Slow Cooker Chicken a la Veracruzana

*Post by Angela.

Chef Rick Bayless of Frontera, Topolobampo, and Top Chef Masters fame may have his detractors, particularly here in L.A., but the man does know the value of a slow cooker. His Mexican Everyday cookbook is chock-full of great slow cooker recipes, including this one for chicken in the style of Veracruz, a Mexican state stretching along the Gulf Coast. The cuisine of Veracruz blends notes borrowed from Spanish, African, French, and Lebanese cultures, resulting in incredibly flavorful, bold dishes. This is no exception.

List of ingredients:

• One 28-oz can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, drained
• 6 canned pickled jalepenos, stemmed, seeded and cut into strips
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 tsp dried thyme
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, each cut into six wedges
• 3 lbs of chicken thighs and legs, skin pulled off
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped green olives
• 1/4 cup coursely chopped flat-leaf parsley

First, I mixed together the diced tomatoes, jalepenos, garlic, Worcestershire sauce (for some reason I have three full bottles of Worcestershire sauce in my pantry, so I was excited to be able to use it), thyme, ground cloves, cinnamon, and salt.

 

I got out my slow cooker and layered the bottom with the potato wedges, added the chicken over it, and poured the tomato mixture over the top. I placed the lid on and turned the slow cooker to high for six hours.

 

After the six hours was up, I removed the chicken and potatoes from the slow cooker and transferred them onto a platter. This was a little difficult, since the meat and spuds were so tender at this point they were falling apart. I added the chopped olives and parsley to the sauce, mixed, and spooned the mixture over the chicken and potatoes.

I may disagree with his opinion on the Los Angeles Mexican food scene, but this meal gets a thumbs up in my book as it was 1) crazy easy, 2) incredibly filling, and 3) wonderfully flavorful. I loved the complexity that the Worcestershire sauce and cinnamon added, and the chopped olives lent a nice little salty burst. And the potatoes soaked up all those flavors. Plus, the chicken was really juicy and tender. This is another recipe that may be better in the winter, but we certainly didn't mind having these leftovers for 2 or 3 days.

Comments

[TreasureLA]

I've been looking for solid slow cooker recipes. I bought the America's Test Kitchen one, and a lot of the recipes look great, but you also have to do a lot of prep work on the stove before using the slow cooker. Most slow cooker recipes end w/ a bland, muddled mess. This recipe looks great. Should this be my next slow cooker meal, or do you have other favorites that I gotta try first?

[Angela]

This one is great, but my all-time favorite slow cooker recipe is probably: http://thebittenword.typepad.com/thebittenword/2008/11/ultimate-cheater-pulled-pork.html

Also, the Mexican Everyday cookbook has a ton of great slow cooker recipes.