Somerset Chicken

• tempo totale: 40 minutes

Ingredienti

Somerset has always been cider country, and this is where orchard cooking meets farmhouse suppers. Chicken gently simmered with onions, apples, thyme and cider until the sauce is silky, finished with a hearty spoon of English mustard for warmth. I scatter over tarragon, parsley and chives like my mum always did, so the whole kitchen smells like Sunday evenings growing up.

And because no stew is complete without something to soak up that sauce, I serve it with a mountain of sour cream mash, buttery, tangy, and the softest bed for this rich, creamy chicken.

Somerset Chicken with Sour Cream Mash (serves 4)

Stew

4 chicken breasts @pipersfarm

100g Smoked Bacon Lardons

30g Butter

1 white onion, sliced

2 celery sticks- chopped

6 garlic cloves, chopped

2 dessert apples sliced

2 Tbsp Flour

1 Tso Fennel Seeds

250 ml dry cider I love @aspalluk

200 ml chicken stock @knorruki

150 ml double cream

1 heaped Tbsp English mustard

1 tsp thyme leaves

Small handful (each) parsley,,tarragon,chives, chopped

Mash

1 kg floury potatoes @ocadouk

75 g butter @kerry

100 ml sour cream

Salt & pepper

Istruzioni

Heat the butter in a heavy pot. Season chicken, then brown on both sides until golden. Add the bacon and fry. Remove the chicken.

Add fennel seeds, veggies and apples into the same pan, cooking gently until soft, let them caramelise slightly. Add the flour.

Pour in cider and stock, scraping the pan. Return chicken, cover, and simmer gently for 35 minutes.

Stir in cream and mustard, simmer uncovered for 5 minutes until silky. Season, then finish with parsley, tarragon and chives.

For the mash: boil potatoes until tender. Drain, mash with butter and sour cream, season until rich and fluffy.

Serve the chicken with its sauce spooned over a bed of mash.