Chicken Thighs

tigerfeet2006

What sorts of tastes do you like? What sort of store cupboard have you got?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Take the skins off - it's easy.

Then you can do whatever you want for sauce (tin of toms, garam masala and a bit of sugar, for example).


The skins will make anything oily and bleurgh.

archiesdad

Hi I have some chicken stock that I could pop in, I have got numerous herbs, garam massala, stock cubes, carrots, onions, parsnips. I do have tinned tomatoes but wanted to have a more casserole with gravy type dish rather than something with a tomato flavour. I also have some creme fraiche if anyone thinks I could add this at the end to make a more creamy sauce. My nan used to make a lovely chicken casserole but unfortunately she is no longer with us and I have no idea how she made it, I think she may have used a packet sauce sachet though.

Would it be best to brown with the skins on and then remove them before putting in the slow cooker?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

How about:

slice onions, put on base of pot.

Add small pieces of carrot and any other vegetables you wanted in there.

Put skinned thighs on top (no need to fry first, as the oil just gets into the dish that way instead)


Add chicken stock with herbs to the chicken level (tarragon is very good). A splash of soy is pretty good for adding a little depth of flavour, as is a tiny bit of sake/white wine. Season.


Cook, taste when you come back to see if it needs thickening with a little cornflour slaked in water or strengthening with additional stockcubes/herbs/seasoning at all. The chicken should have fallen off the bones and the carrots should be soft.

You may find it is improved by the addition of the creme fraiche, but you would have to taste it once cooked and try a tablespoon of casserole with a little creme fraiche added to decide this for yourself.

Pink.

Hi archiesdad,

I would definitely remove the skins...even if you brown them first the skin will be soggy and flabby/yuckky (sorry it's late and I can't think of a better description ) after cooking them in the slow cooker. Then there is no need to brown and the dish will be healthier.

If you really want to keep the skins on then the only way around this that I have found, is to remove the thighs with skin on from the casserole and whack them under a grill before serving to crisp them up and make them look a bit more attractive.

Chicken thighs are lovely cooked in the slow cooker, unlike chicken breasts, which can sometimes dry out. This thread has lots of recipes that may help that can easily be adapted for the slow cooker:

Chicken Thighs

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the recipe ideas together.

Pink

zippychick

Pink-winged wrote: »

Hi archiesdad,

I would definitely remove the skins...even if you brown them first the skin will be soggy and flabby/yuckky (sorry it's late and I can't think of a better description ) after cooking them in the slow cooker. Then there is no need to brown and the dish will be healthier.

If you really want to keep the skins on then the only way around this that I have found, is to remove the thighs with skin on from the casserole and whack them under a grill before serving to crisp them up and make them look a bit more attractive.

Chicken thighs are lovely cooked in the slow cooker, unlike chicken breasts, which can sometimes dry out. This thread has lots of recipes that may help that can easily be adapted for the slow cooker:

Chicken Thighs

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the recipe ideas together.

Pink

:rotfl:

The one and only time i ever used chicken thighs, i had to fish the bones out They fell to pieces!:eek:

pinkie_pie

I've never cooked these before as I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to chicken, so I've bought some to cook today as the rest of the family are far less fussy and I'm going to try a little bit as well lol.

I'm doing them in one of those 'in a bag' sachets, will I need to remove the skin/fat beforehand as I can imagine a huge puddle of fat where the sauce is?

Also, how many would you normally dish up for children/adults each, and do they have a bone in them?

Sorry for silly questions!

serious_saver

Yes chicken thighs have bones in them

I would normally serve two for adults one for children

Never used those bags before so I don't know about the skin. However their usually quite nice just cooked in the oven with a little oil rubbed into the skin and a pinch of salt.

bramble1

You can buy chicken thigh fillets that don't have a bone, or chicken thighs that do. I don't remove the fat or skin before cooking, because when i do make them they are roasted in the oven. I do remove the skin before i eat mine, but OH loves the crispy skin.

I normally eat about 2 thighs skin removed, OH will eat about 3/4.

maman

I haven't used the packets but I would recommend browning the thighs on the hob before adding the sauce. Whether you eat the skin or not is a matter of preference but I couln't imaging eating it if it wasn't crispy.

I love the taste of chicken thighs in casseroles. Two decent ones would be a good, adult portion but it will depend on how frugal you want to be and what else you're serving with it. We always have tons of veg!