Angel Chicken

The blizzard had been predicted for days, so I had gone to the grocery store on Sunday and stocked up on ingredients for some new recipes I wanted to try.  I bought the February 2011 issue of Midwest Living because the cover advertised it as a "Top Ten Issue" and I am a sucker for Top Ten lists.  It also featured "Top slow-cooker recipes" and I have been craving anything made in a slow cooker lately.  It is definitely the weather. We have had a very cold and snowy winter here, and the smell of something cooking in the slow cooker on a cold, snowy day just makes me feel happy.  I tried the recipe for Pulled Pork Sandwiches on Sunday, and I liked it pretty well.  The meat was really tender, but I wasn't crazy about the sauce.  Too much root beer taste.  I am going to do some tweaking on it, and I will post my recipe it if I think it is improved.  Yesterday, during the blizzard day grading marathon I decided to try the recipe for Angel Chicken.  I started around noon, and it took me about 30 minutes to get it all ready and in the pot.

The recipe calls for chicken breasts, button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, dry Italian dressing mix, Golden Mushroom soup, Philly cream cheese with onions and chives, some dry white wine, and butter, salt, and pepper.  First, salt and pepper the chicken breasts and brown them in a pan with a little olive oil.

While the chicken is browning, put the sliced shiitake mushrooms in the slow cooker.  Clean the button mushrooms and quarter them.  Place them in the slow cooker too.

I used four large chicken breasts.  One change I made to the recipe is I cut the browned chicken breasts into chunks (about four pieces per breast).  I thought it would be easier to serve this way, and there is no way the younger kids would eat a whole large chicken breast.  I think this was a good move.  Place the chicken on top of the mushrooms in the slow cooker. (I forgot to take a picture of this step... I am no Pioneer Woman!)  Then, make the sauce by melting some butter, adding a package of Italian Dressing mix (I used Good Seasons), the Golden Mushroom soup, cream cheese, and white wine.  Melt and stir everything together and then pour over the mushrooms and chicken in the slow cooker.

The recipe says to cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.  About halfway through, I decided to turn it up to high to simmer the chicken a bit more (it was not cooked all the way through, just browned) and then after about an hour, I turned it back down to low.  I don't know if this was necessary or not, but the chicken and sauce turned out perfectly.  Just before dinner I made a green salad, heated up some crusty bread, and cooked some angel hair pasta.  I served the chicken mixture over the pasta, and it was delicious.  (Sorry I don't have a picture - by 6:30 when we eat dinner it is so dark around here that pictures don't turn out so well...)  Everyone loved it!  Yum, yum, happy, happy.