Last night in our house, we had a Hawaiian themed dinner. The only thing that was missing was everyone getting lei’d walking in the door… No comment. My husband and I went to Hawaii on our honeymoon, and we both loved it. The beautiful scenery, perfect weather, laid back atmosphere…and amazing food. Just from researching different types of Hawaiian recipes, it seems like the style of food there is a mix between Asian and a lot of citrus fruits. When I told my brother that we were having a Hawaiian style dinner, he said, “Oh, so it’ll have pineapples all over it?” Nope. He’s actually not a big fan of whole pineapples, but like the juice and flavors from it…and he loved every bit of dinner…including beverage and dessert.
In all honesty, I was terrified that the chicken was just going to come out tasting okay. As it was cooking in the crock pot, I kept smelling it, thinking that it wasn’t going to be anything special. Then again, I am getting over a sinus infection and my sinuses are still not back to normal, so maybe that could have contributed to being a little weary over how dinner would turn out. Much to my surprise and pleasure, it was delicious!! One of the things I remember about Hawaiian food was how deliciously moist and buttery the rice was…so I wanted to recreate that in my kitchen as well. This rice was SO moist…and SO buttery. I’m really not a big fan of plain white rice, but could have easily eaten this by itself. My husband isn’t a big eater, and very rarely goes back for seconds…well, ladies and gentlemen…he went back for seconds! I stared at my brother in shock and told him we should write down the date. Even my picky brother went back for seconds and suggested that we have this again. Needless to say, this went over well.
Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken Recipe:
1 cup pineapple juice
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon worchestire
2 pounds chicken breast, cut into cubes
Whisk together ingredients until sugar is blended. Stir together with chicken in bowl to coat completely, transfer to crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours. Serve by itself, or over white rice.
White Rice Recipe:
1/2 stick butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup long grain rice, uncooked
2 cups chicken broth
Melt butter in saucepan at medium heat, add salt and pepper. Add rice, cook for a few minutes until rice is lightly browned. Add chicken broth, stir, and cover. Lower heat and cook for 15-20 minutes, until rice is fluffy.
