Lemon Garlic Chicken...Slow Cooker Edition....

I swear, I feel like I'm shirking my homemaker duties when I use my slow cooker!  I threw this in, this morning and never thought of it, again....except for the smell ALL DAY LONG...I thought I would starve....haha!


Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Whole Chicken

Ingredients:

4-5 pound whole chicken

3 whole medium onions

2 whole lemons

rosemary sprigs or dried rosemary

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 garlic cloves, peeled

parsley sprigs

black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (will rub outside of chicken with 2 of these tablespoons)

1/2 cup chicken broth

Paprika*

toothpicks for closing cavity of chicken, if you like, or you can use twine

*Can sprinkle with paprika before browning
 
Directions:
 
Wash and dry whole chicken.
Pierce lemon all over with fork and place with whole onion (may need to half or quarter), parsley sprigs, 2 whole garlic cloves into cavity of chicken.
Lightly rub skin of chicken with crushed garlic clove, and 2 tablespoons softened butter...I crushed the clove into paste and cut it into the butter, pressed it back together on a big spoon and rubbed it all over the chicken
In skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons olive oil and carefully place whole chicken in butter/olive oil mixture, and brown all sides of chicken..the only con, in my opinion, of slow cooker chicken is the lack of crispy, brown skin...after browning the chicken in this manner...I will simply settle for a "no brown" chicken, next time...awkard to handle the bird, with the stuff inside...stressed me out...I also used a bit of chicken broth (or you could use a white wine) to deglaze the pan...I then poured it through a sieve and set it aside
Cut the other 2 onions in half, as well as the other lemon.  Poke lemon halves all around with a fork. If you'd like to add carrots, you totally can.  Half them length wise.
Place halved onions and lemon into bottom of crockpot. I placed lemons face down. Add your carrots now, if you have them.
Place browned chicken on top of lemons and onions (carrots, if have them)
Lay sprig of fresh rosemary on chicken OR sprinkle chicken with dried rosemary. Fresh is always better for all day cooking.  I'd wait until the last hour or so if using dried.
Add about 1/2 cup chicken broth to crockpot. Here is where you add your liquid from the pan, as well
Cook chicken on low for about 10 hours. My slow cooker is pretty heavy duty and it seemed like it was ready to go after about 5 hours...great thing about this cooking is that it can sit in the pot and it's only going to get better...make sure you know your crockpot...
One hour before serving, remove rosemary sprigs.
Drain off juices, place them in saucepan, reduce to about 1 cup. Check seasonings and correct to taste.
Salt and pepper the chicken.
Pour the reduced juices over chicken and cook for another hour. Again...know your crockpot...mine has a WARM setting and it seems to work well for this...you can pour the juices over your mashed potatoes...
 
I think this would be great with rice...and some green beans with bacon...but we've gone with mashed Yukon Gold potatoes instead of rice...and some macaroni and cheese, for Mimi :)
 
much love,