Tom's Recipes
Chicken and Mushroom Casserole with Butter Beans
A whole chicken baked in pieces with mushrooms, butter beans, white wine and tarragon, finished with spinach and half-fat crème fraîche, with the legs and a stock kept for Thursday's soup.
- Makes
- 2 servings
- Prep
- 20 minutes
- Cook
- 1 hour
- Oven
- 180°C
Ingredients
For the Chicken
The chicken stays the same at every number of servings. The breasts are dinner for 2, and the legs and carcass make Thursday's soup.
For the Casserole
For the Soup Stock
The stock stays the same at every number of servings.
You Will Need
- A large casserole with a lid that can go in the oven
Method
Tap a time to start a timer.
Heat the oven to 180°C. Put the chicken carcass in a large saucepan with the onion and cold water, bring it to the boil over a high heat, then simmer over a low heat for while you make the casserole.
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 onion
- 750ml cold water
Heat the olive oil in the casserole over a medium-high heat and fry the mushrooms for , until browned. Add the butter and garlic, turn the heat to low and cook for , until the garlic is pale golden, then lift the mushrooms and garlic onto a plate.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 300g mushrooms
- 15g butter
- 2 garlic cloves
Turn the heat to medium-high and fry the chicken breasts and legs, skin side down first, for on each side, until golden. Lift them onto a separate plate.
Pour the white wine vinegar into the casserole and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom. Add the white wine and boil for , until it has reduced by half.
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 150ml white wine
Add the low-salt chicken stock and boil for , until it has reduced by about a third, then stir in the butter beans.
- 150ml low-salt chicken stock
- 1 x 400g tin butter beans
Return the mushrooms, garlic and chicken legs to the casserole, put the lid on and bake for .
Add the chicken breasts, put the lid back on and bake for more, until the thickest part of each breast is white all the way through and the juices from the legs run clear.
Lift out the chicken and set the legs aside to cool for Thursday's soup. Stir the tarragon and spinach into the beans and cook over a medium heat for , until the spinach has wilted, then stir in the crème fraîche.
- 2 tbsp fresh tarragon
- 200g spinach
- 100ml half-fat crème fraîche
Slice the chicken breasts and lay them on the beans. Season with black pepper and scatter over the parsley.
- black pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley
Strain the stock from the saucepan into a jug, then cool it.
Thursday's Soup
Cool the chicken legs and the stock within an hour and keep them in the fridge. Take the meat off the legs for the chicken and sweetcorn soup, which uses 250g of chicken and 250ml of the stock.
Good Additions
Soak 15g of dried porcini in 100ml of boiling water for 10 minutes and add them, with their soaking liquid, when you return the mushrooms to the casserole.
Storing
Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 days and reheat them once, until piping hot. Freeze any stock the soup does not use.
Calories
About 680 calories a serving.
For Ted
Leave this one out for Ted, because the sauce has wine in it.
Source: Adapted from Tom's saved recipes
In the meal plans for the week of 5 October and the week of 12 October and the week of 19 October and the week of 26 October.