I was at a meeting a couple of weeks ago, and our school superintendent ate his dinner during that meeting, since he had been working since just after dawn, and would not get home until after 9 p.m.

He was eating some kind of stew that smelled beyond fabulous. I waited until he’d finished and asked what it was.

Evidently his wife, whom I adore, had bought an expensive roasted chicken from Mystic’s Grass & Bone, and she’d taken most of it home and made a few more leftover dinners with it, adding vegetables and maybe beans or chickpeas and perhaps a stock to put it together. He, and I, had yet another meeting; now I was famished.

I went home and made a tomato and cheese sandwich and went to bed.

Before bed, I read an article called Dutch Oven Dinners. I love my Le Creuset Dutch ovens, but I also love my slow cooker, which is now part and parcel of my Instant Pot. All the recipes in this magazine also showed how to make it in a slow cooker. With an Instant Pot, you can make them without using a skillet to saute the ingredients. I will make all six recipes this fall and winter. Here is one. You might want to buy this issue just for the other five recipes.

Braised Chicken with Olives, Capers and Prunes

From Cooking Light, October 2018

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

3 tablespoons drained capers

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

1 tablespoon honey

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 pound), skin removed

3/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided

16 medium garlic cloves, peeled

1 cup dry white wine

2 bay leaves

24 pitted Castelvetrano olives (I use plain old green olives, pitted)]

1 cup dried pitted plums (prunes)

1 small orange or lemon, unpeeled, cut into one-inch slices.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Whisk together one-quarter cup oil, vinegar, capers, oregano, honey and one-quarter teaspoon salt; set aside.

3. Heat remaining oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with one-half teaspoon pepper and remaining teaspoon salt. Working in batches if necessary, add chicken to pan, meaty side down, and cook until well-browned, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside

4. Add garlic to drippings in pan; cook stirring oven, until lightly browned and blistered, about 2 minutes. Add wine and bay leaves; cook until reduced by half, about 4 minutes.

5. Stir in olives and prunes. Nestle chicken into mixture; pour vinegar mixture over chicken. Tuck citrus slices into mixture. Cover and bake until liquid is thick and glossy, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard bay leaves, sprinkle with remaining pepper.

Slow Cooker Method: Omit step 1. Prepare as directed through 4, substituting a skillet for the Dutch oven. Omit step 5. Pour mixture into a 6-quart slow cooker. Add olives, prunes, chicken, vinegar mixture and citrus.

Cover and cook on low until chicken is tender, 6 to 7 hours. Discard bay leaves, sprinkle with remaining pepper.

Instant Pot: Turn on saute button. When hot, add oil, vinegar, capers, oregano, honey, salt. Saute for a few minutes. Then go to Number 3, adding oil into the Instant Pot and follow the rest of Numbers 3, 4 and 5. Turn the Instant Pot to Slow and add the rest of the ingredients.

Cook on low until chicken is tender, 6 to 7 hours. Discard bay leaves and sprinkle with remaining pepper.