Simply Delicious Chicken & Risotto!
Friday May 30th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I had 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts left over from my make-ahead night that needed to be used today. So I pulled out one of my many crock pot books and found this oh so simple recipe.
Put the chicken in the crock pot
Top it with a can of golden mushroom soup. I have no idea what golden mushroom soup is. I mean its obviously yellow cream of mushroom .. but I think the color actually comes from tomato.
Then sprinkle a packet of onion soup over it. I had mushroom onion soup .. so I figured I’d give that a try 
(Sean was worried I was cooking dirt)
Then let it cook for 4-6 hours .. or if you use boneless, skinless breasts .. you might want to start checking around 3 hours .. because apparently I have no idea how to make a crock pot not over cook my chicken. It ALWAYS comes out dry .. can somebody please explain why? Alright .. here’s what I got after 4 hours:
I used a meat thermometer and realized it was way over cooked, but I cut off a piece and it fell in the soup and it tasted great (the soup made it seem juicy). Thats when I decided that I MUST HAVE RISOTTO. Why I didn’t I think of that like, 30 min before my chicken was done? Because that would make too much sense. Oh well .. I still wanted it .. so my dinner had to wait another half hour.
I have made risotto before, Liz and I attempted to make it with a crock pot once, but we ended up with a pot of sticky mess. Armed with the recipes from the back of the rice container & Pioneer Woman’s Risotto .. I was ready to give it another shot.
Melting some butter and olive oil together .. yum
Sauté in your perfectly chopped onions. Yep I learned [how to dice an onion] today. Well .. I’ve been taught this before .. but for some reason today I actually did it .. and it worked
Toasting rice for a few minutes
Nice and toasty
Add your first cup of chicken broth
Then you stir and stir and stir .. until the liquid is absorbed. Approximately 5 minutes
Then repeat that 2 more times. Yeah, you’ll be standing over a hot stove for at least 20 minutes .. but its so worth it. The first time I had risotto it was in Las Vegas. I was having dinner at a Russian restaurant and whatever else I ordered came with a wild mushroom risotto. It was amazing, obviously, since I’ve forgotten anything else I ate with dinner
Eventually, after your 3rd cup of water .. the rice will get pretty tender. When its pretty much al-dente .. or when its a texture you could tolerate to eat .. I added half a cup of half & half
and half a cup of parmesan cheese
Then added fresh ground pepper
One day I promise I’ll get some pretty plates, and start garnishing my dishes .. because honestly .. this is not pretty. But .. it tastes good (except for the dry chicken)
Mmmmmm!
Simply Delicious Chicken Breasts
by Donna Treloar - from Fix-It & Forget-It 5 Ingredient Favorites
- 4 bone-in chicken breast halves, or chicken legs and thighs
- 10 3/4 oz can golden mushroom soup
- 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
- Place chicken in slow cooker.
- Pour soup over chicken. Sprinkle with dry soup mix.
- Cover and cook on Low 4-6 hours, or until chicken is tender, but not dry. (Use alot less time if using boneless, skinless breasts)
The risotto was very impromptu. When I checked the back of the rice container and saw that it didn’t require heavy cream and fancy cheese I was super excited. Then I realized that I had half & half in the fridge for Sean’s coffee, and I happened to have some parmesan cheese so maybe I’d give Pioneer Woman’s recipe a shot .. even though I used a cup of rice rather then a pound
Erica’s Risotto Attempt (adapted from Pioneer Woman’s Risotto & Rice Select arborio rice)
- 1 cup uncooked rice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter (or margarine)
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 3 cups chicken (or vegetable broth)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream (or half & half)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- pepper to taste
- Saute onion in oil and butter for 3 min.
- Add rice, stirring for about 2 min.
- Stir in 1 cup of broth. Continue cooking and stirring until liquid is absorbed (around 5-8 min).
- Gradually stir in remaining broth 1 cup at a time, cooking and stirring until liquid is absorbed before adding the next cup.
- Once its almost completely soft, stir in the cream & cheese
- Season with pepper & serve.
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