Friday, March 20, 2009

Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken with Coconut Rice

I saw this recipe come up on my Google reader, and I knew I had to try it. It was a great use of ingredients I had usually had on hand. I was also home and I wanted to put the crockpot to use while I did other things around the house. I know, I know, the crockpot was meant for things such as when you’re out of the house and need to have dinner ready when you get home. However, I still get paranoid (all Gary’s fault) if I leave it plugged in for an extended period of time without supervision. I’ll probably have to use it a few more times under my watch before I leave it on when I’m away. I also don’t have a programmable one, so that’s one of my concerns too. Mine just has low, high, and warm. It doesn’t shut off after a certain amount of time.

With that said, I made this with chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts, because that’s what I usually have on hand. I’m much more of a dark meat fan myself. The pack had 5, so I added it all in there. I also used pineapple chunks instead of rings. I thought I had rings, but I was mistaken. It worked just the same though. I also paired it with some coconut rice that made this a great meal. We both enjoyed this a lot.

The others mentioned that it was a bit sweet, but I didn’t find it sweet at all. I think it was the extra piece of chicken or because it was paired with the coconut rice that balanced it out.

hawaiian chicken

Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken
Adapted from: Stephanie Cooks, Lauren’s Kitchen, and …and a cookie for Dessert, originally from the Easy Slow Cooker Cookbook.

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used a pack of 5 boneless skinless thighs)
salt to taste
1 (15 ounce) can pineapple slices, juice reserved (I used a can of pineapple chunks)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup cornstarch

Directions:
Place chicken in slow cooker sprayed with non-stick spray and sprinkle with a little salt.

Place pineapple slices (or pineapple chunks) over chicken.

In a small bowl, combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, lemon juice, ginger and cornstarch and stir until combined. Pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Serve over rice.

See below for coconut rice recipe.

coconut rice

Coconut Rice
Adapted from: About.com

Ingredients:
2 cups Thai jasmine-scented white rice (note that other types of rice, such as brown rice, do not work for this recipe)
1 1/2 cups thick, good-quality coconut milk (not "lite")
2 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar

Directions:
Place rice in rice cooker. Add the water, coconut milk, salt, and sugar. Stir well (use a plastic or wooden utensil to avoid scraping off the non-stick surface).

Cover and set to cook.

Once your rice cooker switches to "warm" mode, allow another 8-10 minutes for rice to finish "steaming". This will ensure your coconut rice is fully cooked and pleasantly sticky.

Gently fluff with chopsticks before serving.

This is the recipe that uses a rice cooker.
For Coconut Rice made in a pot on your stovetop, see: Thai Coconut Rice Recipe (stovetop version).

Before I started the coconut rice, I had a can of coconut milk that was new and not opened. I opened it up and saw that it was in chunks! It still smelled like coconut, but I couldn’t use it. I guess it was because I put it in the fridge when I bought it. DO NOT PUT CANS OF COCONUT MILK IN THE FRIDGE. If you do, this is what it will look like:

coconut milk

Luckily, just this past weekend, I found coconut cream powder at the Chinese supermarket and bought it.

coconut cream powder

This was a life saver! It had instructions for both coconut cream and coconut milk. Whew!

3 comments :

  1. this looks good and I need some more crockpot recipes so even better! : )

    ReplyDelete
  2. That looks like a great dish, I love chicken and pineapple together.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I recently used this recipe for a pot luck at my place of employment. I have to admit it was easy but most importantly delicious. Everyone wanted to know how the rice was flavored!!!
    The chicken was very soft and tender as well, tasting of the lovely pineapple juice!

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear your comments! Please post below!