
A trip down memory lane this evening for one of our head chef’s favourite childhood recipes. Nutritious, chewy brown rice is the perfect bed for this flavour packed sauce. Our big tip here is to make sure you take the stock off the boil and let it cool for a minute before you add the crème fraîche to make sure you don’t split your sauce.
2
British Chicken Breasts
1
Brown Basmati Rice
4
Creme Fraiche
(Contains: Milk)
1
Chestnut Mushrooms
½
Chicken Stock
1
Garlic Clove
5
Thyme
1
Dijon Mustard
(Contains: Sulphites, Mustard)
Boil a large pot of water on medium-high heat for the rice with 1/4 tsp of salt. Rinse the rice in a sieve under running water for 30 seconds. Once the water comes to a rapid boil add the rice and cook for 25 mins. Tip: The water must be rapidly boiling or else the cooking time will be longer.
Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees. Pat the chicken breasts with kitchen towel (if you have some) to dry the skin. Rub a bit of olive oil on each breast then season them well with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Heat 2 tsp of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat. Once really hot, add the chicken skin-side down for 2-3 mins (until the skin is crispy). Transfer the chicken to a baking tray (skin-side up) and cook on the top shelf of the oven for 20 mins. Tip: Do not wash the frying pan as you’ll use it later.

Meanwhile pinch the thyme stalks between two fingers and run your finger along them to strip off the leaves. Peel and finely dice the garlic. Roughly chop the chestnut mushrooms.
Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in the frying pan on medium heat. Once hot add the thyme leaves and garlic and cook for a minute. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 mins until they have softened up. Tip: If you have some white wine or dry sherry open - pour a good glug in and let it bubble off.

Add the chicken stock pot with 200ml of water and stir until the stock has dissolved. Reduce the mixture by a third then turn off the heat. Stir through the Dijon mustard and crème fraîche.

Once cooked, slice the chicken at an angle into five chunks and leave them in the Dijon mushroom sauce to soak up the flavours for 5 mins. Taste and season to your liking.
Serve the chicken with the Dijon mushroom sauce on a bed of the wholesome wholemeal rice.