The easiest chicken you will ever make
Sometimes you don’t have a whole lot of time in the evening, but with a little planning, you can enjoy chicken for dinner with such little effort it’s actually shocking.
The chicken part of this recipe is easy and really versatile. It can be used in chicken salad, chicken pot pie, chicken for sandwiches, and so on. It does, however, rely on owning a slow cooker, which is something not everyone has—but the small ones are really quite affordable and worth investing in.
Ingredients:
Bone-in, skin-on chicken of your choice (thighs are usually priced better and are the easiest to get right)
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste (a couple twists of a pepper mill should do)
1 package of gravy powder, I used Club House
Russet or other potatoes (2 large potatoes per person); scrubbed and quartered
Sour cream (1 tablespoon per person; up to 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup of milk or as needed; I used 2 per cent
1.5 tablespoons butter or margarine
Broccoli florets (1 cup per person)
Directions:
Place chicken in the slow cooker and season with salt and pepper to taste. Don’t worry if it’s a little under-seasoned since the gravy packets usually have plenty of salt in them.
Once seasoned, make sure that the chicken is skin-side up. How crisp the skin will be depends on how much chicken is in the slow cooker; more chicken means more liquid, which means that the skin won’t be as appetizing. To solve this issue, you can either throw the skin out or place the chicken under the oven broiler for a few minutes to crisp it up.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for two to three hours or on low for four to six hours; if the chicken is cooked longer, then it will fall off the bone, so cook to your liking. Also, cooking time depends on your slow cooker, so keep track of what you’re doing and you’ll easily be able to adjust this recipe to your liking for the next time you use it.
In a large pot with a lid, add enough water to cover the potatoes. Season the water with about a teaspoon of salt.
Cover the potatoes with a lid and bring to a boil for about five minutes. Lower the temperature and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes or until a fork inserted in the potato is easy to stick all the way through. If you’re unsure, eat a little piece of the potato to check.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water using a colander. Be careful of the steam.
While the potatoes are draining, place the butter and milk in the pot over medium heat until the butter is melted. When cooled slightly, you should be able to easily remove the skins—or keep them in if you like your potatoes that way. Add the potatoes back into the pot and mash using a potato masher or hand mixer.
Add sour cream to the potatoes and stir well. Season with salt to taste—start with about a quarter of a teaspoon and then taste and stir well before adding more. Make sure not to make your potatoes salty because the gravy will have salt in it already.
Once the chicken is cooked, follow the instructions on the gravy package. Make sure to use the drippings from the slow cooker instead of water to make the gravy.
Place the washed broccoli florets in a bowl with one to two tablespoons of water and then microwave for one to three minutes or until the broccoli is bright green; this essentially steams the broccoli. Taste a floret to see if it is to your liking and add another minute until they taste right to you.
Enjoy!
Photos by Mirali Almaula/The Ontarion