Slow Cooked Whole Chicken

While on my Whole30 journey I have become more adventurous in the kitchen, however I still want good old wholesome food, like roast chicken and gravy.  Currently it is winter in Queensland so using the oven isn't any bother, however I am always looking for ways to cook my favourite foods without causing the house to overheat in summer.  Today I decided to play around with my Slow cooker and a whole chicken.  I was a little nervous that the chicken wouldn't cook properly but I shouldn't have worried, it was perfect and delicious.  Recipe below.

Ingredients

1 x Whole free range chicken (I had a 2kg chicken)
2 x onions roughly chopped
1 large Spring onion or 2 small spring onions
1 carrot roughly chopped 
4 cloves of garlic
500mls vegetable or chicken stock
2 tablespoons Ghee
Smoked Paprika
Salt and Pepper

Add one tablespoon of ghee to your slow cooker on browning function and allow to melt.  Lightly cooked the onion, spring onions, carrot and garlic.  Once the onion has become translucent add the 500mls of stock and salt and pepper to taste.  In the mean time rub 1 tablespoon of ghee over your chicken and then liberally sprinkle smoked paprika and rub in. 

Place your chicken breast side down in the mixture of stock and vegetables.  Switch your slow cooker to LOW, place the lid and cook for 6 hours.  A smaller chicken will take less time. 

Please make sure that your chicken is fully cooked before serving.  The juices from the chicken should run clear and the meat should be white the whole way through. 

For the gravy, simply use a stick blender and blend the mixture of stock and vegetables.  If too runny then place some in a pan on the stove and bring to the boil, this will allow it to reduce to a gravy consistency.  Serve with vegetables of your choice and enjoy.  We had roast parsnip, carrot, onion, capsicum and kumara tossed in oil and mixed herbs then oven roasted.