Chicken Whatchamacallit

Chicken Whatchamacallit, slow-cooker style

Happy Halloween month, all! 

Sometimes, when the creative cooking muse hits, you simply can't figure out a name for a dish. I could have called this chicken stew or chicken soup, but how bland is that for a delicious fall (defallicious?) dish ? So I crowned it "Chicken Whatchamacallit" and I hope the name catches on, especially since I have now typed it so often that my spell checker is no longer correcting it  :)

This dish was made in the slow cooker, using a bunch of stuff I had around the house after a bulk shopping binge a couple of weeks ago. Now that the food is dwindling, it's time to get going using what we have. And I do love my slow cooker, so here we are: Chicken Whatchamacallit. Smells good already and it's not even cooking yet!

I love Halloween

CHICKEN WHATCHAMACALLIT 

Ingredients

• Leftover cooked chicken or turkey pieces [got mine from my freezer]
• 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 2 14.5 oz cans of Mexican ir Italian style diced tomatoes
• 1 can of Salsa style fire-roasted stewed tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 c of chopped squash (I had frozen some summer squash, so...)
• 1 c chopped baby carrots
• 1 can sweet corn (not creamed)
• 1/2 c chopped celery (if you have it)
• 1 c water or so (I used a tomato can to measure)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• 1 tsp salt and pepper
• 1 - 2 tbsp white granulated or light golden sugar
• 2 - 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar [you could also use wine or cooking sherry]
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 1 tsp paprika (or so) [for color and sweetness]
• 1/2 tsp rosemary [because I like it]
• 1 cup orzo pasta (depends upon how thin the concoction is at the end)

Preparation

• Spray slow cooker with cooking spray and set on "HIGH" 
• Cut onion and place on bottom of slow cooker. 
• Place cooked chicken or turkey pieces on top. Doesn't matter if they are sliced or whole parts, boneless or 'bone in'
• Add chopped carrots, corn and squash
• Sprinkle with cinnamon, salt, pepper, sugar,  parsley, paprika, rosemary, oil and vinegar
• Cover with cans of diced and stewed tomatoes, corn and water
• Stir all together and let cook for 2-3 hrs on high, then reduce to low for another hour, or so to simmer and blend flavors.
• **Reserve orzo for the last hour of cooking**

Let it bubble and simmer, stirring every now and then to make sure nothing sticks.  Reduce to low for an additional hour to cook the orzo and blend flavors. If it gets too dry, add a bit more water. If it's watery at the end, you have created a stew and can add a bit of cornstarch mixed with water to make it less runny. Just don't do that before you add the orzo (pasta) because that should thicken it to a Spanish Rice consistency. Since the meat is already cooked, you are more concerned with the vegetables cooking thoroughly and that the orzo cooks. Easy peasy pumpkin neezy (or something like that).