Smoked Chicken

Okay, I didn't smoke the chicken myself, so I can't help you there. However, my boyfriend did a favor for a friend who thanked him by giving him several chickens he had smoked himself in his garage. So I've now had several chances to experiment with how to reheat and serve this deliciously sweet meat. So far, this is my favorite method:

Pour two tiny cans of pineapple juice in the bottom of a roasting pan. Place a rack in the pan and simply place the smoked chicken on the rack. Cover and cook at 300 for one hour. Remove the cover and cook another 20 minutes. Serve this tender, juicy chicken with just about anything! Use leftovers for delicious sandwiches for lunch.

Italian Braised Chicken with Fennel & Beans

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes, and I've been making it fairly regularly since discovering it a couple of years ago. It's diet-friendly, yet filling and delicious! I modified the original recipe (found in The Skinny Slow Cooker) to serve it as a stew. It makes a great leftover for lunch!

Italian Braised Chicken with Fennel and Cannellini

    

Italian Braised Chicken with Fennel and Cannellini

Ingredients

2

pounds chicken drumsticks and/or thighs, skin removed

3/4

teaspoon salt

1/4

teaspoon ground black pepper

1

15 ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1

bulb fennel, cored and cut into thin wedges

1

medium yellow sweet pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces

1

medium onion, cut into thin wedges

3

cloves garlic, minced

1

teaspoon snipped fresh rosemary

1

teaspoon snipped fresh oregano

1/4

teaspoon crushed red pepper

1

14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes

1/2

cup dry white wine or reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/4

cup tomato paste

1/4

cup shaved Parmesan cheese

1

tablespoon snipped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

Directions

1. Sprinkle chicken pieces with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper. Place chicken in a 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker. Top with cannellini beans, fennel, sweet pepper, onion, garlic, rosemary, oregano, and crushed red pepper. In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, white wine, tomato paste, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; pour over mixture in cooker.
2. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The chicken will be so tender it will have mostly fallen off the bones. So here's where I just remove the bones and cartilage and stir it up. Voila, now it's stew!
3. Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese and parsley.