60g (4 TBS) butter
180g gruyere cheese, grated (3/4 cup)
1 TBS Dijon mustard
2 ounces tarragon leaves, chopped (scant quarter cup)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

To top:
60g of fresh white bread crumbs (1 cup)
30g  of grated strong cheddar cheese (1/4 cup)
2 TBS of grated Parmesan cheese




To Poach the chicken: Put the chicken into a large pot along with cold water, barely enough to cover it. Add the vegetables and herbs and a good sprinkling of salt. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat immediately and poach very gently for around an hour and a half. Once cooked thoroughly and tender, lift the chicken very carefully out of the poaching liquid onto a plate and allow it to cool. Strain the poaching liquid through a fine sieve, and set aside to cool. Once cooled, lift off any surface fat. I like to use paper kitchen toweling for this. I just keep sweeping it over the top and it lifts and absorbs all the grease. You could also put it into the fridge to chill and the fat would harden to the point where you can just lift it off quite easily.

Remove all the meat from the chicken carcass, discarding any fat, bone or gristle. Cut into large bite sized pieces and place in a lightly greased gratin dish.




To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour and cook over medium low heat for at least three minutes, without browning. Gradually whisk in the hot chicken stock, white wine and the cream. Cook and stir until bubbly and thickened. Whisk in the gruyere cheese, mustard and tarragon. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed with some sea salt and black pepper. Simmer for about 20 minutes over low heat.

Pre-heat the oven to 230*C/450*F. Pour the sauce over the chicken in the gratin dish. Mix the bread crumbs and Cheddar and Parmesan cheeses together and sprinkle evenly over top. Bake the dish in the heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly. Remove from the oven and serve.

We like to have this with steamed baby potatoes and a green vegetables.  Don't think about the calories!

Note - If you can't get fresh tarragon, it is acceptable to use dried.  Use half the amount in that case.

Place onto a baking sheet and bake in the heated oven for 55 minutes until it is deliciously golden brown and bubbling.  Allow to stand a few minutes before serving.  Cut into squares to serve. 

Take your chicken breasts and using a sharp knife, cut a pocket into the thickest part.  Cut the Parmesan cheese into six equal sized sticks, each about 3 inches in length and 1/2 inch thick.  Wrap the sticks in two basil leaves and insert one wrapped piece into each pocket of the chicken breasts.  Secure shut with wooden picks.

Heat the oil in a skillet with an oven proof handle which is large enough to hold all six breasts, over medium heat.   Cook the garlic paste in the pan for a few seconds until fragrant.  Season the breasts with salt and pepper and place them presentation side down in to the hot pan.  Saute until they are golden brown on both sides, turning once and cooking them for about 5 minutes.  Pop them into the oven and cook for five minutes.   Put the dish with the berries into the oven and cook both the berries and the chicken for a further 12 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the berries have softened nicely.   Remove from the oven.  Remove and discard the wooden picks.  Place the breasts onto a large serving platter.  Spoon the melting berries over top and scatter with the chiffonade basil leaves.  Serve immediately.

Heat the tortillas according to the package directions.  Add the coriander paste to the chicken and toss to distribute it evenly.   Divide the chicken mixture evenly amongst the heated tortillas, topping with the cucumber salad and some chopped peanuts.  Serve immediately.

 

Cheddar Baked Chicken. This cheddar baked chicken is coated in a cheesy buttery crumb, and baked to perfection. This easy chicken recipe comes out perfect, moist and delicious every single time!

This is something which my kids always enjoyed.   It was one of my cheap and cheerful mains and a great way to serve chicken and so much better for them than the packaged chicken baking mixes.  (without saying any names, but you know what I mean I am sure!)

 

These are moist and flavorful with a nice crisp coating filled with flavor.  It gets it's crispness from the crushed cereal and the bread crumbs. I love crispy chicken.

More flavor comes from the herbs and spices which are mixed in the initial flour coating. Add the cheese and you have something which is incredibly delicious with  a touch of cheesy tang and another depth of flavour.

I love fried chicken, but frying chicken at home is a real pain in the butter.  So much work and so much mess.  Baking your chicken this way is so much easier and so very delicious.

Do be careful not to over cook them.   You only want the coating to get golden brown . . . and you want the chicken to stay nice and moist.  Over cooked chicken breasts are dry and not so nice to eat.

 




I like to serve this with mashed potatoes, or scalloped potatoes along with a steamed vegetable on the side.  Carrots or green beans are just perfect with this.  It's a mighty tasty way of making a few chicken breasts go further!  

Your family is guaranteed to love them!  (My kids liked to have some ranch dressing to dip it in as well, but I love Sweet Chili Sauce myself or runny honey.)  Nom! Nom!



 




*Cheddar Baked Chicken*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

Moist chicken with a tasty crispy cheese coating!

60g butter, melted (1/4 cup)
50g of plain flour (1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme, rubbed to a powder
25g of crisp rice cereal (1 cup), crushed lightly
120g of grated strong cheddar cheese (1 cup)
120g of dry bread crumbs ( 1 cup)
1 large free range egg
1 TBS milk
2 to 3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F gas mark 4.  Pour half of the melted butter into a shallow glass baking dish.

Combine the flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder in a shallow bowl.  Combine the egg and milk in another shallow bowl.   Combine the cereal, bread crumbs and cheese in a third bowl.   Cut your chicken breasts in half diagonally so that you have approximately 6  wedges.   

Dip them first into the flour mixture, patting the flour on.  Then into the egg mixture, Allowing any excess to drip off.  Finally roll them into the crumb mixture, patting and pressing the crumbs so that they adhere well.  Place them into the baking dish  Drizzle with the remaining butter.

Bake for about 20 to 25  minutes until the chicken is golden brown and just cooked through. Serve hot. 

 

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com. 

I remember my first brush with Chicken Cacciatore.  I was a 21 year old new bride, living in our first apartment, in Calgary, Alberta.  We had a very limited income in those days (nothing's changed since then, lol) and I was always on the lookout for a great bargain at the shops.



I loved to cook and as inexperienced as I was, I was always wanting to add some adventure into our meals.  One day, the local Safeway shop was offering a reduced rate on chickens.  I bought up several of them and hurried home, my head filled with great ideas of what I was going to do with them.  They were labeled stewing hens.



I was so ignorant and inexperienced,  that I had no idea that stewing hens were old chickens that had spent most of their lives laying eggs, and were fit only to be slowly simmered for long periods of time and made into soups and stews.  They can be quite delicious when cooked properly . . . think Chicken Fricasee, or Brunswick Stew.



I wanted to make Chicken Cacciatore.  I had what I thought was the perfect recipe, taken from the Chicken volume of my Better Homes and Garden's Cookbook Library.  (A library I had carefully saved for and collected over a long period of time.) Oh how sophisticated I thought I was being!  I carefully cut them up and followed the directions in my recipe to the "t."  Unfortunately, we ended up with something that was rather horrible . . . impossible to cut, or chew, or anything else . . . I suppose if I had simmered it overnight, it would have ended up being quite edible . . . but I didn't know that then.

I only knew I had created extreme "rubber" chicken.



That was a long time ago now, some 30 odd years, and I am quite happy to say that years of experience have taught me what to do with a stewing hen now.  I have also quite happily learned how to make a really delicious Chicken Cacciatore.



This is Italian Comfort food, cooked in my English Kitchen.  I'm quite sure a real Italian would point out all my failings in the recipe, but no matter, it's tasty nonetheless, authentic or not . . .

My husband says he doesn't like Italian food . . . hah!!  He always gobbles this up and asks for seconds.



*Chicken Cacciatore*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

A delicious chicken dish with a rich tomato sauce.  I like to use chicken thighs as they have enough flavour to stand up to the robust flavours of the sauce.  Serve this with rice or spaghetti for a tasty wintertime supper.  Crusty bread is also a great  "go-with" for sopping up any juices!

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, wiped clean and halved
5 TBS olive oil
2 TBS sherry vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 chicken thighs (Bone in with skin on)
2 TBS chopped fresh Marjoram leaves
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 fat garlic cloves, peeled and minced
4 ounces dry white wine (1/2 cup)
2 (400g) tins of chopped plum tomatoes in juice (about 4 cups)
250ml of chicken broth (1 cup)
2 TBS chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
to garnish:
chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F.  Place the mushrooms, caps down, into a small baking dish, in a single layer.  Drizzle with 2 TBS of the olive oil and the vinegar.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss to coat.  Roast until golden brown, about 20 minutes, giving them a stir once or twice during the roasting process so that they cook evenly.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

Season the chicken pieces with salt, pepper and 1 TBS of the Marjoram leaves.  Heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Lay the chicken thighs in the hot oil, and reduce the heat to medium.  Cook for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until lightly browned all over.  Transfer to a platter and keep warm, loosely covered with foil.

Add the onion to the pan drippings and cook over medium high heat until soft and translucent, stirring often.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant.  Add the wine and bring to the boil, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Reduce to half the amount by boiling for 20 to 3 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and chicken broth.  Cook and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes until the sauce thickens and reduces somewhat.

Return the chicken pieces to the pan and simmer for an additional 15 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through.  Stir in the mushrooms, parsley and remaining marjoram.  Cook for several minutes longer.  Place the chicken thighs on heated plates and spoon the sauce over top.  Garnish with the grated cheese and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.