Knock your socks off Bacon & Herb Stuffing

Why - on earth - haven't I made my own stuffing before now?

I reckon it's a combination of stuffing being one of those things that just floats around as an "also", an "add on" to a roast dinner and also my own bad experience with it as a youngster.  You see, my Mum would often stuff (good old Paxo, the stuffing of choice for the millions) our Sunday chicken, which I remember vividly because I would be vaguely revolted by the colour of the stuffing that had sat in the (apologies) blood while the chicken was roasting.  As a consequence, when the recommendation came out that you didn't stuff your chicken any longer owing to E-coli scares - and my Mum stopped - I wasn't unhappy about it.

So we got out of the habit of eating stuffing.  It became something that we had at Christmas with the turkey - and only in the shape of stuffing balls that were baked in the oven.

When it came to making my own roast dinners, to include stuffing on the menu was just one step too many for a long time.  Well, making a roast dinner is quite an undertaking one way and another.  There's the timings, the vegetables, the roast potatoes, the gravy - everything has to be ready on time and it's a whole lot more complicated than making a spaghetti bolognese!

In fact, I didn't really bother with stuffing (the associations between sage & onion stuffing and hideous discoloured soggy breadcrumbs being too much to bear) until hubby came along and professed an undying love for the dish.  By then, I'd managed to get a small grip on the mechanics of making a roast dinner - particularly a roast chicken - and it wasn't too difficult to mix up a packet of stuffing and bung it in the oven to cook alongside the rest.  I didn't waste any love or attention on it though - and didn't particularly enjoy it on my dinner, either.  Well - sage and onion again, you see.

It wasn't until I joined a couple of Facebook groups and saw other people were making home made stuffings, that I began to foster an interest in doing it myself.

This was a slow burning interest though, I have to admit.  I'm fairly sure that those early days of sage and onion were still colouring the picture of "stuffing" that I had in my memory.  I still hadn't put the idea that I could venture away from sage & onion, together with the concept of "stuffing".  Now everyone knows that home made is very often better than shop bought packet mixes, but I was particularly slow on the uptake where this was concerned.

However, once it had dawned on me - and I noticed that I had half a packet of bacon sitting doing nothing one Sunday morning - the old grey matter got to work.

It was the perfect moment - I had a gorgeously huge, fat chicken to be roasted.  I had my lovely oven dish to use.  I had bacon.  I had a good quantity of Polish Bakery bread to use for breadcrumbs and I had a profusion of both fresh and dried herbs in the house.  Never had a moment been so propitious!

I didn't use a recipe - after all, people have been stuffing things for years by using whatever they had to hand.  Yes, dear reader, I winged it.  In a BIG way - and (pretty much) got away with it.

Even having put the stuffing together and knowing a) what was in it, plus b) how they went together, I still wasn't particularly keen on the idea.  Oh I was interested in how it would come out and concerned that everyone would like it, but I wasn't anticipating liking it much myself.  Oh, how wrong I was.  I not only liked it, I loved it.  I could have eaten the stuffing and dropped the chicken from my dinner - which is truly remarkable.

However, the stuffing came into its own the following day when I put together a cold roast chicken, stuffing and sweetcorn relish sandwich.  Oh .. my .. word.  Shoot me now, I'm all over happy.

I have one cook's tip for you with regard to this stuffing, which is not to use salt unless you are absolutely convinced that the bacon does not carry any of its own.  Because the bacon becomes considerably reduced by the double cooking process, the saltiness of it is intensified.  Additional salt just isn't necessary - particularly if you are using smoked bacon.

So, on the reckoning that where I came from others might follow and if you're one of those who was put off stuffing by - well, let's not go into it again, eh? - then find some lost bacon and give this a go with your next roast chicken.  Then tell me you don't like stuffing.  *grin*

KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF BACON & HERB STUFFING   (serves 5-6)

Ingredients :

1-2 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
freshly ground black pepper
4-5 rashers of lean back smoked bacon, finely diced
3 slices crusty bread, slightly stale, chopped into chunky breadcrumbs
2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
half a tsp dried thyme
half a tsp dried rosemary
1 large egg.

Method :

1.  Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the bacon and onion together until the onion is softened and beginning to turn golden.  Add a pinch of black pepper, stir to combine then leave to cool slightly.

2.  Once cooled, stir the breadcrumbs into the bacon & onion pan making sure to absorb the bacon fat.

3.  Decant the contents of the bacon pan into a large bowl and add the remainder of the ingredients, including the egg.

4.  Stir well to combine - until the egg cannot be traced.

5.  Decant into an oven proof dish, level the surface and place into a pre-heated 180degC/350degF/Gas 4 oven for 25-30 minutes or until the surface is baked crispy.

Serve with your favourite roasted meats and vegetables, or cold the following day in a sandwich.

Printable version

Risotto Primavera with herby glazed chicken

The emphasis of this recipe is on the Risotto Primavera, as I will admit to having used a shop bought chicken glaze.  Now don't you go telling me that you never use such a thing, I refuse to believe it.

The glaze we used was one of the Maggi range of "So Juicy" cook-in-a-bag products.  In fact, it was really not bad at all.  We tried the mixed herbs one, which seemed to have a significant amount of tomato in its mixed herbs, but with no artificial colours, flavourings or Aspartame in its ingredients, we were prepared to give it a go.

Owing to the cooking method, which involves your cooking the chicken sealed into a cook-in bag, the chicken comes out the other end enticingly moist and tender.  I'd definitely give others of the same range a go.

As a fairly foolproof and easy way of obtaining a very acceptable chicken dish, I recommend it to you!

Now the big question was what to put with it.  I'm always on the lookout for interesting and easy vegetable dishes that can be use as a side to a meat dish, for just these moments.

We had a number of meals planned that included potatoes already - and owing to hubby's antipathy towards the 'umble spud, I needed to find something else to use as the carbohydrate in this dish.

Hubby suggested vegetable rice, but son & heir isn't always terribly keen on that.  As hubby was the one who was going to be cooking this meal, I suddenly hit on the idea of a risotto.  Well, he is the Risotto Cooking King!  I remembered that I had picked up a baked Risotto Primavera recipe from a magazine, but knew he wouldn't be struck on the idea of doing a baked risotto (being a newly crowned risotto purist, and all that).  So we just used the recipe as a guide for the amounts and types of vegetables to use - and he made a straight, cooker top, in a saucepan, ordinary risotto - but using frozen peas, asparagus, fine green beans, tenderstem broccoli, mint, chives and parsley instead.

The combination of the highly flavoursome chicken and the clean, fresh flavours of the risotto with its herbs, were just perfect together.

Hubby even reserved a few asparagus spears for decoration, which was good because although it is great in a risotto, I do love the flavour of asparagus and it was a treat to have some to enjoy on its own.

I'll have to remember to use vegetable risotto in this context again in future.  I have used Risotto Milanese (saffron risotto) in this way in the past and it worked exceptionally well there, too.  The light and springlike flavours were a lovely break from the somewhat heavier mid-winter flavours that we've been enjoying before and since, thanks to the awful weather.  Hopefully, we'll get a chance to put them to the test in another combination very soon!

RISOTTO PRIMAVERA  (Serves 3)

Ingredients :

150g asparagus spears

2 handfuls of frozen peas

150g tenderstem broccoli

50g fine green beans

3 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

2 banana shallots, very finely diced

25g butter

300g Arborio or Carnaroli rice

100ml of white wine

1.5 litres of vegetable stock (we used Essential cuisine vegetable stock powder)

10g fresh chopped parsley

10g fresh chopped chives

10g fresh chopped mint

50g grated parmesan

sea salt and finely ground black pepper.

Method :

1.  Bring a saucepan of salted water to a rolling boil and prepare the asparagus by snapping at the weak point (around one third of the way up the stem from the cut end).  Retain the woody ends for use in the stock and blanch the tipped ends for 60 seconds.  Drain (retaining the water) and then plunge into bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process.

2.  Repeat with the frozen peas, tenderstem broccoli and green beans - blanching for 3 minutes and adding them to the same iced water.

3.  Prepare the stock by adding the stock cube or powder to the cooking water and add the woody ends of the asparagus, cut lengthwise.  Bring up to a simmer and keep the stock over a very low heat until required, not allowing it to boil.  Remove the asparagus pieces just before use.

4.  Heat the olive oil and butter gently together in a large pan.  Add the shallots and cook until they are soft and transparent, not allowing them to brown.

5.  Add rice to the shallot mix and stir well to coat with the oils, then turn the heat up as hot as you dare - without burning - before quenching the pan with the white wine.

6.  Cook until the wine has reduced by two thirds and add a ladleful of the vegetable stock (minus the asparagus pieces).  Reduce heat to a simmer.

7.  Continue adding ladlefuls whenever the mixture runs dry, stirring well and keeping it moving to avoid catching on the bottom of the pan.

8.  Continue in this way until the rice is cooked al dente.  You may find you have stock left over, which is normal as different rices require different amounts of liquid.

9.  Drain the vegetables from the iced water and add them to the risotto to warm them through, stirring gently so as not to break them up.

10.  Add the parsley, chives, mint and grated parmesan, reserving a small amount of parsley for garnish.  Stir gently through and taste for seasoning.

11.  Serve and garnish with shaved parmesan and chopped parsley.

Printable version

Honey mustard chicken with herb salad & jacket potatoes

In an attempt to put some lighter and remotely healthy dishes on the menu list, I hit upon the half-way house that is "something with salad and a jacket potato" idea.  The something being the star of the show, the salad being the healthy bit and the jacket potato takes on the role of the filler.

You see, I've discovered that if you go from big old hearty stews with dumplings, enormous bowls of steaming pasta, lovely warming soups etc. straight to salads, what you wind up with are a lot of peckish chaps by 9pm.

So, in this intervening period (Spring, some call it) I've been trying to hit upon nice half-way house types of recipes that suit the weather and suit everyone's need for something fresher and lighter for dinner.  Of course, needless to say, by next week it'll be sub-zero overnight and we'll be hankering for the old Shin of beef stews again - but I might as well try!

This Honey Mustard Chicken recipe is a perfect example of a recipe of the type.  The chicken is served hot, as is the jacket potato - so both warm you up a bit on a chilly evening.  However, the salad provides that fresh flavour and crunch that your tastebuds have been hankering for, after a couple of months of root vegetables.

In fact, this chicken recipe is the first for aeons that the glaze has actually gone right - and glazed the chicken, instead of falling off and resisting all attempts to have it do any glazing.  Instead, it normally winds up laying in the bottom of the pan sulking, claiming it's "not in their job description" and "a real cook would know how".

This glaze - whether it was the hotter temperature, or the size of the pan I got right - worked perfectly and the chicken came out of the oven suitably glazed, with a lovely soft, perfectly cooked middle.

Because I was cooking the Jacket Potatoes at the same time, I had the oven temperature up at 200 deg C instead of 180/190 deg C - which is what I would normally cook chicken at.  It seems as though I shall have to try this hotter temperature again, as it seemed to do the trick beautifully.

A word about the Jacket Potatoes themselves.  They were Asda's Extra Special Marabel potatoes, which I would heartily recommend.  They are sweet and fluffy - and the skins taste really richly potato-like.  Oh, and ignore the "won't need butter" instruction on the label - they might not NEED butter, but every jacket potato should have SOME butter!

July 2018

I have just made this yummy chicken dish again - except this time I paired it with some delicious paprika roast potatoes and a mixed salad with cherries.  I had forgotten how good the chicken tasted and how easy it was to make!  Here's the picture of today's incarnation.  :D

HONEY MUSTARD CHICKEN WITH HERB SALAD & JACKET POTATO  (serves 3)

Ingredients :

2 tbsp clear honey
1 tbsp grain mustard
half a lime, juice only
3 skinless chicken breasts

3 baking potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
3 knobs of butter
3 tbsp soured cream
3 tsp chopped fresh chives

A bag of herb salad
9 cherry tomatoes
some cucumber slices

Method :

Pre-heat oven to 200deg C/400deg F/Gas 6.

Take the three baking potatoes and clean them thoroughly, removing any dodgy looking eyes or scratch marks and rub in the olive oil to the skins of the potatoes and place onto a baking sheet.  Season both sides of the potatoes, then place into the oven for an hour.

Mix the honey, mustard and lime juice together in a small bowl.

Trim the chicken breasts of any fat and arrange them in a baking dish.  Spoon the honey/mustard/lime juice mix over, taking care to cover every inch of the chicken.

Place into the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is white all the way through and not showing any pink liquid when pierced with a knife.

In the meantime, open a bag of herb salad and arrange a portion onto each of the three plates.  Add the cherry tomatoes and cucumber.

When done, place a jacket potato alongside the salad.  Cut a cross into the top of each and squeeze gently to raise the flesh of the potato.  Add a knob of butter, a tbsp of soured cream and sprinkle the chives over.

Add the chicken with a little of the cooking juices spooned over and serve.

Printable version

Rose Prince's Piquant chicken liver pots

See those pickled onions? Home made by Hubby!

I've been browsing through Rose Prince's "Kitchenella" cookery book, which I borrowed from the Library recently.  It's an intriguing book in that virtually all the recipes are not only "do-able" (which is the mark of a good cook book, in my eyes) but they are also right up there on the "good for you" front, too.

Because we have a certain amount of health issues in our little family, believe it or not I do try to balance our meals and provide dishes that are not only tasty and look good, but aren't too terribly bad for us either.  Rose Prince's book has been a bit of an eye opener plus an education in providing meals that are largely good for you.  I think I'll have to include this one on my birthday list!

I've wanted to make a pate for quite some time, but have always backed away from the recipes because of the degree of butter, cream cheese or cream - or all of them - that the majority of recipes demand.  Rose Prince's version, Piquant chicken-liver pots, does indeed use butter - 2 tbsp of it in the cooking and then more to cover, but aside from that it's just flavours and aromatics.

I pondered on the recipe for a week or so and decided to ask at Spring Fields Butchers whether they could provide chicken livers.  It turns out that they can, but they're frozen.  Well, the only other chicken livers I'm aware of are from Asda and they were frozen too,  so I bought some from the butcher and hoped for the best.

Cooling - little did we know

I began by slicing up the shallots - and managed to cut the quick of my finger on the plastic mesh of the bag they were in.  So, once my finger had stopped leaking, I tackled the chicken livers.  To be honest, apart from the "ewww!" factor, I don't know why I worried about not bleeding everywhere, because by the time I had finished, the place looked like an abbatoir.  The livers, once defrosted, had degenerated into a big bloody bowl full of wet slops with the whole livers doing their very best to evade capture.  Trimming them of their gristle wasn't particularly difficult - and I put them into some milk to soak, just in case there was any bitterness threatening.  I'd rather forget the state of some of the livers - and I don't want to think about what happened to the poor chickens to make them look like that.  So it was a very gory time spent sorting, chopping and trying not to breathe too hard.

However, once they were in the milk they became a lot more agreeable to deal with and once the worktop, utensils and my hands had been washed clean, it was fairly easy to forget how gross the last 15 minutes had been.

So that you can see the texture, under the butter

The cooking really couldn't get any easier - although I did have to bubble the wine for a bit longer than it said in the book, as I was very wary of having too much liquid at the end of the cooking process.  Because of that, I threw the wine in before the livers were quite cooked through and they effectively fried and poached, which prevented them from getting tough and over-cooked.

Every individual ingredient that was added completely changed the character of the pate, until by the time it was headed towards the blender, I was seriously doubting whether it would be edible.  The wine had resulted in the blend taking on an odd grey hue which didn't help with its appeal.

The recipe says to decant the lot onto a chopping board and chop until the liquid had been absorbed, but knowing how easily tired my arms get, I opted to blitz the lot.  Of course, as it blitzed, it changed colour again and began to look rather more like pate.

As I decanted the mixture into its individual pots, I steeled myself to have a taste, knowing that with it being still warm, it wouldn't reflect exactly the end result - but it would be a good indication of the way it was going.  I had a lick of the spoon - and all doubts vanished.  It was flipping gorgeous.

You really wouldn't believe it of him, would you

I pushed the three pots to the back of the worktop (more to stop them from being knocked onto the floor, than anything else) and left them to cool.

Upon returning to them - much later - the one at the front of the group had had a huge scoop shape removed from it.  *shock horror*  I went and checked with hubby (who had commented earlier that "that pate smells like dog food!") and no, he wasn't responsible.  Son certainly wasn't responsible as he was in bed.  That left one person.  Mr Jonty long legs, long neck and long nose, who had obviously had his huge snout in the nearest pot.  Honestly, it is aeons since that dog has counter-surfed - and it made me wonder about the "dog food" comment!  So, son and heir had a cheese ploughman's, instead of pate.  It's just as well he was happy with that.

PIQUANT CHICKEN LIVER POTS (serves 3-4, depending on the size of your pots)

Ingredients :

2 tbsp butter
6 shallots, finely chopped
12 chicken livers, trimmed of gristly and left whole
6-7 anchovy fillets
2 tbsp capers, rinsed
1 wineglass red wine
sea salt & black pepper

For the herb butter :
4 tbsp salted butter, softened
2 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tbsp finely chopped chives.

Method :

1.  Melt the butter over a medium heat, add the shallots and cook for around 5 minutes until pale gold and sweet.

2.  Add the chicken livers and cook, stirring, until just browned.

3.  Add the anchovies and capers and cook for a further minute, then add the wine.  Allow the wine to boil for around a minute or so, stirring all the time, then season to taste.

4.  Allow the contents to cool for a moment or two, then tip into a blender and blend until you are happy with the consistency.

5.  Fill pots with the mixture, packing it down inside and leaving at least 5mm space at the top.  Allow to cool completely.

6.  To make the herb butter, mix the butter, parsley and chives in a bowl and spread a little on top of each pot to seal in the mixture below.

7.  Cool the butter slightly to serve, or cover with cling film and refrigerate.  Remember to remove from the fridge a half an hour before serving, to allow the butter to soften.

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Kielbasa Polish Sausage with Red Cabbage

I don't really know what it is about the Polish cuisine, but I really, really enjoy making Polish - even Polish-sounding - dishes.  I've never met a Polish person that I didn't like, (hiya Rad!) and if anyone suggested going there for a holiday, I'd seriously consider it.

We had already discovered Kielbasa sausage (available from Asda in Bournemouth) and are confirmed Kielbasa fans.  Hence, when I spotted a recipe involving "Polish sausage", I knew what we were talking about.

I was looking for a dish that would be relatively easy to make.  One that either I could make earlier in the day and just pop in the oven to get on with cooking, or one which didn't require me to chivvy it along.  The reason for this is that I knew that today was going to be a fairly busy day - as indeed, it turned out to be - and that I also wanted to cook some chicken liver pate for us to have on Saturday for supper.

My disability is one of those conditions that results in your having the best of your energy supplies available in the morning (usually), which is why we do the shopping etc. then.  Some evenings, it really is more than I can do to cook a meal - which is why you'll find items being bumped from the menu list.  However, because I meal plan, I was able to find an easy recipe that would mean I had "enough left in the tank" to tackle the pate later on.  Oh how I envy those people who can spend the evening baking!  At one time I would have been able to do that, but then I was far too busy gallivanting around with my horses!

The recipe begins with the requirement to pour a kettle of boiling water over your sliced cabbage.  Now I've absolutely no idea why you're required to do that - except for the fact that I noticed it changed the flavour slightly, bringing out the sweetness of the cabbage.  It also lost that "rawness" that features in dishes like coleslaw and ran colour all over the sink.  Well, that was fine, because my chopping board was already purple, my hands were an interesting blue colour and the colander was all the colours of the rainbow!  As for my t-shirt, well, all I can say is I forgot to put my pinny on again.  *sigh*

However, the most entertaining part of the whole recipe (apart from eating it, of course!) was the chemical reaction involved when you pour the five tablespoons of lemon juice over the purple cabbage and watch it turn hot Chinese pink.  Who knew you could use purple cabbage leaves as litmus paper?  Not me.

A point of note is the involvement of the sugar/cornflour mixture.  I was a tad dubious about this, as my cabbage wasn't producing much in the way of juice.  The lemon juice and the wine hadn't really helped much either, so I was cautious when adding the cornflour mixture.  Just as well, as everything dried up and I was required to add around 100ml of water with each half of the cornflour mixture.  The end result was a lovely glossy sauce which, coupled with the sour cream on the potatoes, was more than enough to moisten what would otherwise have been a dry dish.

I absolutely adore the juxtaposition of the colours.  The dark purple-pink of the cabbage against the white of the sour cream, with the lurid green of the chives lifting everything and providing that splash of green that makes a dish look so tempting.  The flavours went so well together, too.  The cabbage took on the flavour of the Kielbasa almost instantly and both flavours went so well with the lemon, butter and wine.  To quote Masterchef - it worked.  It worked all the better for the rich nuttiness of the oven-baked potatoes, together with the sour cream bringing its lovely creaminess to the table, with the chives adding that alternative level of flavour.

Would I make this one again?  You bet I would - even though son and heir didn't like the cabbage overly much.  ~shrug~  He's got the jacket potato and the sausage, he won't starve!

Look at those colours!

 KIELBASA SAUSAGE WITH RED CABBAGE  (serves 4)

Ingredients :

1 large red cabbage, sliced
2 litres boiling water
2 tablespoons butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
5 tbsp lemon juice
125ml red wine
half a tsp salt
quarter of a tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp dark brown soft sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
400g Kielbasa sausage, sliced
3 large potatoes, suitable for cooking in their jackets
1 tbsp olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
1 small tub sour cream
handful of chives, chopped fine.

Method :

1.  Place the cabbage in a colander and pour the boiling water over the cabbage.  Allow it to drain well.  Pre-heat your oven to 180deg.

2.  Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Add the shallots and cook for around 5 minutes or until golden, transparent and sweet.

3.  Add the cabbage and stir in the lemon juice.  Cook and stir for around 5 minutes, until the cabbage is pink.  Marvel at the magic that created that colour!

4.  Add the wine, salt and pepper, then cover and simmer on a low heat for 45 minutes.

5.  Prepare the potatoes ready to be baked in their jackets.  Check them over thoroughly, removing any blemishes and wash them carefully.  Prick each potato with a sharp knife three or four times each side.

6.  Place a tablespoon of olive oil on the centre of a baking dish and dip each potato into the oil.  Rub the oil over each potato, making sure it is completely covered, then place each around the baking dish, with enough room between the potatoes to allow a through flow of air.

7.  Season each potato well, especially with salt.  There's nothing nicer than a lovely salty potato skin.  Place them in the oven to bake for around 1 hour, turning them over half way through the baking time.

8.  Mix together the sugar and cornflour with a little water and add - half at a time - to the cabbage.  You may well need to add 100ml of water with each addition of the cornflour mixture, if you're not seeing a sauce appearing.  Stir well, to avoid the cornflour setting into lumps.

9.  Add the sausage pieces, stir well to combine, then cover and resume simmering for 30 minutes more.  You'll need to stir the pot every 10 minutes or so and watch the liquid levels, adding a little more water if needs be.

10.  Once the potatoes are done (when a vegetable knife inserted into them runs through without restriction), cut a cross into the top of each one, press the sides (through a tea-towel if they're too hot to touch) to bring some of the flesh to the surface and top with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chives.

Serve. 

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One-pot Chicken & Bacon Stew

Photo c/o BBC Good Food
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of mine!

I discovered this recipe on the BBC's Good Food website, which can be found here.

Having had some singular disasters with the tomato/chilli combinations, I had moved over to the gentler side of life and was open to offers along the chicken/mushroom/wine/cream lines.

BBC's Good Food website is always a great port of call for me, largely because it's recipes are always sensible - they rarely offer "Lark's Tongues in Aspic", for instance.  Another boon of their website is the comments box, where folk comment, having made the dish.  You can glean some interesting tips from cooks who have attempted the dish before you and want to pass on their recommendations.

This recipe had three plus points, for me.

1.  It was a one-pot dish.  That always wins in my book, as being disabled, juggling loads of pots and pans isn't easy - and anyway, someone has to wash them up at the end of the process.  It usually isn't me, but I don't like to leave a mountain of dishes for lovely hubby to do.

2.  It involved the use of white wine.  I'd got 100ml or so of white wine sitting in the fridge, getting in the way.  I always try to use leftovers where possible, so this definitely counted.

3.  It involved the use of both cream and mushrooms.  Our son doesn't like the texture of mushrooms, but he's become quite adept at hooking them out of meals, fortunately.  As for the cream, well, everything tastes gorgeous with some cream added, doesn't it?

So, here's the recipe, incorporating my alterations :

ONE-POT CHICKEN & BACON STEW (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

knob of butter

1 tbsp olive oil

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

100g smoked bacon, cut into small pieces
2 carrots, sliced

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 tbsp plain flour

half a tbsp of tomato puree

100ml white wine

400ml chicken stock

1-2 bay leaves, depending on size

2 tbsp double cream or creme fraiche

1 medium potato, in half-inch cubes

6-8 white mushrooms, quartered

chopped herbs such as parsley, chives or tarragon (I used parsley & chives)

fresh ground black pepper.

Method :

1.  Heat oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 6.

2.  Heat oil and melt the butter in large flameproof casserole with a lid, or use a deep frying pan and decant into a casserole dish as you go.  Fry the chicken (in batches if necessary), with some freshly ground black pepper for 5 mins on each side until well browned, then remove to plate and keep warm.

3.  Sizzle the bacon until beginning to crisp.  Stir in the carrots and onions and cook for 5 mins or until starting to soften.

4.  Stir in the flour and tomato puree, and cook for 1 min more.

5.  Add the stock and wine, mixing well to combine and bring to a simmer.  Allow to simmer until the sauce has thickened, then add the bay, cream and more black pepper.  You shouldn't need salt, owing to the butter and the stock already containing salt, but add salt to taste if you need to.

6.  Add the potatoes and mushrooms and stir to ensure they are well coated in the sauce, then add the chicken and any juices and do the same.  Put the lid on and place into the oven for 40-50 minutes.

Just before serving, stir in the chopped herbs.

I served the stew with some broccoli florets alongside and everyone cleared their plates.  Success!

Printable version

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