Jerk Chicken, Slow-Cooker Style.

I work nights as a nurse, mostly as a necessity.  That being said, when the "chore wheel" came out, and after a bit of logical deducing, I became the person responsible for making food at the house (the boyfriend, J, does the dishes, and I cook.  It's a good system).

My solution? Slow-cooking, and lots of it.  I'm always on the hunt for interesting and non-stew type dishes to make.  You'd be surprised how many variations there are on the same three slow cooker recipes. 



A few days ago, I was procrastinating clicking around on the internet and came across a favorite cooking site, CHOW.  I can't say enough good about this website.  It makes gourmet accessible and fun for the common schlub like myself.

Upon rooting around on their site, I found a recipe for Pulled Jerk Chicken Sandwiches, which was actually hacked from this recipe, two takes on essentially the same dish.  The only difference is the former lets your slow cooker do the work for you.

Upon first glance, the recipe looked difficult for me to whip up in the few dwindling hours after working overnight.  The ingredient list is long (but not exotic), and there seemed like a lot of steps. 
Cue my inner five-year-old: "Whaddaya mean I gotta hand squeeze the oranges?!"

"Honey, that ain't even the half."

I was not to be daunted, however.  I decided to clear my usual Wednesday morning schedule (gym, doctor's appointment, etc), and see this recipe through.  For Science!  And Blogging.

My resolve allowed me to push through to a great recipe.  After the doing of it, I found it was not labor intensive at all (the "obvious-o-meter" points to the start of the recipe where it says "EASY").  A little of this, a little of that, and it was in the slow-cooker before I knew it, and on to more pressing matters, like giving the cats the attention they assured me they were deprived of, and getting ready for bed.

When I woke up, I strained the veggies and such, shredded the chicken, and put the whole thing on a roll with some swiss cheese, a little Tapatio, and some pickles. 

Divine, I must say.  Added benefits: your house will smell like Thanksgiving conspired with Christmas to throw you a beach party in your kitchen. And you will smell upon it and be proud.

The only down-side to this recipe is that ultimately I was not happy with the shredded chicken.  The next time I make this, and there will be a next time, I would leave the chicken alone after taking it off the bone.  I would even plate it up right then and there (sans skin), or take the unshredded meat and throw that on a sammie.

But really, that's splitting hairs.  I'd call this one a winner! (Chicken Dinner).