What to do with a chicken? My first thought was about coq au vin, but I had cider left over from last autumn when I’d braised pork in it, so thought I’d give the chicken the same treatment. Add cream to the mixture and you get something horribly unhealthy but very tasty.
What to use – Serves 2 (greedyish) people
- a range of chicken pieces – what ever you like – skin on
- 400ml dry cider
- 300ml chicken stock
- 100ml double cream
- large onion – chopped
- 1 table spoon of flour
- fresh parsley or dried herbs
- salt and pepper
How to use it
I used a cast iron casserole because I wanted to slow cook this but I’m sure you could cook it a lot quicker if you wanted/needed to, and on the hob.
Fry the chicken both sides until it starts to brown – 5-10 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
Fry the chopped onion for a few minutes until starting to brown. Add a little more oil if you need to. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir well. Cook for a minute or so.
Add the cider, stir well and bring to a bubble. Add your chicken stock and herbs and stir well. Add your chicken pieces back into the pan skin side up. Ideally you want the chicken skin to be uncovered so that it crisps up during cooking. The sauce will reduce as it cooks so that should happen even if they are fairly covered initially.
Put into an oven set at 140C and leave to cook for a few hours. I left it for about 3 hours. Check it now and again but it should be fine and shouldn’t need more liquid.
When ready to serve, take out the chicken and keep warm. Put the casserole onto the hob, stir in the cream, season to taste, bring to a bubble and heat through.
We had this with wild rice.
What to listen to: For a Friend
What to watch: Ex Machina – it’s Ex Tremely Ex Cellent.
eatburpsleep 