Aunt Mae's Cuban Chicken
1.5 to 2 pounds skinned chicken thighs or = of other chicken
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 med onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 bay leaves
3/4 tsp whole cumin seed
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 c rasins
1/2 c pimento-stuffed green olives
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 T red wine vinegar
rice to serve with
Place chicken in bottom of crock pot. Stir everything else except the rice together, pour over chicken. Cook on low all day, tightly covered. Serve over rice.
Parley
Aunt Mae was my mom's aunt, I believe. No, she wasn't Cuban. Honestly I'm not sure how "cuban" this recipe really is. All I know is that it's easy and yummy. Don't let the unusal combo of olives and raisins deter you--it turns out great. Audrey devours this, especially the raisins and olives. If you don't have green olive (spanish olives) in your undoubtedly well-stocked fridge already, buy "salad olives" at the store. They are green olives with pimentos, but they seem to be the ones that aren't perfect. You know, the pimento fell out, or the olive got squished or whatever. It's the same stuff as the regular olives, just cheaper. And you're going to cook them for 8 hours anyway, so it really doesn't matter waht they look like. I usually by bone-in, skinned thighs, just to make it easy on myself. If you have time, skin your own and save some $$. I do suggest using chicken with the bones in, as it tastes better and won't get so "dry" tasting. I usually toss in more than 1/2 a pepper because we all love them. I use ground cumin, 'cause that's what I have. I also usually toss in extra olives and raisins (see above!). Serve over some brown rice, cous cous or quinoa and you have a great, easy crock pot meal.
