I'm not much for mixing fruit with meats... But I have a bag of really sour green grapes that none of us can eat...makes your mouth pucker... So I think I'm going to make a grape salad with them...hope that'll sweeten them up enough that they don't go to waste.

Not to mention a combination of High and turned to Low - or Low and turned to High towards the end. What are the other ingredients? Is it being stewed in a liquid base or baked with other ingredients like rice, stuffing mix, potatoes or other vegetables? I don't often cook in a slow-cooker, but the one chicken recipe I do use (especially in the summer) is for Baked Chicken and it is a dry cooking method. So as islay_corbel, perfectly put it, "I think it depends". There isn't just one method or temperature better than another, it depends what you want the end result to be, AND to be used for -- shredding, slicing, dicing, soup/stew, casserole, or directly from the slow-cooker to your plate as a single serving of meat. Crock-Pot Baked Chicken Put several wads of foil in the bottom of the Crock-Pot. Place seasoned chicken pieces (I usually use thighs or breasts) on top of the foil. Heat 1 hour on High and 6-8 hours on Low. The chicken will be browned like chicken baked in an oven rather than stewed in liquid. The foil keeps the chicken raised out of the liquid. -Grainlady

I make sweet and sour chicken in the crockpot all the time. I don't think it will necessarily be a flop. Here are some tips for success - use all thighs or a mix of breasts and thighs--not the super-size breasts. Brown the meat first before putting in the crockpot. Don't cook for 8-10 hours, cook on low for 4-5 hours. I always start the dish on high til it gets up to temp and then turn down to low. Do not put the green peppers in the crockpot, green peppers turn bitter when slow cooked. Saute the green peppers in some canola or soy oil and add them before serving the chicken. Don't add the cornstarch at the start. When the chicken is done, take it out and add the cornstarch to thicken the sauce. I usually pour all the sauce ingredients of the crockpot into my braising pan to thicken with cornstarch. Then I add the chicken back in and serve the whole dish from the braising pan--I like it for presentation. I serve over brown rice--yum! These tips work with all my crockpot chicken recipes--moroccan chicken and chicken cacciatore too. I get raves when I serve these dishes to guests, which is something I wasn't expecting for me preparing meat dishes since I am usually vegetarian when cooking for myself. The tips came from the Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen Cover and Bake Cookbook. Good luck, and report back how it worked.

o RE: Cookalong #40 - Wine clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by walnutcreek (My Page) on Sun, Feb 12, 12 at 16:05 CHICKEN IN HEAVENLY WINE SAUCE 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon crushed dry oregano 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil 8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms 1 cup Marsala wine 1/2 cup sherry wine Clean and rinse chicken, place between sheets of plastic wrap and using the side of a square mallet pound chicken breast to 1/4 inch thickness. In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper, and oregano. Coat chicken pieces with the flour mixture. In a large skillet, melt butter in the oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan and lightly brown, then turn over chicken pieces and add mushrooms and any remaining flour mixture. Pour in wine and sherry. Cover Skillet and bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer,and cook for 10 minutes, turning chicken once, cook until no longer pink. Serve over egg noodles or your favorite pasta, topped with the wine sauce. Serves 4 SPICY WINE MUSTARD 3/4 cup brown mustard seeds 3/4 cup yellow mustard seeds 1 cup white wine vinegar 1 cup dry white wine 1/4 cup EVOO 1/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoons dry mustard (Coleman's) 1 tablespoon sea salt 1 - 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Put all ingredients into a deep, medium-sized bowl, stir well, cover and leave on countertop at room temperature, stirring once or twice, for 24 hours. Transfer bowl contents to a food processor puree until creamy. Transfer mustard to jars, seal tightly and refrigerate. Makes about 3 cups. APPLE, CHICKEN, AND WINE 1 whole fryer chicken 1 whole apple 1 cup apple juice or 1 cup white wine Salt and pepper Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the inside of the chicken. Put the whole apple inside the chicken cavity. Place chicken breast side down in a crock pot. Pour apple juice or wine around the chicken. Cook on low 4-6 hours. SHALLOT AND WINE BUTTER 1 shallot, finely chopped 3/4 cup dry red wine 4 oz butter cut into small pieces Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Bring the shallots and wine to a boil in a small saucepan over moderate heat. Boil until all the wine has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, salt, and pepper until the mixture is smooth except for the pieces of shallot. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. To serve with steak, top each steak with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the butter. BLACKBERRY WINE CAKE 1 Duncan Hines white cake mix 1 3-oz. box blackberry Jell-O 1/2 cup salad oil 4 eggs 1 cup blackberry wine 1/2 cup chopped pecans Preheat oven 325 degrees. Combine all ingredients except pecans. Mix on low speed until moistened then on high for 2 minutes. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle pecans on bottom and side of pan. Spoon batter to cover pecans. Bake 1 hour. GLAZE: 2/3 stick butter 1/2 c. blackberry wine 1 1/4 c. powdered sugar Combine butter, sugar, and wine, bring to boil. Punch holes in cake with ice pick and pour half of glaze over cake while in pan. Let stand 30 minutes. Turn out and pour glaze over cake. PARMESAN WINE RICE 1 tablespoon butter 1 medium onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 1 cup chicken broth 1 cup uncooked rice 1 cup dry white wine 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 8 minutes or until translucent. Stir in broth, rice and wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 25 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in grated Parmesan and serve warm. Serves 4 o RE: Cookalong #40 - Wine clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Mon, Feb 13, 12 at 10:28 A big Thank You to all that participated in this thread, there are some really good recipes here. I just pulled a name for the next Cookalong. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bbstx ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please choose the next focus ingredient. Try to pick something you have a special interest in. If it happens to be something that has been covered in the older Cookalongs, that's fine, especially if it is basic. All the older Cookalong threads are in the FAQ. Think about Seasonal, Fresh, Basic, and Readily available ingredients.... If you have questions, you can email me through GW. I will check back here and then set up the new Cookalong. Nancy o RE: Cookalong #40 - Wine clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by foodonastump (My Page) on Mon, Feb 13, 12 at 12:51 A little late, but I think worth mentioning here. I had been meaning to try this since I first chose wine for the cookalong. Recent conversations about mussels and fennel finally got me to do it today for lunch. I winged it but here's approximately what I did: Saute about 3/4 cup small-diced fennel and a minced shallot in butter with a pinch of salt. Add some thyme, a pinch of saffron, and 1.5 cups or so wine. (I used Gewuertztraminer, as recommended in Patricia Wells' "The Paris Cookbook" for its slightly sweet note.) Reduce wine by half and add scrubbed mussels. Steam for about 3 minutes or until they open. If some open earlier than others remove them so they don't overcook. Once all the mussels are done, remove them from the pan and add a dollop or two of creme fraiche to the broth. Adjust seasoning to taste. I think that's about all I did. I ended up eating the full 2.5 pound bag, plus half a baguette to sop up the sauce. It was awesome! o RE: Cookalong #40 - Wine clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Mon, Feb 13, 12 at 15:42 The next topic is #41 - Greens - Cooked and Raw Here is a link Here is a link that might be useful: Cookalong #41 Greens, Cooked and Raw o RE: Cookalong #40 - Wine clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by sally2 (My Page) on Sun, Feb 19, 12 at 8:19 I'm reporting back way late on my cooking with wine attempt. I made Ruthanna's French Bean Soup, and know it would have been wonderful if......I didn't burn it. Yes, I actually managed to burn soup. We were up in Oklahoma where I have a substandard set of pots and pans, basically camping gear, cause I don't want to spend a lot of money on another set of pots and pans. Anyway, the soup pot I used is very thin aluminum. It was already cooked earlier in the day, and tasting delicious. DH had to go on an errand, and while he was gone, I turned the soup back on to heat up for dinner, and sat down with my cross stitch. Big mistake. When DH got home, he headed for the kitchen,stirred the soup, and announced, "Did you know the soup is burning?" Aaahg! Oh, well, it was still edible, and I'll definitely make it again, but I was very disappointed that I did something so stupid. Ruthanna, I think I'm drawn to your recipes. I'm sure I've made more than one other of your recipes. If you had a cookbook, I'd probably buy it. I do have one question about the recipe. In the last part of the instructions you say to remove the cinnamon sticks, but there are no cinnamon sticks mentioned anywhere else in the recipe. I didn't have any, so I added a dash of cinnamon to the soup. Sally o RE: Cookalong #40 - Wine clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by lakeguy35 (My Page) on Fri, Feb 24, 12 at 0:53 I'm late checking back here too...I did make the dessert that Lindac posted. Oh man was it good!! My group loved it. Photobucket I have my eye on several recipes posted here that's for sure. Glad to see the cookalongs back in action. David