Fare Exchange: Chicken-in-a-crock-pot recipes, plus soup and dessert

Jane Henegar

Welcome to Fare Exchange in the Month of All Exchanging. In the busy-ness of the month, you have sent recipes but not requests, so let us remind you that we are missing recipes for lacy cornbread as served at the Southern Star, for how to make pour-over coffee at home and where to buy it locally, for beef stew with red wine and for pressure-cooker recipes.

Dan Cobb sent a crock-pot recipe for Alpine Chicken and, at our behest, added another for Kalamata Chicken. As a person who owns neither crock-pot nor electric mixer, I must admit that your recipes calling for either tempt me to make the purchases.

Alpine Chicken in a Crock-Pot

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

3/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/3 cup diced Canadian bacon

2 to 3 carrots, thinly sliced

1 to 2 ribs celery, thinly sliced

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup water

3 pounds chicken thighs, skinned

1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

8 ounces wide egg noodles, cooked and drained

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

In a small bowl, mix bouillon granules, parsley and poultry seasoning; set aside.

Layer in crock-pot, in order, Canadian bacon, carrots, celery and onion. Add water.

Place half of chicken in pot and sprinkle with half the reserved seasoning. Add remaining chicken and top with remaining seasoning. Stir soup and flour together and spoon over top. DO NOT STIR. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or until chicken is tender, juices from chicken run clear when cut along the bone, and vegetables are tender. Spread cooked noodles in a shallow 2- to 2 12-quart boiler-proof serving dish. Arrange chicken on noodles. Stir soup mixture and vegetables until combined. Spoon vegetables and some of the liquid over chicken. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Broil 6 inches away from heat source for 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned.

Chicken Kalamata with Tomato Sauce in a Crock-Pot

10 chicken thighs, skinned

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic

1/2 cup dry white wine

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 can petite-diced tomatoes

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 cup pitted, sliced Kalamata olives

1 tablespoon parsley

Sprinkle chicken generously with salt and pepper. Brown chicken in olive oil. Place chicken in slow cooker. Add garlic to pan; sauté 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add wine to pan, scraping to loosen browned bits; cook 30 seconds stirring constantly. Pour pan mixture over chicken. Add tomato paste, red pepper and tomatoes. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Stir in olives and parsley.

Optional: Stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons capers with olives and parsley, for a more briny taste.

TALKING CORNBREAD

There was a cornbread discussion a while back, as well as last week. David Lacy wrote that the Southern cornbread recipe printed in Fare Exchange "is almost the same that I use, from my mother and grandmother." And he has some extra information on how to make it.

"One tip that I have not tried came from a neighbor. He said, 'Before pouring the mixture in the cast-iron skillet, sprinkle some cornmeal in the pan'; supposed to make the bottom of the cornbread more crusty.

"Growing up in Kentucky, we had beans and cornbread fairly often. As a teenager, I would take two pieces, saving one for dessert with sorghum. A friend made the sorghum from our crop.

"With only two in the house here, I freeze the remaining pieces for later when I warm them up in the microwave. I still have one for breakfast now and then with sorghum or honey."

SUPER SOUP

Carli Snider, well-known local cook who is about to become an international cook, sent recipes along with her family's emailed Christmas greetings. This soup, originally from eatliverun.com, lends itself to variations. Snider explains, "The base of the soup is coconut milk and chicken broth, and it's delightfully creamy without being heavy."

Thai Lemongrass Soup, or Fire Pot Soup

3/4 pound raw shrimp, deveined, tails on or off

8 ounces extra firm-tofu, cut into small cubes (variations: Substitute chicken for tofu, or use exclusively chicken, shrimp or tofu)

3 tablespoons Thai curry paste (available at large supermarkets and Asian markets)

1 tablespoon canola oil

6 Thai basil leaves, torn (available at Asian markets)

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 teaspoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (14-ounce) coconut milk

2 cups chicken broth

1 6-inch stalk lemongrass

1/2 lime, juiced

2 red or green Thai chilies, pierced with a knife

1/2 cup dry jasmine rice

Cilantro for serving

Cook the rice in 1 cups water until tender (about 30 minutes). Fluff and set aside.

Heat up a teaspoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet on high heat. Add the shrimp and sauté about 30 seconds, until pink and curled. Remove shrimp and place on a plate with the cubed tofu. Set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet and bring back to medium high heat. Add the curry paste and mash together with the oil until both are combined. Stir while cooking for another two minutes and then slowly whisk in the coconut milk and broth.

Add the fish sauce, brown sugar, salt, torn Thai basil, lime juice, lemongrass stalk and chilies and simmer for 10 minutes. Chop the cooked shrimp and add both that and the tofu to the skillet and heat through. Add cooked rice to individual bowls and top with soup and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Don't forget to discard the lemongrass and chilies - you don't want to eat those.

RICH DESSERT

And here's dessert, from a recent envelope postmarked LaFayette, from Linda Leake.

Chocolate Fudge Cookies

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 stick butter or margarine

3 to 4 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 cup peanut butter (may use crunchy)

2 1/2 to 3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts (omit if using crunchy peanut butter)

Boil sugar, milk butter and cocoa for 1 to 1 minutes, timing after mixture reaches a fully rolling boil. Remove from heat and add peanut butter, oatmeal, vanilla and nuts.

Beat until blended, then drop on waxed paper by teaspoonfuls.

Options: Coconut or dates may be added, if desired.

On such a sweet note we end, but not for long. Please stay with us next week.