Winter Vegetable Stew with Chicken, Slow Cooker

1. Soak the dried chickpeas in a bowl of water overnight. The size of the chickpeas will double, so be sure to cover them with plenty of water. Drain off any excess water before adding the chickpeas to the stew in step 10.
2. Season the both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper; be generous.
3. Dredge the chicken in flour.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, add the butter and put the chicken in the hot skillet skin side down. Do not over-crowd the pan. There’s no need to cook the chicken all the way through, just brown both sides of the chicken. When browned, remove the chicken to the crock of a slow cooker (crockpot).
5. Put the cup of water into the skillet to deglaze it, scraping the bottom to release the bits. Then add this to the crock.
6. Use a large, sharp knife to cut the acorn squash in half.
7. Scrape the seeds out with a spoon and discard them.
8. Peel the squash with a sharp knife.
9. Cut the squash halves into wedges, or large cubes and add the squash into the crock.
10. Put the remaining ingredients (everything except the cornstarch and the 1/3 cup of water) into the crock.
11. Taste the liquid for seasoning; add salt for your taste.
12. Put the lid on and cook on high for 3 ½ hours. Then you can add your thickener.
13. In a small bowl make a slurry by mixing 1 tablespoon of corn starch with 1/3 cup of cold water. Stir this into the stew, put the lid back on and cook for 30 minutes more. Remove the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and the bundle of thyme before serving.