* Slow Cooker Chicken with Chorizo

I'm not a fan of meat on the bone, any meat... but most especially chicken. I want to eat my food, not play with it, struggle with it or get covered in it - so it's incredibly rare that I buy a whole chicken or jointed chicken. I mostly buy chicken breasts, and although they are convenient - they aren't where the flavour is. The flavour is all in the meat that's wrapped around the bones.

If I buy chicken thighs (I never buy drum sticks), I de-bone them before I use them. Which can be a royal pain in the backside.... so... my slow cooker has been amazing to use when it comes to chicken thigh recipes. When cooked, the meat just melts off the bone - no muss, no fuss - and I end up with a delicious dinner, that was easy to throw together, easy to throw on a plate... and easy to throw down my throat.

This Slow Cooker Chicken with Chorizo is one such recipe that I've just adapted (yet again) from The Slow Cook Book by Heather Whinney.  I can honestly say I have not yet had all of the ingredients to make any of her recipes, off the bat. But they are so easily alterable that the book has to be amongst my top ten cook book purchases for this year... and there have been a few.

This freezes beautifully, especially if you pull the meat from the bone before hand, and goes with everything from Celeriac and Potato Mash to Chicken Flavoured Rice... or even couscous. I can't be bothered to cook tonight, so we're having it again (from the freezer) with Jacket Potatoes and some cheesy garlic bread.

I'm incredibly good at being lazy.

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Slow Cooker Chicken with Chorizo Recipe

Serves 4

Prep time - 30 minutes including pre-cook time
Cooking time - LOW/MEDIUM 6-8 hrs or HIGH 4 hrs
Total time - 6.5 - 8.5 hrs or 4.5 hrs

You will need
A non stick frying pan/skillet
A slow cooker

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
6 skinless chicken thighs
220g Spanish chorizo - chopped into bite size pieces
1 red onion - peeled and thinly sliced
2 small leeks - thickly sliced
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dried thyme
1 red bell pepper - deseeded and chopped
1 yellow bell pepper - - deseeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic - crushed
14oz/400g can chopped tomatoes
4fl oz/100ml chicken stock
2 fl oz/60 ml sherry
salt
pepper

Method

• Preheat the slow cooker if desired.
• Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and cook the chicken thighs on all sides for 5 - 8 minutes, until lightly browned. Arrange the thighs in the bottom of the slow cooker.
• Throw the chorizo into the chicken pan and cook for 3 minutes until it starts to release it's oil - using a slotted spoon remove the chorizo from the pan and arrange over the chicken in the slow cooker.
• Return the pan to the heat with the chorizo oil in it, and add the onions and leeks - cook gently for 5 minutes until softened.
• Stir in the coriander, thyme, peppers and garlic and cook for three minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, chicken stock and sherry and bring to a simmer. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
• Pour the contents of the pan into the slow cooker with chicken and chorizo and give it a gentle shake to mix it together - you can use a spoon if you choose.
• Cook on LOW/MEDIUM for 6 - 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours.
• Serve with Celeriac and Potato Mash

EAT

NOTE: Whatever you do - don't substitute green bell pepper into a slow cooker dish... ever... I tried it a couple of weeks back and it turns grey. Tastes fine... but you have to eat with your eyes closed.