Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes - Slow Cooker Thursday

Well, it's upon us!  Hockey season that is.  I know, not the NHL (yet!?)...but this year is the first of what could be many years of minor hockey in our home.  Our 5 year old started playing this season...and so far so good!  We are happy that he is active and wants to try new sports, and we will see if he enjoys hockey (it won't be forced upon him though!).  So...with hockey season here, that means practices and games each week.  He has a practice every Thursday after school, which makes things just a little crazier for us come dinnertime.  So...I've decided to make Thursdays "Slow Cooker Thursdays".  Makes perfect sense to me, to get our dinner started before I leave for work, so that everything is ready once we get home from work/school/daycare/hockey. This week is our first installment!

I was ever SO lucky to receive a copy of the new "Best of Bridge Slow Cookers" cookbook...ummm, hello...soooooo excited...not only is it a cookbook (love!) it's also Best of Bridge (classic!).  I'll have a review up on the blog very soon, but in the meantime I just had to start trying new recipes!  For our first "Slow Cooker Thursday" I decided to make the "Saturday Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes" - here is the recipe and what I did (very slightly amended from the original Best of Bridge recipe):

1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 bay leaves
6 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs (note, as per the Best of Bridge suggestion, you will more likely find the chicken thighs with skin on...just remove the skin using a piece of paper towel to grab the skin at one end and pull off firmly - it worked well!)
1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or oregano
1 teaspoon salt 
1/4 teaspoon pepper (I used a little more)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup unsweetened apple juice (I used Sun-Rype)
1 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Wash and prepare your vegetables.  Add the sweet potatoes, carrots, celery and bay leaves to your slow cooker.  Place the chicken thighs on top of the vegetables.  Next, heat oil over medium in a skillet.  Add your onions, garlic, thyme or oregano, salt and pepper.  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Mix in the flour, then add the chicken broth and apple juice.  Bring to a boil (approximately 5 minutes).  Pour over the chicken and vegetables.  Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours on low (which is what I did) or for 2.5 - 3 hours on high.  Juice will run clear when the chicken in pierced.  15 minutes prior to serving, turn crock pot to high.  Add in the peas and vinegar.  I also added in a little roux at this time.  Add more salt and/or pepper if needed.  Cover and cook (on high) for 15 minutes or unti the peas are hot.  Remove bay leaves, stir in parsley.

VERDICT:
My husband said that (besides chili), this was one of the best slow cooker recipes he's had.  We both agreed it could have used a little more seasoning to kick it up a bit, but we all enjoyed the meal.  Our 5 year old LOVED it.  He also really loved the tea biscuits that I made to go with the stew.  And the sweet potatoes were a nice change of pace for us.  This is one that we would make again!

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Excerpted from Best of Bridge Slow Cooker Cookbook by Sally Vaughan-Johnston & The Best of Bridge Publishing Ltd. © 2012 www.robertrose.ca All rights reserved: May not be reprinted without publisher permission.