Crock Pot Chicken and Stuffing

Today, I am experimenting with cooking one of the skinless rooster halves in the crock pot.  I've cooked boneless skinless chicken pieces before, but the pieces were battered and oven-fried or stewed so they came out moist even without the skin.  Today I'm making chicken and stuffing in the crockpot.

I make a very simple stuffing with chopped celery and onions, a bit of garlic and lots of black pepper and plenty of chicken broth to make it moist.

Melt 1 cube of butter in a large skillet.  Chop four stalks of celery and dice one large onion.  Mince one clove of garlic or use garlic powder to taste.  Sautee the celery, onions and garlic in the melted butter until the vegetables are soft and almost translucent.   Remove from heat and sprinkle with black pepper to taste.  Yeoldfurt loves black pepper, so I am generous.

Pour sauteed vegetables into a large mixing bowl and add your bread crumbs.  I use a package of herb stuffing.  If you prefer cornbread, use cornbread, or if you dry your own bread crumbs ...so much the better.  Bread doesn't last around here long enough to leave many crumbs, so I buy the packaged bags of stuffing.   Stir to mix bread and sauteed vegetables, then add two large cans of chicken broth.  Mix well. 

Cut another large onion in half and place cut side down in your crock pot.  Use about half of the stuffing to line the bottom of the crockpot around the onion. Lay the bird on top of the bottom layer of stuffing and put the rest of the stuffing over the top making sure you cover all the meat.  I'm hoping that sandwiching the bird between the layer of stuffing on the bottom of the crock pot and another layer on top of the bird will ensure moist meat.  Since I am cooking a bird that is cut in half, the onion will support the bird's shape as it softens during the cooking process. Cover and set the temperature.

 

If I were going to be gone all day, I would set the crock pot on low and let it cook for 10-12 hours.  But if there is less than 10 hours before I want to serve dinner, I like to set the crock pot on high for 1 hour, then set it down to low for the remaining time.

And now, the finished product.  Both chicken and stuffing are very moist.  As with stuffing done in the oven, the edges got a little crusty where they touch the sides of the crock pot but not burned at all.   

The meat lifted out in pieces ...the leg quarter came out as one piece, the breast and wing as another.  The backbone and ribs pulled out clean as a whistle, leaving the breast meat and wing intact.  It's almost hard to see the meat on the platter of stuffing.  The dark pieces at the edge are the crustier parts of the stuffing.  Total preparation time was about 1 hour.  Total cooking time was 6 hours.

We won't sit down to eat for about an hour.  But from what I can see and from the aroma, I believe I have to consider this experiment a success.