Mum has been cooking this for as long as I can remember. It’s one of those dishes that proves to be a hit and always surprises people when you say when the secret key ingredient is and it’s not the Cider or the cream – it’s a tin of Campbells Cream of Celery Soup and no all you celery haters, you can’t taste the celery. Best person to ask is Sam, who hates celery and makes a huge point about it, even goes as far as saying it’s filth, which I think is a little over dramatic! Anyway, I love celery and I love this dish. It’s probably not for the little ones as depending on your tastebuds a lot of Cider can go into this dish but it is yummy and best served with a crusty loaf to soak up all of that beautiful creamy sauce.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 4 medium mushrooms, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped into cubes
- 6 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 3 large chicken fillets, chopped into smaller fillets
- 1 garlic, thinly chopped or 1 teaspoon of garlic granules
- Single cream (you can use double)
- 1 bottle of apple cider (I use Tesco’s Crumpton Oak)
- Glug of oil
- 1 tin of Campell’s cream of celery soup
- Salt and pepper to season
- 1 Brambley apple, don’t peel yet!
- Ciabatta bread for serving later
- Dried Rosemary
- Garlic granules
- 2 tablespoons of butter
Method
- You will need a large pan with a lid or wok to cook this dish.
- Turn on your hob to a medium heat, add a little oil to your pan and heat for a few minutes until the oil is hot. Add the chicken and mix, coating the chicken in the oil. Season with a little pepper and cook for a few minutes.
- After s few minutes, add the chopped onions and mushrooms and mix. Lower the heat a little so the poultry and veg do not burn.
- Add the garlic and stir around before placing the lid on the pan and let’s cook on a low heat for 10 minutes.
- Whilst the meat is cooking, peel and chop your potatoes, wash and add to pan of salted water and boil for 15 minutes or until just soft. Drain and leave to one side.
- Peel part of your Brambly apple and chop into thick slices and add to the chicken, onions and mushrooms in pan. Stir around so the bitterness of the apple pieces suck up all the flavours and juices of the pan.
- To an oven tray, add a little butter, some dried rosemary and garlic granules, place in the middle of your oven on heat 180/has mark 6, let the butter melt and add your potatoes. Put 2 tablespoons of butter on the top of the potatoes, put back into the oven and let roast.
- Add your tin of cream of celery soup to the pan/wok. Once added, pour a little cold water into the tin, swish around and add to the pan, making sure all the extra sauce is out of the tin. Stir and coat all the ingredients in the pan. Leave to cook for a few minutes on a low heat.
- Take your bottle of cider, pour a few glugs of cider into the pan and mix together with all the ingredients. Add your cream, a few big spoonfuls at a time and stir. The cider and cream will blend together with all the flavours. *Try not to drink anything whilst adding the coder beyond water as the taste alters. You will use a tub of the cream, but the cider is dependent on your individual flavour.
- Let cook on a low heat until sauce has thickened and season. Make sure the sauce doesn’t burn.
- 15 minutes before you want to serve up, put your ciabatta into the oven to heat up, cook your side veg, I chose buttered carrots and serve.
Enjoy mopping up that sauce!
Missy, Me & Him 