Crock-Pot Chicken Adobo

Erika's cousin Rick made Adobo with chicken while I was at their apartment a few months back. It was so good, I tried to recreate it at home. Needless-to-say, I am still trying to perfect it.

What is Adobo you ask? According to Wikipedia, it is a Filipino cooking process which involves stewing in vinegar but is a term with Spanish origin which means to marinate or season. Typically, pork or chicken, or a combination of both, is slowly cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, bay leaf, and black peppercorns.

In my first try to recreate it I used pork. I don't think I let it boil long enough for the meat was a tad tough. For try #2 I used chicken. Most recipes I saw online (and what her cousin did) call for using the whole chicken cut up with the skin still in tact. I was trying to make it healthier so I used skinless, boneless chicken breasts. It wasn't bad but still not what I had experienced at Erika's.

Since the meat in previous tries have been a little dry, I decided to try my luck with the crock-pot. I mean seriously, what doesn't cook well in a crock-pot, right? Once again, I used skinless, boneless chicken breasts and added some veggies into the mix.

Crock-Pot Chicken Adobo

• 2 zucchinis
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 4 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 4 crushed cloves of garlic

1. I washed and cut up the zucchinis and carrots and placed them on the bottom of the crock-pot. (If you have onion, throw some onion into the mix. I used vegetables I had on hand.)
   
2. Next I cut the chicken breasts into inch sized cubes and placed on top of the vegetables. (Chicken thighs or legs would work beautifully.)
   
3. I mixed all the remaining ingredients and poured it over the chicken. (Some recipes recommended marinating the chicken in the soy sauce/vinegar concoction over night.)
   
4. Cover with the lid. At this point you can set the crock-pot on low (6-8 hours cooking time) or high (4 hours cooking time). I set mine to high as I put it all together in the afternoon and wanted it for dinner.
5. An hour and a half into the cooking time I stirred the contents of the crock-pot as to ensure the chicken didn't cook into one huge mass and to help the liquid incorporate into the chicken.

As side dishes, I cooked some rice and oven roasted some corn on the cob. The corn was quite simple. I poured some olive oil onto husked cobs and sprinkled on some salt, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. You can add whatever seasoning you like. I put it in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. At this point I rotated the corn and cooked for another 20 minutes.

I am pleased with my third attempt. Greg mentioned the liquid was a little strong for his liking if eaten by itself, but complimented the rice nicely. As for myself, I like vinegary things so the liquid tasted great.

Trying to recall what Rick had done and referencing a basic recipe online, I always try to make recipes my own. This time I did that by adding ginger, mustard and pepper flakes and veggies to the recipe. If you notice, the spices are about half the ingredients needed for a pickling spice mix. Looking at a pickling mix recipe, cloves might make a nice addition for next time to this recipe...

When I finally figure out how to make it in a regular pot, I'll post my success. :-)

Lou Malnati's Tastes of Chicago

Warning: Do not continue reading this if you are hungry. Pictures may induce stomach growling.


For Greg's birthday, the parents shipped four 9" pizzas from Lou Malnati's Tastes of Chicago which were incredible! The package included 2 pepperoni and 2 sausage pizzas. Greg's birthday is not until August 5th, but we had to make sure things tasted OK. We sampled the pepperoni pizzas the day after they arrived and are saving the sausage ones until his actual birthday.

Being a California girl, I often wonder if I'd prefer a Chicago deep dish over a NYC thin crust. I realize it may seem trivial and not as important as pondering ways of stopping world hunger, but I contemplate it almost every time I eat pizza which is about twice a month. So in that perspective, it is important to think about a food one consumes on a regular basis. :-)

I am accustomed to my pizza being a certain way: crust on the bottom, sauce on the crust, cheese on top of the sauce, toppings on top of the cheese, which may then be sprinkled with more cheese.

While this pizza had things a little backwards (with the order of crust, cheese, toppings and then sauce) I absolutely loved it! Maybe it was the chunky tomato sauce or the thick layer of cheese that won me over, but this pizza definitely won points for the deep dish side. Chicago has some valid points for making their pizza the way they do. Why put sauce on the crust which may cause it to become soggy? Why not have sides on a pizza in order to put in as much cheese and toppings and sacue as possible?

My lactose intolerance did not stop me from enjoying this delectable treat.

Isn't it a thing of beauty?

Along with the package of pizzas came a mouthwatering catalog containing other goodies from ribs to cannolis to a Chicago style hot dog kit. Afraid you won't like it? Let the evidence speak for itself.