Slow Cooked Mahogany Chicken

I'm ever so tired today. No, tired doesn't describe it well enough. I'm just exhausted. I didn't get much sleep last night and what sleep I did get was fitful. Don't you hate those nights? So, the Beer Butt Chicken that I had planned for the grill got revamped into something that needed much less of my attention. I'm not a huge fan of a whole roasted chicken in a crock pot, but it was either that or fish sticks for dinner and I just can't bear the thought of compressed fish.

My problem with a whole chicken in the crock pot? Well first, it never gets that great golden color that it gets on the grill or in the oven. And second, it sort of falls apart in a heap of greasy skin and bones. Not real appetizing, right? Needing a quick solution as the hours needed for a good slow roast were disappearing, I did some research on the Internet. And I found some great solutions.

In the past, I've perched my bird on a "rack" of carrots or celery or potatoes. The vegetables themselves are usually too greasy to be salvaged, but they keep the bird out of the grease. Then I found this delightful tip: make aluminum foil balls to hold the chicken up and drain the grease away. And guess what? It worked. The second issue, the color, was remedied by painting the bird a few times during roasting with a glaze I usually reserved for oven roasting. It's a hoisin based, soy, ginger, and honey glaze that's out of this world.

Slow Cooked Mahogany Chicken

Serves 6, 7 WW Points each servings

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 tablespoon grated ginger root or Ginger Juice from the Ginger People
A big ginormous roasting hen or a big chicken

Spray your crock pot with nonstick cooking spray. Take a couple of big sheets of foil and crumple them into flattened balls. Wash your bird and place it on the foil balls, making sure that the bird still fits underneath the lid of your crock pot. Mix all glaze ingredients together. You might want to add a bit of fresh garlic, just as I'm typing this I'm realizing that I usually use a garlic ginger blend (in the Asian foods section of your store), but that today I only used ginger juice from the Ginger People. Oh well, we'll live without the garlic tonight, but if you're reading this, add it in, oh a teaspoon or so of fresh minced garlic. Brush about a third of the glaze on the bird and let it cook on high if you're crunched for time or low if you're not. If you're going to work--just dump about 3/4 of it over the chicken. Refrigerate the rest and paint the rest of it on about 20 minutes before serving. If you're home all day, every couple of hours or so, with a clean spoon, spoon more sauce on top of the bird. Chicken is done when the leg joints get nice and loose and the juices run clear. I would say 10-12 hours on low and 4-6 hours on high.

Remember, I'm so tired as I write this, so if I've left something out or made it completely unclear, just drop me a line and I'll help you out!