A Hearty Chicken Casserole with Henney's Cider

I'm looking forward to this part of 'the job' - writing a series of posts on cooking with cider. It certainly won't be a hardship to test out some tasty recipes (and it gives me something to do and write about when Mike's busy doing cider making things...)

Our first recipe, a hearty chicken casserole, is one we've adapted as it originally called for dry white wine, but I contacted Lucy Cash, the recipe writer, beforehand to ask if she thought it would work and she said yes, give it a go. So we used Henney's Dry Cider - and it was very nice.

 

A Hearty Chicken Casserole with Henney's Cider

2 large chicken breasts, skin on

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil & a knob of butter

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

150g chestnut mushrooms, quartered

500g potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks

100g fresh or frozen peas

1.5 tablespoons mushroom ketchup

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

2 bay leaves

200 ml Henneys Dry Cider

500 ml chicken stock

1. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper

2. In a large pan or casserole heat the oil and butter and fry the chicken breasts for a few minutes on a high heat until they are nicely browned. Remove from the pan and place to one side.

3. Turn down the heat, then add onion and garlic and fry for a few minutes until softened. Add the mushrooms, potatoes, peas, carrots and mushroom ketchup, give everything a good stir and season with a decent dosing of salt and pepper. Add rosemary and bay leaves and cook for a few minutes

4. Return the chicken to the pan, add the Henney's cider and chicken stock. Turn the heat up and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down, pop on a lid and leave the casserole to simmer for a couple of hours, until the chicken and vegetables have cooked through and the sauce has reduced. 

5. Serve in large bowls, with hunk of bread and glass of Henney's cider! 
 

A perfect 'one pot' mid week meal, with all your veggies in there too. The recipe suggests serving with crusty bread but, honestly, it's pretty substantial on it's own. The glass of cider on the side is essential though!