He Cooks! – Chicken Edition

Saturday was a busy day.

It wasn’t supposed to be, but our unstructured, unplanned day turned into a whole bunch of stuff.

Our one and only obligation was back-to-school haircuts for Kidzilla and Mom…

She had that wild summer kid hair look going on and it was time for a shape-up.  It bothered me a little that my baby has a big girl haircut.  OK, a lot.  But even harder to digest was my tiny little pink person flipping through the pages of Glamour while we waited for our turn.

Honestly.  Where does she get these girly genes?

After haircuts, we had lunch with Fab Hub/Dad and caught up with Super Aunt.  Zilla and I decided to join Super Aunt for some impromptu Saturday afternoon grocery shopping.  That excursion is another story…saving that for Tuesday, so check back tomorrow.

Fab Hub needed to get back home to attend to some Hub/Dad type projects, but agreed to get dinner started so it wouldn’t be delayed due to our unscheduled shopping trip.

I was admittedly nervous, but since Fab Hub has proved himself well in the red meat and mac & cheese departments, I thought, “OK, let’s give the guy a shot.  He can easily get Greek-ish Chicken started.”

Fab Hub called from the kitchen.  He carefully took down my instructions for defrosting chicken, placing it in the slow cooker with vegetable stock (we were out of chicken stock – hence the supermarket trip), and garlic.

He said all was well and I believed him.

When Zilla and I returned from the market with the groceries, Fab Hub/Dad hauled in the bags for us and went back to his Hub/Dad jobs.  Zilla helped unpack groceries and I checked the chicken.

He followed the instructions to the letter.

Chicken in slow cooker.  Check.  Vegetable stock in slow cooker.  Check.  Six huge cloves of garlic, crushed, in slow cooker.  Check.  Strange papery substance in slow cooker with chicken, stock, and garlic.  Whaaat?

I fished the stuff out of the crock.  I poked it a couple of times.  I looked at it closely…I wondered out loud, “what is that stuff?”  Did it come from the chicken?

Then I figured it out.

He put the garlic skins in the crock pot!  Short sigh.  I decided not to say anything about it.  After all, he started dinner and carried in all the groceries.  So I went about adding the rest of the ingredients…white wine, fresh lemon juice, fresh oregano, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, butter.  Now all I needed was a little bit more vegetable stock…but I couldn’t find the rest of the box.

Hmm.  Perhaps Fab Hub used the entire box?  Or I had a half box in the refrigerator and he just used that?

No problem.  I went to the cupboard to get more and found another box of vegetable stock.  Open.  In the cupboard.  Whaaat?

Now, if you will recall, Fab Hub is indeed the most literal man on the planet.  Perhaps since no mention of the skins was made, he didn’t realize they did not belong in there.  No, he knows the skins are garbage – he uses garlic in his awesome steak marinade. We keep unopened boxes of stock in the pantry…maybe he thought that’s where they all go?  No, he’s seen stock in the fridge hundreds of times.

So, I called downstairs to Fab Hub and asked him what was up with the garlic skins and the vegetable stock box.  I just wanted to know.  He had no idea.  Really.  He laughed – because it really was funny.  He had absolutely no conscious recollection of putting skins in crock or box in cupboard.  I am going with the theory that he was just focused on his Fab Hub/Dad jobs and Greek-ish Chicken wasn’t really the first thing on his incredibly brilliant mind.  He was in the middle of a home-studio recording session with a bass player friend.  (Wait – have I ever said that Fab Hub is also a Fab Jazz Saxophonist?  He is.  He’s working on another album.)

In the end, the chicken turned out perfectly – moist, flavorful, and fell apart with the slightest touch of a knife or fork.  If Fab Hub had not done the up-front work, that fall-apart goodness could not have happened and dinner would have been 1-800-Bring-Me-Pizza.  Saturday’s chicken ended up on Kaiser Rolls with Swiss cheese, mayo, romaine lettuce and tomato.  Perfect.

There isn’t much to this recipe, really – we stumbled on this particular combination one day when I had to be gone all day and needed dinner to be ready for all of us when I got home.  We loved it so much we’ve used it ever since.

Greek-ish Chicken

You will need:

Skinless, boneless chicken breasts (we usually split them just because that’s what we do)

Chicken stock (or, apparently, vegetable works just as well)

Dry white wine (if you don’t cook with wine, use broth or water; I think the wine makes it, though)

Fresh lemon juice (you can squeeze the lemons or just slice them and toss in on top of the chicken – your call)

Fresh oregano (although we’ve used dried, too, and it works just as well)

Butter (I know, I know.  This is why it’s Greek-ish.  Trust me on this one – drop a few pats of butter into the crock on top of the chicken and let it melt all over the place into the juices.  Go for a pat per half breast.  Margarine does not do the trick – blah.)

Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper (to taste – go lightly if you like, but don’t skip either one)

What to do:

Yes, I’ve left off quantities of the ingredients. I have never measured this one.

You can use as many chicken breasts as you feel like stuffing into your slow cooker.  I don’t think we’ve ever made fewer than six half-breasts, though, because this is SO good leftover for sandwiches or salads during the week.  Oh, and I usually brown my chicken just a bit before tossing it in the slow cooker because I hate pale chicken.

The rest of the stuff is my Grandmother’s “cover the top” method.  Seriously – just cover the top; not too lightly, but not too heavily, either.  For the liquid, I like the chicken to be just about completely submerged.  Yes, it’s a lot of juice, but it really helps keep it super moist and gets that fall-apart thing to happen.  Guaranteed.

Check it out…I wish you could smell this, too, because it is amazing.

See that kinda foamy white stuff on the right side of the photo?  That, friends, is butter that melted and has not yet been stirred into the rest of the juices.  So necessary.

Serve with just about anything you think will make you happy. We’ve had it plated with couscous and vegetables.  Rice would work or noodles, if you prefer.  It is fantastic in sandwiches or salads for a lunch or leftover dinner meal.  Or do that the first time – why not?  I also think the leftover chicken would be awesome on a flatbread or pita with some feta cheese, black olives, fresh herbs, and pepperoncini for a homemade pizza night.

Ooh!  I just figured out what we’ll do with the leftover chicken this week…if Fab Hub doesn’t eat it all for today’s lunch!