Chicken
By Julia Weeman in Food on Nov 4, 2012 5:00PM
With the days growing shorter and colder, this weekend seemed like the perfect time to get out the slow cooker. We love the ease of throwing something in there in the morning and returning to find it ready to eat and filling the apartment with a delicious aroma. However, we've been constantly disappointed with how hard it is to find slow cooker recipes that don't require too many ingredients, too much prep time, or aren't full of things we find unnecessary—like high sodium creamed soups, sticks of butter, even tater tots!
We were looking for a simple, satisfying chicken recipe that we could make with what was on hand—chicken, a bit of fresh rosemary from our windowsill, various spices, some garlic, olive oil, and white wine. Since we couldn't find anything of that sort, we created this recipe and were very happy with the result. You can experiment with other spices if you'd like to tailor it to your taste. If you prefer to make it with less fat, you can remove the skin before browning the bird. However, we do recommend leaving it on if you just prefer not to eat it, as it does add to the flavor of the dish while cooking—even if you remove before serving.
You can use any combination of cut up chicken pieces: boneless is okay, but again, bone-in meat does give the flavor depth and complexity. The liquid left over from cooking is wonderful on green vegetables or mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta so you can come home, steam some veggies, and have dinner on the table in 10 minutes. You can even throw some root vegetables in with the chicken (carrots, turnips, potatoes) if you'd like. Leftovers are great in a salad the next day.
Slow Cooker Rosemary Garlic Chicken
Active prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 6-8 hours
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced*
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tsp dried parsley
7 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1/2 cup dry white wine
Any assortment of cut-up chicken pieces (We used Trader Joe's fresh organic chicken family pack - 2 split breasts, 4 drumsticks)
Fresh ground pepper & salt
*If you don't have fresh rosemary on hand, just add another 1/4 tsp. dried rosemary.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 7-9 minutes per side until golden brown - chicken will still be raw inside. Put the chicken in your slow cooker. Remove from heat and deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of the wine, scraping up any browned bits, and pour the pan liquid over the chicken. Mix spices and garlic and sprinkle over chicken, then pour the remaining 1 cup wine in and set your slow cooker to low. Cook 6-8 hours on low or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. At 6 hours the meat will still retain a firmer texture, and at 8 hours it will be falling off the bone. Check the seasoning—add more salt & pepper as needed.