Chicken and Bacon Casserole

This was such a hit tonight with Maisie and her friend and with myself and hubby! It’s always a winning meal when someone out of the household enjoys it! I think my kids are so used to me throwing random and different things at them every night they have realised they have to eat it or they go hungry!!!…but when someone else enjoys it and espcially a little one then it’s actually quite a big compliment!

Pretty straight forward and you can do most of the work beforehand. If you don’t want to eat straight away then do all the steps up until adding the peas and the creme fraiche! Simply warm the chicken casserole through on the hob and then add the remaining ingredients…and talking of ingredient here’s what you need…with the addition of a splash of wine!

To get started you need to brown your chicken, try and get the skins crispy! Fry for a few minutes, skin side down before transferring to a plate on the side.

Now you need to saute off your leeks and your bacon. Remove any excess fat from frying the chicken and then add a little butter into the pan.

After a few minute you can add in your garlic and your mustard.

Next in goes the stock, wine, potatoes and the chicken thighs again.

 

Bring to the boil then place a lid over the top and pop into the oven for around 40minutes at 180C

 

After 40 minutes it should look something like this:

 

So next in go the peas

 

and finally the creme fraiche…

 

Skim off any excess fat which comes to the surface and then simply serve with some steamed carrots for a pop of colour and added veggies!

Job done! You may also want some bread to mop up all the delicious sauce!

So to recap….

What you need:

• 6 Chicken thighs
• 1 leek – chopped
• 4 bacon smokey bacon rashers – chopped
• 1 garlic clove – crushed
• Fresh Thyme
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 pint of chicken stock
• Glug of white wine
• Peas
• New potatoes
• 3-4 tbsp creme fraiche

What you need to do:

• Start by preheating your oven to 180C
• Now in a large oven proof caserole dish fry off your chicken thighs until you have a crispy browned skin. You may need to do this in batches.
• Once these are browned leave aside.
• Remove the excess oil from the pan and deglaze with a little water if you need so that nothing catches during the next bit.
• Now add a little butter and some of the oil back in and fry the chopped bacon and your leeks until soft and the bacon is cooked.
• Next in goes your garlic and your mustard. Cook for a couple of minutes.
• Finally add the wine, the chicken stock, the new potatoes and the chicken thighs back into the casserole dish. Bring to the boil.
• Now simply place a lid on top and then pop into the oven for around 40 minutes.
• Remove the lid and bring back onto the hob.
• Skim off any excess fat from the sauce.
• Add your peas and creme fraiche and stir through. If you need to thicken it further continue to simmer gently on the top of the stove or add a little extra creme fraiche or some cornflour.
• It’s now ready to serve with some steamed carrots!

 

Until next time!! Thanks so much for being here! xx