Crock Pot Curry Chicken

I could stay home all day, chopping and peeling, sauteing and broiling away in the kitchen...but Mark always seems to rave the most over meals that I bung together in the crock pot and let cook all day at work. Go figure. Ok, in truth, this one really was a keeper. The chicken was cooked perfectly, not too dry and the sauce had a chance to really develop lots of deep flavors and heat. I could and will make this meal over and over because I loved it so much. The idea is to create a liquid base that will poach the chicken slowly all day. I added lots of spices and salt to bring everything together. Then I added chopped apricots. Bam! A bit of their mellow sweetness to cut through the heat is all kinds of amazing. Then again, in my world, adding coconut milk to anything makes it a sensation, so it is hard to take my word for it, but if you like curry, I highly recommend this dinner. I think you will fall in love too.Crock Pot Curry Chicken
Ingredients:
2 bone-in chicken breasts
1 onion
1 jalapeno
2 Tbs. curry powder
1 tsp. garam marsala
1 tsp. cumin seeds
2 cloves garlic
1 can coconut milk
1/2 light beer
1/2 cup dried apricots
1 cinnamon stick and 1 star anise (optional)

Side Note: My mom loves to throw a bunch of whole spices (cinnamon stick, cloves, all spice, star annise, etc.) into a small pot of water and bring it to a simmer until it perfumes the whole house with the delicious smells of autumn. I love doing this now myself, so that is why I usually have a cinnamon stick handy. You can just add a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, anything you like to the curry to give a depth of flavor.

1. Place the chicken breasts in the crock pot and sprinkle with 1 Tbs. salt.
2. Add the coarsely chopped onion and jalapeno to the pot along with the spices.
3. Add the coconut milk and 1/2 the beer and with another 1 Tbs. salt
4. Chop the apricots in half and add them to the pot.
5. Mix everything together (I used my hands) so that it is well combined and cook on the lowest setting (mine is 'Warm') for 8 hours.
6. When you get home, you will have a rich sauce with so much flavor and 2 perfectly poached chicken breasts.
7. I removed the chicken breasts from the sauce, removed the skin and bones, sliced the breast into pieces and returned to the sauce to serve.
I like it with rice or cous cous.

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