Another winter warmer classic, which is made even better by bunging it in the slow cooker. It takes a little bit of effort for the preparation beforehand, but so worth it when your dinner is ready when you walk in from work. Served with mash, greens and veg, so hearty and wholesome.
Serves: 2
Cooking time: 8 hours + 30 mins prep time
Ingredients:
- 2 Large Chicken Thighs (bone-in)
- 30g Dried Mushroom Mix
- 500ml Chicken Stock
- 125g Shallots
- 4 Slices Smoked Streaky Bacon
- 150g Chestnut Mushrooms
- 150g Carrots
- 400ml Red Wine
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- 2 tsp Sugar
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- 1 tbsp Cornflour
- Olive Oil
- Knob of Butter
- Salt and Pepper
To Serve:
- Mashed Potato
- Kale
Instructions:
- Start off by heating some oil up in a frying pan on a high heat, and seasoning the chicken thighs generously.
- Throw the thighs in the pan along with a knob of butter and a sprig of thyme. Leave skin side down for a few minutes until the skin starts to crisp up and go golden (~ 5 minutes), before flipping over to briefly brown the underside.
- Remove the pan from the heat and place the chicken in the slow cooker pot.
- Next, peel the shallots leaving them whole and throw in the frying pan with the remaining oil and juices from the chicken, putting on a medium heat.
- Dice the chestnut mushrooms and streaky bacon into sizeable chunks and throw into the pan followed by the crushed garlic cloves.
- Once everything begins to slowly turn golden and cook slightly, remove from the heat and add to the slow cooker pot with the chicken.
- Dice the carrots and also add to the pot.
- Make up the chicken stock and add the dried mushroom mix, leaving for 5 minutes before pouring in the slow cooker pot, along with 300ml of red wine, the sugar and a couple of sprigs of rosemary and thyme.
- Put this on a low heat for the day (~ 8 hours), or the high heat setting if for less than 5 hours.
- When you are 30 minutes off ready to eat, while you are making up your mashed potato, remove most of the gravy from the slow cooker pot, leaving just enough for the chicken to remain submerged, and put in a saucepan on a medium heat.
- In a separate little dish, combine the remaining wine (100ml) with the cornflour until no lumps are formed and add to the saucepan. Leave this to simmer for ~ 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until a much thicker gravy has formed.
Serving Note: Serve the chicken on a bed of mashed potato and kale, covered with all the bits and bobs from the sauce topped up with the thickened gravy and a large glass of Merlot while listening to Sam Cooke.
