Chef´s Choice – Slow Cooker Recipes

Chicken Mexican Style

I personally came in contact with a slow cooker for the first time in my life by the advice of my English neighbours. And I was immediately impressed by the concept, because it saves a lot of time in the kitchen and above all the dishes taste. You can leave the cooker without supervision during cooking and you decide when the dish should be ready! Oddly enough these practical kitchen appliances are largely unknown in Germany.

So, for readers who don´t know what a slow cooker is, here comes a brief explanation:

A slow cooker, also known as a Crock-Pot (a trademark that is sometimes used generically in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand), is a countertop electrical cooking appliance that is used for simmering, which requires maintaining a relatively low temperature (compared to other cooking methods such as baking, boiling, and frying), allowing unattended cooking for many hours of pot roast, stews, soups, “boiled” dinners and other suitable dishes, including dips, desserts and beverages.

Ingredients

4 – 6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
400g canned tomatoes, with liquid
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 green pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 onion, diced
250g canned corn, drained
400g canned red kidney beans, with liquid
2 fresh chillies, pips removed and chopped
Mexican-style seasoning to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker.

Season with salt, pepper and Mexican-style seasoning to taste.

Stir in the tomatoes with liquid, the beans with liquid, the drained corn, celery, pepper, garlic, onion and chillies.

Cover and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, Medium setting for 7 to 9 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours. DO NOT take off the lid during cooking!

Note: It is often recommended to shortly brown ingredients in a frying pan just before they come into the slow cooker. This is an option the cook decides, you can usually do without it.