Saturday Slow Cooking-Soy Ginger Chicken

Today is the last full day of summer, can you believe it? Another thing that may be hard to believe is the rainy and cool weather we've been having here in Southern California the last couple of days. The premature fall-like climate made me feel like cooking something comforting and filling. I came across this recipe for soy ginger chicken in the Martha Stewart publication, Everyday Food, and since I made a trek to Costco today and bought a boatload of chicken, it was an easy choice. I also liked the fact that I had most of the other ingredients in my pantry and left out whatever I didn't. The dish is actually quite simple to put together--just combine all the ingredients in a pot and let your oven do the work. That's what slow cooking is all about. The end result is a deliciously tender chicken that we ate with some brown rice. So long, summer.

Soy Ginger Chicken (adapted from Everyday Food December 2006)

Ingredients:

4 chicken drumsticks and 4 thighs (total of about 2 and 1/2 pounds)--skin removed

4 medium carrots--cut up in chunks

1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 cloves garlic, sliced thin

1 small piece of ginger (about 2 inches long)-peeled and cut into thin strips

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Using a 5-6 qt. Dutch oven, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, vinegar and pepper.

3. Add the chicken and carrots and toss well to coat; add 1 cup of water.

4. Cover with tight fitting lid and transfer to oven. Cook about 1 and 1/2 hours until chicken is tender.