Chicken Picadillo with Chili Lime Sauce - A Crock-Pot Meal

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Recipes for picadillo, a Spanish hash, can be found in Mexico, Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and South America. The version I'm featuring today is an amalgam of recipes from various countries. I first sampled it at a luncheon held at the Institute for Culinary Education in New York City. The luncheon was part of an award ceremony sponsored by Rival, the company that makes the Crock-Pot slow cooker. On that occasion it was served as an appetizer. I served it this past weekend in large muffin-size tortilla cups. It was part of a tapas-type meal that we enjoyed as we watched the Academy Awards. This is an effortless dish that will really delight folks who love crock-pot meals. As nearly as I can determine, the recipe came from BBQ Pit Recipes, a cookbook distributed by the Crock-Pot Brand which, unfortunately, is no longer available. There are no tricks to making this. The chicken goes into the crock and is covered with a chipotle sauce that's made special by the addition of creme fraiche and lime. At the four hour mark, the chicken is removed from the pot and pulled into shreds. It's then returned to the pot to cook for another hour. It can be served over rice or with tortillas. I go the extra mile and make easy tortilla cups for serving. I warm 6-inch flour tortillas in the microwave for 20 seconds and then place them over inverted custard cups. The cups are used to help push the tortillas into Texas-size muffin pans. I bake the cups in a 375 degree F. oven until they are golden brown. I let them cool slightly before removing them from the pans. They can be made ahead of time and stored in air-tight contains or bags. While the cups are for show, the picadillo is delicious. I really hope you'll try this. I promise you won't be sorry. Here's the recipe.

Chicken Picadillo with Chile Lime Sauce inspired by BBQ Pit Recipes

Ingredients:
Chili Lime Sauce
1-1/2 cups creme fraiche ( 3/4 cup sour cream mixed with 3/4 cup plain yogurt may be substituted)
Juice of 2 limes
1/4 t0 1/2 teaspoon sambal or chili paste to taste
Pinch of sugar
Chicken
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of any visible fat
2-1/2 cups crushed tomatoes
1 cup raisins
2 chipotle peppers in adobo
1/8 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup chili lime sauce from above
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1) To make chili lime sauce: Mix creme fraiche, lime juice, sambal and sugar together in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
2) To make picadillo: Rinse and dry chicken and place in stoneware of a crock-pot or slow cooker. Combine tomatoes, raisins, chipotles, vinegar, chili lime sauce, cinnamon, garlic and salt in a blender or food processor and pulse to blend (do not puree). Pour over chicken and toss to coat. Cook on Low for 4 hours or until chicken is very tender. Using tines of 2 forks, shred chicken and cook for 1 hour more. Serve in tortilla cups or over rice. Top with reserved chili lime sauce. Yield: 6 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Cuban-Style Picadillo - A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa
Picadillo Dreams - La Cocina de Leslie
Turkey Picadillo - Gina's Skinny Recipes
Picadillo - Sweet Bites
Picadillo or Cuban Minced Beef - Chow and Chatter
Picadillo with Mexican Rice - Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
Picadillo - Food and Wine
Pork Mango Picadillo - Simply Recipes
Fast and Easy Dinner: Chicken Picadillo - Yum Sugar
Chicken Picadillo - Laura Rebecca's Kitchen
Cuban Picadillo - Gina's Skinny Recipes

Crock-Pot Golden Vegetable Soup and Creme Fraiche

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This lovely soup is a crock-pot home run. While there is a good deal of chopping involved in its preparation, once that's done, this is an effortless meal. The soup comes from the Normandy region of France and it is made with root vegetables that are simmered to submission and then puréed. The soup has a silken texture that is further enhanced by a final enrichment of crème fraiche which adds tang, as well as creaminess, to the finished product. If you like potato soup, I suspect you'll love this creamy Norman version. While the soup was selected for it delicious flavor, its color is also a lure at this time of year. Our skies here can be gray for days on end, so I like to bring sunshine to our table using vibrantly colored food. This soup is the color of molten gold and it's perfect for warming bodies and warding off winter's chill. The ingredients needed to make it are plentiful and can be found in any store at this time of year. If you make your own crème fraiche, the soup is also a bargain. I'm including a recipe for crème fraiche for those of you who want to make your own. It is simple to do, but once made, it needs to sit for at least 8 hours in order to thicken, so plan your time accordingly. The recipes were developed by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann and I found both recipes in their book, Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Entertaining. I hope you give them a try. Here are the recipes.

Crock-Pot Golden Vegetable Soup..from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 large yellow onions, chopped
3 leek, white and tender green, sliced 1/2-inch thick
6 medium-sized carrots, sliced 1/2-inch thick
6 medium size russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 large turnips, peeled and sliced 1/2-inch thick
2 quarts boiling water or chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1-1/2 cups crème fraiche

Directions:
1) Rub bottom half of slow cooker insert with butter. Add onions, leeks, carrots, potatoes and turnips. Add boiling water or broth, and cook on LOW until vegetables are tender, about 6 to 8 hours.
2) Using an immersion blender, puree soup. Alternatively, transfer soup to a food processor or blender and working in batches, puree soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in crème fraiche, cover, and cook on LOW until heated through, about 20 minutes. Do not allow soup to boil. Serve immediately. Yield: 8 servings.



Photo courtesy of Mozzco.Com

Crème Fraiche..from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy or heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup full-fat sour cream or buttermilk
2 tablespoons full-fat plain yogurt containing acidophilus cultures

Directions:
1) Combine heavy cream, sour cream and yogurt in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until thickened, 6 to 8 hours or overnight. Allow it to sit for a longer period of time will produce a thicker cream.
2) Transfer thickened cream to refrigerator and store, covered, until ready to use.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Chicken Enchilada Chowder - Katy's Kitchen
Corn Chowder in the Slow Cooker - Real Mom Kitchen
Posole - Around My Family's Table
Minestrone - Coconut and Lime
Slow Cooker Black Eyed Pea Soup - Around My Family Table
Potato Soup - The Teacher Cooks

Crocked Pork Roast with Cherry Glaze

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I know I'm about to walk into a mine field, but it really can't be helped. Hopefully, I can navigate the terrain without unduly offending either lovers or haters of the crock-pot. While I'm a centrist, I intend to honestly report the results of the recipes I've been testing. Some were good, others were not. All were recipes developed by professional cooks or food writers. I have, in other entries, spoken of the yin yang relationship I have with the crock-pot or slow cooker. I love its set it and forget it functionality, but I have serious problems with the texture and flavor of the meat it produces. I think most recipes written for the crock-pot produce protein that is dreadfully overdone and strangely flavorless if it's not buried under a ton of sauce or gravy. To overcome these problems, particularly in competition recipes, I season meat or poultry the night before it is to be cooked and brown it before it goes into the pot. I also reduce cooking time and rely on a meat thermometer to indicate doneness. Crocked Pork Roast with Cherry Glaze is a recipe that comes from a book I was given during the holiday. It was the cover feature and I selected it thinking that the only the best recipe would be selected to grace that spot. I made the recipe exactly as directed and I was not happy with the results. The dish bears no resemblance to the pork roast shown on the cover of the book. I think that's deceptive, pure and simple. The book cost someone $35 and the finished dish cost $16 to make and when I factored in my time I was really bent out of shape. Cooked as instructed , the roast falls apart when lifted from the pot and the sweet and sour sauce used to braise the meat is too sweet to use for anything other than light glazing. This was clearly a miss. I made it a second time so I would have pictures to show you. I cut the cooking time and sauce ingredients in half and had better, though not perfect, results. This dish was a strike-out for me. I didn't care for it, but because some of my tasters thought it was delicious, I'm including it here. Here's the recipe.

Crocked Pork Roast with Cherry Glaze...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker: Recipes for Entertaining

Ingredients:
One 3 1/2 to 4 pound rolled boneless pork loin roast
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
4 fresh sage leaves
3 cloves garlic, quartered
2 medium-size yellow onions, sliced
One 12-ounce jar tart cherry preserves
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Directions:
1) Remove string from pork roast and trim any visible fat. Sprinkle evenly with chopped parsley, rosemary, and thyme; lay sage leaves on top. Roll up and tie at 2-inch intervals with heavy string. Pierce roast all over with tip of a paring knife and insert slivers of garlic. Spray inside of crock with nonstick cooking spray and place onions on bottom. Place roast on top of onions. Coat with a few blasts of cooking spray. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours.
2) Combine preserves, honey, vinegar, cloves, cinnamon, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add almonds. Pour glaze over pork roast, reduce heat setting to LOW, cover, and cook for another 6 hours, until meat is tender when pierced with tip of a knife and an instant-read thermometer registers about 160 degrees.
3) Transfer to a platter, cover with aluminum foil, and let stand for 10 minutes before
removing string and carving into thick slices. Serve with crock juices spooned
over the top.

FROM: Not Your Motherʼs Slow Cooker Recipes for Entertaining

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Creamy Italian Crock Pot Chicken - Meals 4 Moms
Slow Cooked Sweet Barbacoa Pork - Gina's Skinny Recipes
Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings - The Southern Bite
Corn Chowder in the Slow Cooker - Real Mom Kitchen
Amy's Slow Cooked Pot Roast - Very Culinary Blog
Potato and Olive Chicken - The Brunette Foodie
Smothered Pork Chops in the Crockpot - Annie Bakes
Sausage and Bean Stew (Crock Pot) - 400 Calories or Less

Tomatillo Chicken and Rice - Crock-Pot Cooking

The two winners of the Novica gift certificates have been chosen. Each of the 270 comments in the drawing received a sequential number at the time it was posted. The winners were chosen by a random number generator which selected the numbers 229 and 71. Congratulations to Aisling and Discovery Woman. I will be contacting you soon.



From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...One of the perks of age is learning to cast away the things that aren't important. That helped this morning as I took a look around the house, assessed what I saw and declared an end to Christmas preparations. Basta! The day was crisp and clear and meant to be enjoyed. I grabbed my coat and headed out the door. I had a wonderful day. I accomplished nothing of importance but had an awfully good time doing nothing at all. I walked some along the river, lunched with a friend and relished the luxury of a midday nap. Dinner, too, was stressless. It was a crock-pot creation that turned out well enough to share with you. If you are looking for a quick holiday meal, I think you'll enjoy this simple dinner which has a Southwestern flair. If you'd like to make your own tomatillo salsa, a recipe can be found here. The recipe for the chicken appears below.

Tomatillo Chicken with Rice...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
2 cups tomatillo salsa
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-1/2-in. pieces
1 can (15 oz.) corn, drained
1 can (15-oz.) hominy, rinsed and drained
1 can (15.5-oz.) cannellini beans, rinsed
2 cubanelle peppers, chopped
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Lime wedges
3 cups cooked rice

Directions:
1) Mix all ingredients except cilantro in a 4 to 5-quart slow cooker.
2) Cover and cook on high 3 to 3-1/2 until chicken is cooked through.
3) Stir in cilantro; serve over rice with lime wedges. Yield: 6 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja - The Perfect Pantry
Slow Cooker Mulligatawny - The Ungourmet
Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches - Jane Deere
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork - Never Enough Thyme
Slow Cooker Pork Chops - The Hungry Housewife
Crock-Pot Chili - Taste and Tell