Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore with Kick

Pull all the skin from the chicken and trim away any fat. Pour ¼ cup (60 ml) juice from the can of tomatoes into a small bowl. Stir in the cornstarch until dissolved, then pour into a slow cooker and turn to high.

Drain off and discard the remaining juice from tomatoes, then pour the diced tomatoes into the slow cooker. If using whole tomatoes, however, coarsely chop and then spoon chopped tomatoes, but not the juice, into the cooker. Stir to coat with cornstarch mixture. Add garlic and seasonings. Cover while you chop pepper and remove pits from olives. Then stir both in.

Tuck the chicken into the sauce, bone side up. Cover and cook on high 3 hours or medium for 6 hours.

Stir in the mushrooms and continue cooking 30 minutes or until chicken and mushrooms are done as you like. Before spooning out be sure stir the mixture well, bringing up the thickened cacciatore from the bottom of the dish. Marvelous served over pasta. Refrigerated, mixture will keep well at least 3 days.