MUM'S DAY WITH ERIC LANLARD + FRENCH CHICKEN CASSEROLE

A while ago for my Mother's Birthday, my Dad, Brother and I bought her the opportunity to go to Cake Boy in London and be taught essential cake making skills by the one and only, Eric Lanlard. Mum's a busy person, so a year after receiving said gift, she was finally able to go.

Let me just say, Mum returned home a different person. She thoroughly enjoyed the day, loves Eric Lanlard, a l w a y s wants to bake, but more importantly - is much more experimental in the kitchen. While down there, Eric made all the students lunch, which was a French style tomato and chicken stew, with roasted seasonal vegetables. In her words "..it looked and tasted absolutely stunning". So of course, wanted to make it for the family at home. And I, of course, wanted to share it with all of you..

I, unfortunately, wasn't present for most of the process, I only prepared the whole chicken for sauté and left it for her to use. The rest was all Mum. And I must say, the end result was incredible. I've asked Mum to describe the process as best she can - what she used and how she cooked everything. So enjoy everyone!

Here's Mum! *Passes the keyboard to Mum*

INGREDIENTS:

6- 8 Portions of Chicken (Legs and Thighs preferably - skin on)
6 Cloves of Garlic
1 x 400g Tinned Tomatoes
10 x Plum Tomatoes (Small)
Red, Yellow & Green Sweet Pepper (1 of Each)
2 Sprigs of Rosemary
Handful of Basil
2 Tbsps of Olive Oil
25g Butter
500 ml White Wine (Dry)
3 Tbsps Balsamic Vinegar
10 Shallots or 2 Red Onions
1 - 2 Chicken Stock Cubes

PREPARATION

- Core peppers and slice
- Peel shallots, top and tail and leave whole/or if red onions, peel then thinly sliced
- Crush garlic
- Set aside along with herbs

Fill a large bowl with water and place chicken portions in gently. Gently wash (to avoid splashing) and remove excess water by patting dry in paper towels, as this will help reduce excess liquid in frying pan and help the skin to brown and become crispy. Discard the dirty water carefully.

COOKING:

Pour 2 tbsp of Olive Oil and a knob of salted butter (25g) into a frying pan. Make sure the butter is melting in the oil, as it will stop the butter from burning.

Place chicken pieces, skin down, in frying pan and gently fry for 4-5 minutes until skin begins to brown and crisp, turn over and fry for an additional 4-5 minutes. This is purely to seal and brown the chicken, as it will not develop much colour in the oven. When well browned, remove from the pan and place into an ovenproof dish, adding the remaining oil from the pan to avoid the chicken drying out.

To the chicken, add the crushed garlic, onions, peppers, half of the herbs (set some aside for garnishing) and whole tomatoes. Cover with a tin of tomatoes and add wine and balsamic vinegar. Add a chicken stock cube to 100ml of hot water to make a very concentrated chicken stock - pour this into the dish.

Cover (with foil, if you do not have a lid) and place in oven at 160C/320F for 90mins. When the chicken is cooked thoroughly, and the sauce has reduced to your liking, taste to see whether it needs additional seasoning... It doesn't? It's good to serve.

Best served alongside seasonal roasted vegetables.

Thank You So Much For Reading.

Happy Sunday,

Christina x