There’s a slight chill in the air at the moment and the nights are drawing in. When this starts happening I immediately start to crave homely, warming, comforting food. A few nights ago I felt like eating a casserole with some mashed potato so I looked in my fridge. I had some chicken thighs, a packet of smoked bacon, some button mushrooms, a couple of onions, a packet of thyme and some leftover white wine from the night before. Yum! All of this together would make a delicious casserole.
I made this up as I went along so I’m guessing the quantities I used. This should feed 4 people.
Ingredients
8 chicken pieces (I used thigh fillets as that’s what I had in my fridge. On the bone would probably be better but the fillet was still really good)
250g smoked bacon, diced (I used streaky bacon)
200g of button mushrooms, sliced. (You can put them in whole if you want)
2 medium sizes onions, diced
500ml white wine
1 pint chicken stock
2 tbsp flour
50g butter
5 cloves garlic, sliced (I love garlic but if you’re not as big a fan you can of course add less)
A few sprigs of thyme.
Flaked sea salt and ground pepper to taste.
I started by putting the chicken thighs in the bowl. I sprinkled a heaped tablespoon of flour over them and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Once they were coated, I melted some butter in a large pan and browned the chicken.
Once golden brown, I removed the chicken from the pan and fried up the bacon until brown.
Then I added the onion and garlic. (At this point, you should add the mushrooms. I forgot to take the mushrooms out of the fridge so forgot about them until the end. I fried them in some butter and added them to the casserole but in hindsight, they should have been added at this stage.)
When the bacon, onions and mushrooms are brown, add the chicken and season with some more salt and pepper.
Add the wine, the stock and the thyme then bring the liquid to the boil.
Then simmer with a lid on for 30/40minutes until the chicken is beautifully tender. If using boned chicken pieces, the chicken should be falling off the bone at this stage.
I served with creamy, buttery mash (with a spoonful of wholegrain mustard stirred through), and steamed broccoli.
2 Comments
You seem to make a lot of dishes based on what’s in your fridge. What’s your take on throwing lots of different things into a traditional one (main) ingredient dish? Like adding shrimp or veg (or both) to a mushroom risotto? Acceptable, or should you focus on the mushroom risotto and use the other ingredients elsewhere? Love your blog.
Oh yes, I always throw different things into any dish I make. I don’t tend to stick rigidly to classics, I always add in anything I have in my fridge that needs using up. Even if its a mushroom risotto, if I have some asparagus or artichokes in the fridge, they’ll go in too. I tend to post classic recipes (like the mushroom risotto) so people can feel free to adapt them how they wish.