Archive for » October 15th, 2007«

Chicken Casserole

Here’s another great winter warmer, I posted a recipe for beef stew about a week ago so I thought I would do one for chicken. It is another of those simple recipes that once everything is in the pot you can just leave, to finish cooking and there isn’t loads of time taken in preparation and fuss. Plus my son and hubby love this one so I thought I would share it.

Ingredients

Olive oil
5 Whole skinless chicken breasts (approx 150g-175g a breast)
2 leeks, sliced
4 Cloves garlic, crushed
200g Button mushrooms, some halved and some quartered (I use brown button mushrooms as I prefer them but regular are fine.)
1/2 Cup dry white wine
1 Cup water
3 Teaspoons Dijon mustard
11/4 Teaspoon chicken stock ( concentrated, I use a very dense chicken stock paste so if using powder you may need to add a little more.)
2 medium carrots
100g sugar snap peas
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 Cup of cream
2 Teaspoons cornflour
pepper to taste

Method

I have written above to chop the button mushrooms both halved and quartered. This is because they vary in size, in that if they are a little bigger I tend to quarter them and for the smaller ones just halve them. If they are really small I just throw them in whole. So adjust for what you have, if all are really small don’t bother cutting them.

1. Cut chicken into approximately 1 inch pieces. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan and cook chicken in batches until browned all over. Remove and set to one side and wipe pan clean

2. Pour about 2 tablespoons more of olive oil to pan and add the sliced leeks, cook for 2-3 Min’s and then add the garlic, cook for a minute more (I do it this way so I do not burn the garlic.) Now add the mushrooms cook for a further 2-3 Min’s.

3. I have a large, deep, fry pan that has a lid so I cook it all in the same pan, if you don’t you will want to transfer the leek and mushroom mixture to a large saucepan before continuing.

4. Add the white wine, water, mustard, chicken stock, thyme and parsley, stir. Return chicken and cover, let it simmer for 20 Min’s or until chicken is cooked through.

5. Boil or microwave carrots and sugar snap peas until tender.

6. Add cream to chicken, mix a little water with cornflour and add. Add the carrots and sugar snap and stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens.

Serve with either boiled new potatoes, mash or rice.

Also the beauty with a casserole is that there are no hard fast rules, so add whatever vegetables you want. Either your favourite or what you have on hand. This is also a great way to use up leftover roast chicken or turkey and it tastes great.

4 Sevings

All photo’s taken by me unless otherwise stated.