Winter Chicken Casserole

As the cooler months are arriving slowly, it’s the perfect time to start cooking warm, hearty casseroles and stews.  I was feeling particularly cold today after being inside for classes (and also a bit of shopping in between) in the freezing air-conditioning!  My hot car actually felt comforting this afternoon which made me realise that something filling and warm would be the perfect meal for dinner.

This casserole was really delicious and the strong flavours from the tomato, paprika and chicken really added to the whole warm casserole feel.  Very easy to make too and as with lots of our favourite recipes, you can add whatever vegetables you want.  It probably looks like too much sauce on the plate but it definitely was all gone by the end! 

Ingredients:

– 2 tablespoons olive oil
– 1kg chicken breast, cut into pieces
– 1 large brown onion, chopped
– 2 garlic cloves, crushed
– 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
– 2 tablespoons plain flour
– 1 cup dry white wine
– 1 cup chicken stock
– 400g can diced tomatoes
– 200g button mushrooms, halved
– 2 dried bay leaves
– 5 fresh thyme sprigs
– 1 capsicum, cut into pieces
– Frozen mixed veggies (peas, corn, carrot) – defrosted 
– Mashed potato, to serve

Method:

1. Heat half the oil in a large saucepan.
2. Cook chicken until browned then transfer toa bowl.
3. Heat remaining oil in pan.
4. Add onion and garlic and cook 3 to 4 minutes or until softened.
5. Add paprika and flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant.
6. Add wine. Bring to the boil. Cook for 2 minutes or until slightly reduced.
7. Return chicken and juices to pan.
8. Add stock, tomato, mushroom, bay leaves, capsicum, mixed veggies and 4 thyme sprigs.
9. Cover and bring to the boil before reducing heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
10. Remove and discard bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
11. Remove leaves from remaining thyme sprig. Sprinkle over casserole. Serve with mashed potato.

Poppit’s Love of Recipe Books

Poppit – As you may already know, my husband (Puppet) and I decided that we should each cook one new meal every week from my huge selection of recipe books.  For someone so young, I’ve already acquired quite a number of different recipe books and it really has become a hobby and fun thing to collect (for me anyway!).  I’ve got a number of ‘fancier’ books with lots of lovely photos and tempting ideas, but my ultimate favourite has to be any of the Australian Women’s Weekly (AWW) A4-sized recipe books that you can find in Coles or Woolworths for around $12.95.  Not only do they have so many of these books in so many different themes, but as each recipe is “triple tested” by the Women’s Weekly cooks, they will almost always work if you follow the steps. 

So, as I was waiting for Puppet to have a haircut over the weekend, I busied myself in the newsagent looking through the many different recipe books.  After only a few seconds of glancing over the covers, a brightly coloured AWW book jumped out at me with a title that was just too much to resist – Macaroons and Biscuits! 

I quickly bought a copy to add to my collection and spent the rest of my waiting time looking over each of the mouth-watering recipes.  I’ve already made the Raspberry Macaroons which worked out quite well – still some changes I’ll have to make for my next batch though in relation to my oven and cooking times.  I forgot to take photos though as they were eaten up almost as soon as they were made!  I’ll definitely get some of my next batch, I promise!

My recommendation though, if you love baking and all things sweet, then this new book is definitely for you!

Now, you’d think one new recipe book for the weekend would be enough, but while we were doing our grocery shopping the next day, I noticed that Woolworths was offering a 2 for 1 deal with the AWW books.  Although it probably wasn’t necessary, I had been eyeing off another one of their books, Wok Simple which had many different stir-fry meals.  And then to find another one to go with it, I decided on 100 Meals in Minutes which also looked great (and I made my new meal of the week from this one – coming in the next post).

So, as my recipe book collection continues to expand, so does my love of cooking, baking and discovering all the different foods and techniques involved with each and every idea.  Although some people may think that this hobby of mine is a little crazy, I love the fact that I’m being inspired by something which involves trying new things while at the same time involving my husband, family and friends.  And let’s not forget, all of this and getting to eat delicious food…what else could someone ask for?

 I’ve got another amazing, very cute book which I can’t wait to tell you about, but that can wait until next time.  It’s definitely one of my favourites though!  Stay tuned!