Slow-cooked Chicken

Did you know that it's baseball season? Yep, it's in full swing. This means a couple things to the Berni's. First, it means that spring is right around the corner - warm weather, hot dogs, sunflower seeds, sunblock and a whole lot of baseball watching-awesome. Second, we will get our hopes up once again that our Padres may actually get it together this year and make it happen. Highly unlikely, but we are loyal fans. Third, baseball season means we are busy, very busy. How busy you might ask. Let me tell you. Like I've mentioned before, my husband is a coach. Right now he is coaching the High School baseball team as well as our daughter's travel softball team. This equates to Jason doing baseball or softball 7 days a week. Between Emily's regular softball schedule and her pitching lessons, she's busy about 5-6 days a week. Don't forget Hudson is also playing baseball which is three days a week. And Brooklyn, well right now she is officially the #1 fan to big brother and sissy.

What does this all mean and what does it have to do with cooking? Simple, streamlined dinners are a necessity. My family is starved when they get home so this means I need to have dinner ready and waiting. Trick is, if I'm at a practice or game I can't be home cooking. The answer is slow cooking.

I found this gem of a recipe yesterday morning and was thrilled to find I had all the ingredients on hand. Dinner prepped and cooking in under 15 minutes by 10 am. To top it off, it tasted great! The chicken was so tender it literally fell off the bone. The simple seasoning of salt, pepper, garlic, thyme and lemon gave so much flavor to the chicken and the pan juices which are used as a light gravy. Mmmm mmm good. I didn't have any regular onions so I used the pearl onions I had on hand, and they came out delicious. This dinner would have been perfect with roasted potatoes, but since time was a factor I served the chicken and veggies along side potatoes I quickly fried up. Dinner was a success and almost effortless. I'll definitely be making this again soon. Maybe this recipe can help you turn what may have been a busy weeknight "fast food" dinner into something delicious.

Slow-cooked Chicken
by Emeril Lagasse

Serves 4-6

1 whole chicken, 3 1/2 to 4 pounds

Kosher salt

Cracked white pepper

1/2 cup diced onion

1/4 cup diced carrot

1/4 cup diced celery

3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 lemon, juiced

4 teaspoons cornstarch

Rinse the chicken both inside and out under cool running water. Pat dry. Season the chicken liberally both inside and out with salt and pepper. Place in a slow cooker. Scatter the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, and lemon juice over top of the chicken. Cover the slow cooker and set the temperature to high. Cook for 6 hours, undisturbed.

Remove the chicken from the slow cooker, and pour the accumulated juices into a 2-cup heatproof container. Skim the fat from the top and transfer the liquid to a small saucepan. Dissolve the cornstarch in a small bowl with 2 teaspoons of water and whisk to form a slurry. Whisk the slurry into the juices and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until thickened, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook an additional 4 to 5 minutes. Cut the chicken into pieces and serve, with the thickened pan juices ladled over the top.