4.25 pound chicken took 2 hours & 45 minutes to reach 180 degrees. The breasts were a bit dry. I prefer other baked chicken recipes. Gave our rating an extra star because we liked the thick gravy a lot. Cut back on the chicken boullion & used sherry (dominant flavour in gravy). Probably would be good on steak as previous reviewer mentioned. I'm going to try it on pork chops.

Reviewed On: Jul. 29, 2009

Excellent! Nicely browned and seared. The doneness for ours was medium rare. The meat doesn't come out of the oven 'hot-hot'...just 'warm.' However that's typical for slowly cooked meats (like prime rib served in restaurants; never really hot) which aren't prepared in a slowcooker or simmered stovetop. Anyway...tender, juicy and I was very, very surprised by this inexpensive cut of meat ($1.88/# on sale) turning into a restaurant quality entree' (seriously)! I used a 2.3# beef round roast sprinkled with coarse salt, coarsely ground black pepper, garlic powder, then placed in cast iron dutch oven (uncovered). Turned-off oven after 20 minutes, and removed pot 2.5 hours later. I'd wanted roast beef for French dip sandwiches, but after seeing/tasting the result---decided a roast beef dinner was more 'fitting' *laff* It was also great not having a pot simmering on the stove, or a pan in the oven, heating-up the kitchen during warm months/season ;^)

Reviewed On: Jul. 1, 2009

I saved this recipe last fall (the ingredients were intriguing), but the numerous cooking steps/timing turned-me-off: So, I used a slowcooker. Omitted olive oil, butter, water, chopped onion. I heated all ingredients (used 1.5# stew meat) on stove (to give it a heated head start ) then placed in slowcooker. Wasn't sure if the can of diced tomatoes was supposed to be drained or not, so didn't drain and omitted the 1/2 cup of water. I added boiling onions a top of other ingredients, an hour into cooking, so they wouldn't become mushy. Used pearl onions (as stated in recipe) the second time I made & we liked those better---stronger flavour & sweeter than boiling onions. Cooked on low for 4.5 hours, however it may have been ready in 3.5-4 hours: The meat was extremely break-apart tender. At the beginning of cook time the aroma reminded me of pumpkin pie (no, it doesn't taste a bit like pie)! This dish is very tasty with a nice, mellow combination of spice and orange zest. The sauce is very thin when prepared in a slowcooker, but simple to thicken. Served with sticky rice but egg noodles, or potatoes (mashed or otherwise) would also be a complimentary starch.

Reviewed On: Jun. 13, 2009