Owls and Orchids

1 kg of chicken drumsticks, trimmed

This is a really easy recipe, good for the winter blues, rainy day chills, or to pick you up if you’re feeling under the weather. It has all the hearty ingredients Mum would recommend for her famous Chicken soup – just a little  more of it.

1. First of all get your chicken pieces, I like the drumsticks, (the man of the house likes the bones!), trim off all the excess fat or skin.

Score drumsticks down to the bone

2. I like to score the drumsticks down to the bone.  It lets the juices mingle and makes that chicken really tender.

Lay drumsticks along base of crock pot

3. Once you’ve scored all the chicken start to lay it across the base of the crock pot or slow cooker. I prefer to put my meat on the bottom so the vegetables stay a little more al dente.

Base of crock pot should be completely covered

4. Depending on how many you are cooking for, or how long you want your crock pot to last, cover the base of the crock pot.

Gather all the vegetables to add to crock pot.

5. Gather all your fresh ingredients to add to the pot. Here I have a couple of potatoes, a sweet potato (yam), butternut pumpkin, celery, bok choy, carrot, broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower. Anything goes with this part, as long as it comfortably fits into the pot.

Chop all the vegetables to approx. the same size

6. Make sure all the vegetables are chopped approximately the same size for even cooking.  We’ve measured that one of our mixing bowls is the perfect amount to add and cook easily.

Add the chopped vegetables to the pot

7. Once the vegetables are in there are only a few things to add.

Add the remaining ingredients.

8. Instead of the traditional gravies we add a can of creamed corn and a can of tomatoes, diced, plus a packet of french onion soup mix and a chicken chasseur mix. It adds a nice rich flavour to the finished crock pot. Plus a tablespoon of stock powder as I don’t usually have any stock ready-made and too much liquid will cause the crock  pot to boil over.

Stir in to mix

9. Once you have it all in, stir together as much as possible without disturbing the chicken.

Cover and leave to cook

10.Put  lid on crock pot, turn onto auto and leave to simmer away for approximately 8 – 10 hours.  If you use the High setting it will take approximately 6 – 8 hours. You can stir occasionally and test after the minimum time to see if the meat is cooked through.

Simmering away nicely after 4 hours. The smell by now if wafting through the house.

I like to keep an eye of things if I’m home but it will cook away on its own if you’re out at work. They beauty of a slow cooker!

Finally add the mushrooms ten minutes or so before serving.

We love mushrooms, if they’re not liked in your home you can easily leave them out.

Ready to serve

The final ‘product’ ready to be served.

One dinner for the man of the house!

This beautiful and easy meal is nutritious and can be adapted to suit any dietary needs. You don’t have to use chicken any meat will do.  Use fresh vegetables in season and garnish with some chopped parsley or chives.

We can’t eat onions but a nice leek is great for flavour and adds a little something to the dish.  For the rainy days/weeks we’ve been having they’re fabulous.  The wonderful thing about this recipe is that if you lose power, but have a gas stove of barbecue you can cook it is a large stew pot, just pay more attention to it. You may need more liquid in it if you use that method.

Enjoy and know you are looking after your inner body as much as your outer.  (Can also be prepared just as easily by the man of the house if need be. 🙂

Bless ❤ Susan x