Chicken chasseur

Serves 4

Prep time: 35 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Literally meaning ‘hunter’s chicken’, we like eating this tasty dish in big bowls with a chunk of crusty bread but you could serve with mashed potato or rice. You could swap the chicken for turkey pieces to ring the changes.

Ingredients

2 tbsp light olive or rapeseed oil

salt and pepper, to season

600g chicken breast or thigh meat, diced into 2.5cm cubes; increase to 750g if you are feeding very hungry people (either buy ready-diced meat from the supermarket/butcher, or chop up boneless breast and/or thigh meat to make up the amount)

25g salted butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

350g button or brown mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 

25g plain white flour

6 tbsp dry vermouth or dry white wine

200ml chicken stock, homemade, stock cube or stock pot

400g tin chopped tomatoes

¼ tsp dried thyme

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Method

1. In a lidded saucepan or casserole, heat the oil over a medium heat. Meanwhile, mix a quarter of a teaspoon each of salt and pepper into a bowl and toss the chicken pieces in it.

2. Once the oil is hot (but not fuming), add the seasoned chicken pieces to the pan and cook over a medium heat until golden brown, turning regularly, for approximately 8 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

3. On a medium heat, add the butter to the pan and stir to mix with the oil. Stir in the onion, cover and cook for approximately 5-7 minutes on a low heat, until soft and translucent. (Don’t worry if it colours slightly at this point.)

4. Raise the heat to medium and add the mushrooms, garlic and
a quarter of a teaspoon of salt. Continue cooking until the vegetables are brown – about 5 minutes.

5. Add the flour and stir for 1-2 minutes, then stir or whisk in the vermouth/wine and bring back to a simmer.

6. Add the stock, tomatoes, thyme and half a teaspoon of salt; stir it all together and put the chicken pieces back in the pan, then simmer, covered, until the chicken is done – approximately 10 minutes.

7. Stir in the parsley and check the seasoning. Let the dish sit in the pan for 5 minutes before serving.

Tip This is a great dish for batch cooking. It can be portioned and frozen for up to 3 months. It’s best served when you cook it but reheats well in the microwave or in a pan on the stove.