Wednesday 23 April 2014

Crockpot Green Chile Chicken

This slow cooked chicken is cooked until it is literally falling apart making a moist and juicy dish that is perfect by itself or used as a filling for tacos, burritos, tamales or enchiladas.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons chile powder
2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 six-ounce cans chopped green chiles*
15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 onion
1 cup water or chicken broth

Preparation:
Heat a large saucepan or pot over medium high heat and add in the cooking oil. Swirl it around to coat the bottom of the pan or pot. Sprinkle the flour over pieces of chicken and rub it in evenly over the surface. Carefully place the chicken pieces one at a time into the hot pan and let it sizzle for 2-3 minutes on each side or until it's browned nicely. The idea is not to cook it, but to sear the outside to seal in the juices.
Place the chicken into a slow cooker. One at a time, sprinkle on the ground cumin, chile powder, oregano, garlic, and salt. Add the cans of chopped green chiles, and the can of tomatoes. You can pour them right on top of the chicken. Peel the onion, and chop it into 1/4 pieces or smaller. Add those in as well. Pour the water or chicken broth into the bottom of the crockpot, it should come up at least an inch or so on the bottom of the crockpot. You don't want the liquid to come up too high, or it will be soupy.
Cook on low for 7-8 hours. After the time is up, the chicken should be fork tender and fall apart easily. There should be barely any liquid in the bottom of the pan and what is left should be of a gravy consistency. Use two forks or a slotted spoon to remove the chicken from the crockpot. Place it on a platter and top with the chiles and tomato mixture. Serve it with a stack of hot tortillas and toppings such as chopped onion, chopped cilantro leaves and hot chile sauce.

*Green Chiles- You can use fresh green chiles if you like. Roast a large green chile (or two small/medium ones) over an open flame or under a broiler until the skin is blackened. Let it cool and peel the skin off. Cut the stem off and open the chile and scrape out and discard the seeds and white strings. For more details on how to roast chiles, here is a step-by-step process. Dice the remaining chile and use in the recipe as a substitution for the can of green chiles.

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