Herbie the Chicken

Or should that be Herby Chicken?

hmmmm

Well, I may have gotten carried away the other day when I decided to defrost and cook a lovely big roasting chicken I had in the freezer.

It was so pretty, big and plump and juicy.

And it was also hot outside so I didn’t want to cook it in the oven, like I should have.

I decided to cook it in the crock pot and I think I outsmarted myself.

I did, actually.

I thought 4 hours in the crockpot would be OK, but it was about 2 hours too long.   My poor chicken fell apart.

And the fresh herbs, well, they kinda over took the chicken and hijacked it.

But the beginning of it was just fine.

I took a half lemon (and cut the skin off and used it in the Lemon Extract)  and two garlic cloves, put them inside the cavity and then browned the chicken in some EVOO and butter.

 

 

Placed the chicken in the Crockpot. Added a half cup of Riesling wine, cause it was sitting on the counter  and I still had a half bottle left from the weekend.

Then I went out in the garden, well, to my herb pots and picked some fresh oregano, mint, thyme and parsley and raided a few leaves off of the Celery plant as well.

Took them in the house, gave them a rinse, then popped the herbs into the pan I’d browned the chicken in, just wanted to get the herby oils released from the leaves and then added some of my Home Made Chicken Stock, about 2 cups worth.

***Hint*** If you make your own stock, freeze it in a muffin tin.  Each depression holds about 1/2 cup.
***Hint***  If you are using fresh herbs, remember that they are a lot stronger in flavour than dried herbs.  In other words, you get more oomph for your recipe.

I then put the herbs on top of the chicken, put the lid on and walked away.

 

If you noticed I did not salt and pepper anything.  The chicken stock was well seasoned and the herbs, well, they took the place of the stock.

After 4 hours, I decided to take the chicken out of the crock pot and it fell apart. sigh.  But all the wonderful liquid in the bottom was good.  I used part of it for a gravy and froze the rest.
I really liked the taste, especially since I sautéed some frozen veggies with some leftover rice for my side dish.

It was a little too herby for my DH’s taste, but I noticed he ate all the breast meat anyway.

Gazpacho and Courgette’s Couscous Recipes

I neglected to post the recipe for the Gazpacho Couscous the other day, on purpose.  I thought the blog post was getting a little long so decided to just post the pictures from Tapas night .  But, I took a lot of pictures for the Couscous recipes, and since I did, I want to share with you.

By the way, I have to admit to something here, I was so excited when I saw the package of Israeli Couscous at World Market, I just grabbed it and hurried up and bought it and put it in my pantry to use.  Then when I pulled it out on Saturday to make these dishes, I read the label.

Yup, read the label.

Turns out what I bought was Israeli Couscous with lentils, green peas and orzo.   But since I had the water boiling already, I went ahead and cooked it.  And you know it was good.  I did taste it, and it was a blank slate.   So I decided to go ahead and make the Gazpacho Couscous anyway.   I mean if I didn’t tell people that I hadn’t read the label, they were never going to know it wasn’t quite what I had intended to cook.

Gazpacho Couscous Recipe

1 1/2 Cups uncooked Israeli Couscous, cooked according to package directions.

1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 small green pepper, finely diced
1 cucumber, finely diced
1 container  (8 oz.) grape tomatoes, cut in quarters
1/2 cup EVOO
1/4 cup (approx) Rice Wine Vinegar
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons (more or less) finely minced mint leaves.

Toss all together and place in fridge for at least 3 hours, then taste and adjust seasonings.

I have to say this turned out so good, but did make a lot, enough that I was able to share with friends.   In other words, they got to take some home with them.

And I also made some Courgettes and Mushroom Couscous as well.   That wasn’t as photogenic, but it sure tasted good.

Here’s the how to on that one.   Oh and Courgettes, we call them Zucchini on this side of the pond, personally, I’m going to continue to call them Courgettes, cause I think it elevates them, a little.   Makes them just a tad more elegant, and if you think of all the things you can make with a Zuch, well, I just think they deserve to be called something cool.

Courgettes and Mushroom Couscous

1 1/2 cups uncooked Israeli Couscous, prepared according to package directions
1 small courgette, diced  (zucchini)
8 oz. Fresh Mushrooms, diced  (next time I’m going to leave them in slices)
1 small onion, diced  (I used the other half of the red onion from the Gazpacho couscous)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped.
1/4 cup EVOO (Olive Oil)
2 tablespoons butter mixed with 2 tablespoons EVOO
Lemon juice from one lemon
Salt and Pepper to Taste.

 

Saute the mushrooms, courgettes and onion in a mixture of 2 tablespoons butter and EVOO, until softened.   Mix with the cooked couscous and then add the Lemon Juice and 1/4 cup EVOO and toss.  Add the the chopped parsley and taste.   Season to taste with salt and pepper.

So there you have it, the two Couscous recipes, that I got from  Chica Andaluza .  You should go by and check out her blog as well.  She’s got some great recipes and stories there.