Simple recipee

Forget "chicken a la king"- here's something tastier and just as simple.

You'll need:

8 chicken thighs on the bone- keep the skin on- that's the best bit

1 tbsp olive oil

200ml dry white wine

4 medium leeks- cut into 5cm lengths

2 cloves of garlic- crushed

Leaves from 4 srigs of thyme- not sure how you get just the leaves off.

2 bay leaves

200ml chicken stock

A handful of chopped parsley (finely if you're after Michelin ratings)

One and a half tbsp Dijon mustard (I used Colemans- what the heck!)






Here's the deal-

Heat your oven to 200 degrees cee- gas mark 6. Season chicken.

Brown for 3 mins then 1 min on the other side.

Use the fat from the chicken frying exercise, add the wine and bubble for 5 mins.

Add everything else- ah- except the mustard and parsley. Bubble for 5 mins.

Tip the bubbly mixture into the chicken pieces.

Cook in oven for 30 min covered with foil, and for 30 mins uncovered.

Whisk the mustard into the cooked juices (of course you'd have removed the cooked chicken before whisking it to smithereens!)

Reunite the chicken and mustardy juices. Sprinkle on parsley and you're ready to "roll". (or mashed potato if you prefer, or rice.)



And also here's a bit of a slight twist on the traditional Irish Stew-

You'll need-
4 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions
1 garlic clove
1.6kg braising steak or shin
5 tbsp plain flour
600ml Guiness
500ml beef stock
2 sprigs of thyme
Chopped parsley


What you do-
Heat 1 tbsp oil and fry over medium heat- the onion, garlic & thyme for 2 minutes or until soft.

Season the flour with salt & pepper & dust the beef with it- or in it.

Heat 3 tbsp oil in a casserole dish over high heat & fry beef until browned.

Add onions, garlic, & thyme (fried above) to the casserole dish & heat over a medium heat. Then add the Guiness, stock & herbs (what herbs?) & bring to the boil.

Cover & simmer on low heat (how else would you simmer?) for 2-3 hours or until the meat is tender.

Add the chopped parsley and serve (and enjoy- with some extra Guiness).




Yum-yum.