Huli Huli Chicken in the Crock Pot

I had never heard of Huli Huli Chicken until two weeks ago when I picked up a copy of Cook's Country. The name is so cute, and the ingredients sounded unique and delicious, but the cooking thereof as written? Huh-uh, huh-uh. Complicated, time-consuming, and calling for mesquite coals for the grill. I don't do coals, thank you.

As the article which accompanied the recipe explains, "huli" means "turn" in Hawaiian. In Honolulu, there are literally dozens of parking lots dotted with huli-huli grills. Home cooks buy huli chicken, they don't make it. (I don't feel like such a cheater after all.) Besides, who wants to be caught flipping the bird?

All right, that was bad. Here's how I adapted the magazine version of Huli Huli Chicken to suit my style and ingredients on hand. Keep in mind, I don't measure--I estimate.

8 chicken breast halves (I had boneless, skinless)
3 cups pineapple juice
1 cup water
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 or 2 teaspoons garlic powder (or 4 garlic cloves, minced)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 small whole jalepeno (mine was frozen to start)

pinch of mace (for last step only)
fresh herbs for garnish

Put all ingredients into Crock Pot. Cook at least 5 hours, depending on thickness of meat. I also added halved baking potatoes. Every hour or so, huli the chicken around in the crock. When meat is tender, preheat oven to 420. (While oven heats--if you think you want thicker sauce like a glaze, remove as much "broth" as you can from Crock Pot and boil it on the stove to reduce it. At this point, I added a teeny pinch of mace because I didn't have ginger.)

Spread chicken and potatoes out on a large, foil-covered, sprayed baking sheet. Ladel the sauce or "glaze" over the chicken, broil for 5 minutes. Turn. Repeat. (Huli, I mean. Huli the chicken so both sides gets glazed and broiled.)

I served this dish with sauteed sugar snap peas, and garnished with fresh (barely grown) herbs to gussy-up my photo:). Oh, and I thought the dish needed a kiss of red, and I was out of tomatoes. So I made a strawberry daiquiri and set it close to the plate. Works for me!

Joel was not even halfway into into his serving of chicken when I heard him say, "I definitely want Samoa." (Okay, he didn't actually say that, but with his mouth full, it sure sounded like a pun!)