Slow Cooker Garlic Citrus Chicken (photos to come soon! camera batteries went kaput)

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken
1 1/2 clementines or tangerines
2 lemons (save zest of one lemon)
1 1/2 onions
8 cloves garlic (smashed, minced, whatever as long as it's small- into groups of 2 cloves)
1/3 cup OJ
2 Tbsp canola oil
sea salt
pepper
tarragon
lemon pepper
onion powder
ground sage
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 C dry sherry

Preheat oven to 500 degrees

Soften the butter and mix with 2 cloves garlic, a pinch of that lemon zest, some pepper and a dash of tarragon. Mix up and place into something that can be frozen. Once it's solid again, split into 2 "patties".

Loosen the skin from the breast of the chicken, and put one 'patty' under the skin of each breast section so that it rests between the meat and the skin.

Shove one half onion (quartered), one lemon (cut into 2 halves), and one half clementine into the cavity of the chicken with a sprinkling of salt.

Pat the chicken dry, if you haven't already, and rub the chicken with the rest of the zest, half of the remaining garlic, then sprinkle liberally with salt, ground black pepper, and other herbs as you like. (I chose approx. 1/2 tsp lemon pepper, 1/2 tsp sage, 1/2 tsp tarragon, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder. I sprinkled a little olive oil on it too, but it's not necessary. Place the chicken on a rack in a pan with 1/2 C water at the bottom. Place chicken in overn for 20-30 minutes. You're just trying to brown the skin and seal in the juices, so try not to let it burn in there.

In the meantime, put the carrots, cut however you like them, the rest of the onion (cut into large chunks) the rest of the citrus, the OJ, sherry, a dash of salt, the remaining garlic, the potatoes and oil in the slow cooker. Turn it on and set to the time that fits your schedule. I started at 6 hours while the chicken was in the oven, but quickly realized I didn't have much time so i pumped it up to 4hrs on the high setting once the chicken had done its time in the oven and I put it in the slow cooker to finish up.





























Served with Citrus/Parsley rice, sauteed veggies, and the slow cooker potatoes and veggies from the pot. I also used the pot drippings to make a basic gravy.















The chicken was so tender it was falling off the bone as soon as I took it out of the crock pot.

Cooper couldn't wait to try it!

Maiden Voyage

I suppose this is the first post; the maiden voyage, as they say. Please do not be confused by the posts to come that reference the past. I intended to start this blog for quite some time but lacked the impetus or time to see it through. I know have a bit of both and say hello to the world of bloggers, epicures, net-aholics, and random searchers. Welcome to the world of delicious imperfection - where food is delicious but not necessarily precise. I have found, over the years, that I create my best recipes by happenstance. I rarely follow a recipe word for word. And with so many recipes out there for the same thing, I often choose to go with my gut. Somehow my gut, hands and mind come up with wonderful recipes, alternatives and solutions. So I'm sticking with that. I'm sticking with delicious imperfection.

Join the adventure. Offer suggestions, comments, photos, events, recommendations...whathaveyou. And try some of the recipes. I will tell you this, and remind you often, that I don't follow recipes and often forget to measure exactly how much of something I put in a dish. So follow loosely, make your own changes, and don't expect perfection. Do, however, expect to enjoy yourself and your food. That's what's most important after all.