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Chicken and Bacon Casserole
Recipe |
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| Chicken
and Bacon Casserole Recipe |
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Click picture to enlarge
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This is a traditional Chicken Casserole with some bacon for added
flavour. You can use a whole chicken and joint it as we did or
alternatively use one chicken breast per person. This is a real
winter-warmer casserole with a good portion of vegetables included. This
is great because most of the meal will be cooked in one casserole dish.
Serve with boiled or mashed potatoes. |
KEY POINTS
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Preparation Time: |
45 mins |
Cooking Time: |
55 minutes |
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How Difficult |
Medium |
Freeze? |
Yes |
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Servings |
4
portions |
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INGREDIENTS
The ingredients below will make enough for 4
servings.
Illustration only, rely on the ingredients list below!
| Ingredients |
Imperial |
Metric |
Whole chicken (weight approximate)
or
1 chicken breast per person (4) |
4.4 lb |
2.0 kg |
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| 8 small shallots |
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| Smoked back bacon |
5 oz |
150 g |
| 3 medium carrots |
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| 2 large mushrooms |
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| 3 tablespoons olive oil |
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| 1/3 bottle full-bodied red wine |
just less 1/2 pint |
250 ml |
| Brandy |
2 tablespoons |
2 tablespoons |
| Chicken stock |
just over 1/4 pint |
200 ml |
| 1 garlic clove |
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| 1/3 teaspoon dried thyme |
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| 3/4 level tablespoon flour |
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| Strip of lemon zest |
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| Salt and pepper |
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COOKING EQUIPMENT
1 Casserole dish
1 Frying pan
1 Grater (for lemon zest)
Method
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It's decision time! Are you willing to joint a whole
chicken into 8 pieces or will you choose to cut 4 chicken breasts in
half? You decide, but if you're squeamish or in a hurry go for
chicken breasts. If you want maximum taste, goodness, are not
squeamish and have 20 minutes extra to spare go for jointing a
whole chicken.
Click here
for detailed instructions on jointing a chicken. After jointing the
chicken, pull the skin from each piece. |
| Add two (not all three) tablespoons of olive oil to
the frying pan.
Fry the chicken on a medium heat until both sides are lightly
browned. You will need to turn the pieces frequently to ensure that
they are cooked evenly. This process should take 10 minutes or so.
When the chicken is cooked remove it from the pan and place to one
side. |
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Peel the shallots and cut them in half. Peel the
mushrooms and cut them into chunky pieces, do the same with the
carrots. Cut the bacon into medium sized pieces (enlarge picture to
gain an idea of how we cut ours).
Peel, chop and crush the garlic. Finely grate off about 1/4 of
the skin of the lemon for the lemon zest (or a squirt of lemon juice
will do just as well). |
Pre-heat the oven to 220°C / 425°F / Gas Mark 7.
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Add another tablespoon of oil to the frying pan (medium heat), add
the flour and stir until fully mixed. Add the bacon, carrots, and
shallots and fry for a further 5 minutes until the ingredients start
to soften and the bacon starts to brown. Stir the ingredients as
they cook. Set the oven heating. Add the mushrooms and chicken and
fry for a further 5 minutes. |
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Spoon the contents of the frying pan into an oven
proof casserole dish. Add the wine, brandy, chicken stock, garlic,
lemon zest and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Mix the
ingredients well. Put the casserole dish in the pre-heated oven
and cook for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and
tender. |
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Remove the casserole from the oven and taste with a spoon (watch
out, it's hot!), add any more salt and pepper for taste. If the
casserole dish is half decent, serve it direct to the table
so that the aroma of the food floods out when you take off the lid.
If you want to serve additional vegetables, green beans or broccoli
are a good choice. |
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