Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

In the past two years, I have been getting beef and chicken from a local farmer. My CSA is affiliated with them, and I decided that when my family ate meat, I wanted it to be from here the majority of the time. Especially since Kate has decided she’s an omnivore.

I’ve decided that I am also going to eat it occasionally. Especially the chicken.

Yes, I’ve turned into one of those people. A suburban dwelling, CSA-produce getting, organic/local/hormone-free meat eating flexitarian.

Sorry, Mom and Dad. You raised me better than this.

In order to keep things simple, I’ll probably keep telling people that I’m vegetarian. After all, if the meat doesn’t come from this farmer (Lewis Family Farms near Cranberry Twp. if you’re interested), I’m probably not going to eat it.

Like I said: One of those.

Anyway, I’ve had a whole chicken in the freezer for a couple of months now, and I decided I wanted chicken and stuffing. I wanted to do it in the slow cooker — I love my slow cooker — because I figured that would be easiest.

And then, in a stunning lack of judgement, I decided I wanted to cut the chicken up before I put it in the slow cooker.

I have a strong dislike of preparing chicken. It seems to me even chicken breasts from the grocery store need a lot of handling. Dan likes them tenderized, and then they need to be marinated; if they are too fatty, I’m supposed to cut that off, it’s all slippery and all. I find the process of preparing chicken vaguely revolting.

I guess I made the decision to try to disassemble my chicken because most of the recipes I saw called for four chicken breasts, which is about two pounds of meat. The chicken I had was between 4 and 5 pounds. I figured if I cut it up it would work better in the recipe.

Let me just say, cutting that whole chicken up into parts was one of the grossest things I’ve ever done. And I’ve given birth, people.

Plus, I did a bad job. It probably takes practice.

Next time, I’ll either get someone else to cut up the chicken, or I’ll try this with a chicken that I roast whole and pick clean. Shorter time in the slow cooker, I would imagine. Possibly more liquid to make sure the meat doesn’t dry out.

However, the end result this time around? Was delicious. After 6 hours in the slow cooker, the chicken was falling off the bone, and the stuffing was incredibly moist. I had about two helpings of the stuffing alone, and I just had leftovers for lunch today.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Stuffing
Adapted from this recipe

4 pounds of chicken parts
1 cup broth (irony: I used veggie broth because that’s what I had)
10 ounce bag of stuffing mix (again, irony: I used a vegetarian stuffing mix, Arrow brand)
1 can condensed cream of celery soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water

Put the chicken parts in the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour the broth over the chicken.

Mix the stuffing, soup, sour cream, and water together. Place this mixture on top of the chicken.

Cook on low 6-7 hours.

Serve with bright vegetables such as green beans and carrots. Salad and bread optional.

Even Dan declared this recipe delicious. (Because I am a person who doesn’t cook meat often, I really feel for my guinea pig husband. Kate likes all the meat I have cooked, but she is a less experienced meat eater.)

So, how does one go about roasting a whole chicken?