I'm Ba-ack!
Well, after an entirely miserable three weeks of no internet with the two weeks before that having very unreliable access, I am back online. I have well over 5000 posts to read in my reader, and too many emails to count. Please bare with me as I catch up with everything! We still have no land line - hopefully next week! The cell phone signal is awful out here and I can't seem to find a cell phone booster that will work!
So without further ado, I'll jump straight in with a new recipe! This is a really simple supper dish that works well for dinner parties or dates! The kids enjoy it too. It's got minimal preparation and you just let the oven do most of the work. Goes well with any kind of mashed or dauphinois potatoes and steamed and buttered green vegetables like mage tout, broccoli or asparagus.
Bacon and Thyme Creamed Chicken (serves 2)
Ingredients:
2 trimmed chicken breasts
1 pkg chestnut/cremini mushrooms
2-3 shallots, finely diced
200g bacon lardons
8 fl. oz / 1 cup heavy cream
6-7 sprigs fresh thyme (extra to garnish)
handful grated parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method:
Preheat oven to 200C/400F.
In a heavy saucepan, heat some olive oil. Season and brown the chicken breasts on both sides. Remove to a plate.
Wash, then slice the mushrooms to your desired thickness.
In the same pan you browned the chicken in add the bacon. Saute until the fat begins to render. Add the shallots and saute until just soft.
Add in the mushrooms and cook until just underdone.
Remove the leaves from half of the thyme and chop finely. Add to mushroom mixture.
Place chicken in oven proof dish. Spoon mushroom mixture on top of the chicken breasts, dividing evenly. Don't worry if some falls off.
Pour the cream around the chicken breasts and add the remaining thyme sprigs into the cream.
Sprinkle the parmesan on top of the chicken. Cover with foil.
Bake for twenty minutes, then remove foil. Bake a further 5-10 minutes until parmesan has browned, sauce is slightly reduced and chicken is fully cooked.
Garnish with more thyme sprigs.
|