There’s nothing clever about this chicken recipe. It’s a straightforward Aussie family stew for cooking in the oven and serving on a cold winter’s night.
Put together:
6 chicken pieces 2 rashers of bacon, chopped 120g button mushrooms, halved 100g stuffed green olives, halved crosswise 1tbs butter 1tbs oil 4 chopped tomatoes, skinned and deseeded 4 parboiled potatoes, cut in half Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 165°C, 325°F
As this is a casserole, you might think you need a casserole dish and one that can also be heated on top of the stove. But here’s a tip – since the temperature of the oven is quite low, you could also use an ordinary saucepan with a close fitting lid. The handles of most modern cookware are tested to, and will survive temperatures of, 200°C, 400°F.
The first thing to do is to fry the bacon in the oil and butter. The oil is there to stop the butter from burning. The butter is there to add some flavor to the oil.
Next brown the chicken pieces and then add the mushrooms and olives. Season lightly, cover and bake in the oven for 50 minutes. Note that you do not add any extra liquid.
At the end of that time, add the tomatoes and potatoes and cook for a further 20 minutes. Don’t forget when handling the pan that it will still be hot!
