Food with JP Passion – Winter warming chicken casserole

By JP Kennedy

John Paul Kennedy is a self-taught cook and an avid fan of collecting cookery books with a passion for good old-fashioned home cooking. His passion for proper family cooking stems from his two Grandmothers, who were both excellent cooks, one of whom was a trained chef. JP promises to bring us plenty of family-inspired recipes and tasty treats while showing us how to get the basics right.

This casserole has been a staple go-to winter recipe in my house for a number of years now.

It’s a delicious hearty dish that goes a long way and, like most casseroles or one-pot suppers, tastes better the longer the flavours are left to infuse.

Winter warming chicken casserole.

I often make a big pot of this casserole that covers two days’ suppers and/or, if I fancy it, lunch for the following day in work.

The other great thing about casseroles is you can adapt them to your own taste or experiment with different root vegetables, depending on what is in season.

Source good-quality chicken from your local butcher – it will make a real difference to the flavour of this dish.

Ingredients:

4 to 6 large chicken fillets (depending on how many you’re feeding)

100g smoked bacon lardons

1 large onion or 6 shallots

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 stick of celery finely chopped

2 carrots peeled and chopped into bitesize chunks

1 parsnip (prepare as above)

600ml of shop-bought good-quality chicken stock

2 heaped teaspoons of chicken gravy powder (to thicken near the end)

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

80g frozen peas

2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil

Sea salt & cracked black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180° Celsius and heat a large casserole dish on the hob on a high heat.

2. Brown off the chicken fillets in your casserole dish and remove and set aside.

3. Add the bacon and cook for 3-4 minutes to lightly brown; add the onion / shallots, garlic powder, fresh herbs, carrots, celery and parsnip and lower to a medium heat and pop on a lid and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Pour in the hot chicken stock, mix every well together with a wooden spoon and ensure to scrape the end of the casserole dish where all of the real flavour from the sweetened onions and bacon are.

5. Add the honey and dijon mustard and stir well. Pop back in the browned chicken fillets. Season with sea salt and lots of ground black pepper. Pop the lid back on and place into a pre-heated oven for 1 hour.6. After the hour add in the frozen peas and chicken gravy granules and cook for another 15 minutes.

7. Serve with delicious creamy mashed potato in large serving bowls and you’re in comfort-food heaven.