Crockpot Ginger coconut chicken with veggies

I found this recipe here: http://www.simplebites.net/coconut-ginger-chicken-vegetables-slow-cooker-challenge/?doing_wp_cron=1326720131

Recipe Type: Main

Author: Aimee

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 5 hours

Total time: 5 hours 30 mins

Yield: 6-8 servings

Serve this creamy and fragrant stew over Jasmine or brown rice. You can top  with a few chopped scallions. (I also used some coconut sprinkled on top) good with peanuts too

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 inch cube of ginger (about 30 grams), roughly chopped
• 1 small sweet onion, peeled, quartered
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons butter (omitted)
• 2.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into four (used 3 breasts--thighs would be nicer, probably)
• 2 cans coconut milk, not shaken (I only had one, so used about a half can of chicken broth with it and I think I would prefer it this way)
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 can of baby corn cobs (I used corn--didn't have the kind here)
• 1 cup peas or frozen vegetables of your choice (I used garden peas, fresh cauliflower and zucchini and yellow squashed--the last 3 were already cooked)
• For the spice blend
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground tumeric (I think I would prefer less of this spice).
• 1 teaspoon salt
• (I added yellow raisins--about 1/2 cup)
• (I had some coconut for sprinkling and some mango sauce)

Instructions

1. Combine ingredients from the spice blend together and set aside.
2. In a mini food processor, combine garlic, ginger and onion and pulse until it forms a paste.
3. In the bottom of a slow-cooker placed on a burner, heat olive oil . Add pureed aromatics and stir well. Cook for a few minutes, then add spice blend. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Move aromatics to one side of the pot and add chicken pieces to the pot. The recipe calls for cooking chicken slightly--I don't like doing this as it seems to toughen the chicken. (Cook chicken slightly on all sides,--me nope) using a sturdy wooden spoon to move it around the pot. It should get thoroughly coated with the spice mixture.
5. Open the cans of coconut milk and remove the cream from the top using a soup spoon. You should have about 1 cup. Pour the coconut milk over the chicken and with both cans, it should just barely cover the chicken.
6. Drain the corn cobs and chop in half. Add to the slow-cooker.
7. Place the slow cooker in the base and cook on low for 4 hours. (perhaps because I used breasts--but to get them tender and really falling apart I cooked it more like 6 hours--and part of the time on high--about an hour on high)
8. Whisk cornstarch with coconut cream until smooth and add to the chicken. Stir well. Add frozen peas or other vegetables of your choice. Cook for another half an hour or until you deem the chicken cooked and the vegetables hot.