Chicken casserole

I have promised not to complaint about the weather on Facebook and extended the ban to all other social media outlets I normally hang out. In here, I shall just carry on posting Winter-appropriate dishes until the weather gets finally better, as a sign of protest. It is a good thing I have plenty of unpublished dishes, as it might be a while before we can move to lighter food… This casserole dish says comfort food all over – it is delicious, filling and feels like something my Mother could have done for Sunday lunch. What else would you want to eat while the snow is slowly pilling outside?

Chicken casserole  (adapted from Dave Myers and Si King’s The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight)

Ingredients 

• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 4 chicken thighs, skinned and cut in half
• 2 tsp of olive oil
• 4 smoked bacon stripes, fat cut off and cut cut into 1cm-wide bits
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 celery sticks, thinly sliced
• 150g of button mushrooms sliced
• 500mL dry cider
• 300mL low fat chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 large carrots, cut into 2cm slices
• 1 large leek, cut into 2cm slices
• salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 180c/Fan 160c/Gas 4

Mix the flour and the thyme with a good pinch of salt and pepper into a large freezer bag or bowl. Place chicken into the  bag, a few pieces at a time  and shake until evenly coated. Reserve the left over flour.

Heat oil in a non stick frying pan until is piping hot. Add the chicken a few pieces at a time and let it fry until golden brown (saving any remaining flour in bag). Transfer to heat proof casserole, like a le creuset or equivalent.

In the same frying pan you used for the chicken, put the  bacon, onions and celery . Sauté for 4-5 mins until lightly browned, stirring often. Add the mushrooms to the frying pan and cook for 2 more min. Tip everything into the casserole with the chicken pieces. Sprinkle with the reserved flour.

Pour half the cider to frying pan and stir well to deglaze and remove all the sediments. Simmer for a few seconds, and add to the casserole. Finally, drop in the remaining cider, the stock, carrots and bay leaves.
Cover with the lid and place in the center of the  oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and add in the leeks.

Return to the stove and let it cook for about half hour, until the leeks are soft.