Creamy Chicken With Fresh Peaches

It’s peach season in Western Australia and these beauties are from the Perth Hills, near where I live.

Don’t be tempted to put the peaches into the sauce for longer, they are just warmed through or they go to mush!

If you want make this ahead of time cook up to the stage of the cream thickening and then turn the heat off.

Once you are ready to eat, bring up to a gently simmer, add an extra 100mls cream, simmer gently until heated through and then continue as below.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

40g butter

40mls olive oil

6 chicken thighs, bone in skin on

1 brown onion, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, sliced

400mls cream

300mls chicken stock or water

3-4 large peaches, skinned, stoned and diced

1-2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

Method

In a large frying pan with a lid, heat the butter and oil over a medium to high heat.

Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.

Once the fat is hot, add the chicken, skin side down. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the skin is crisp.

Turn the chicken and again cook for 4-5 minutes.

Remove the chicken and set aside. Drain most of the fat out of the pan, leave a couple of teaspoons worth in the pan.

Heat the pan over a medium heat and add the onion, cook until soft, scraping the dark bits off the bottom of the pan as you go.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Return the chicken to the pan, turn a few times in the onion mixture.

Turn the chicken skin side up.

Pour in the cream and stock, bring to a gently simmer, cover and simmer for 30minutes.

Check that the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened. If the sauce is still a little runny, remove the lid and simmer uncovered.

Stir in the peaches, just heat them a little, sprinkle over the parsley and serve.

Chicken Nibbles

This is my gluten and egg free version of every child’s favourite, popcorn chicken.

Serves 4-6 depending on appetites!

Ingredients

WET INGREDIENTS

1kg chicken breast, diced 1cm

50mls buttermilk

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

DRY INGREDIENTS

230g chickpea flour

2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt

Method

Get out two large bowls, measure the ingredients out at the same time, it saves you measuring out the spices again later.

So, all the wet ingredients in one bowl and all the dry ingredients in the other.

Combine the wet ingredients well and pop them into the fridge for 2-4 hours.

Heat your deep fat fryer to 170 degrees.

Take handfuls of the chicken and tumble the chicken pieces through the dry spice and chickpea mix.

Fry in batches for 4-5 minutes until cooked through and golden.

Drain on kitchen towel roll and repeat with the remaining chicken.

Chicken Schnitzel

We all love chicken cooked this way and it makes lots of schnitzels! Around 15.

I use gluten free breadcrumbs but use regular if you can. Gluten free bread is expensive here so when it’s on special or reduced I buy up big, process into breadcrumbs and freeze in ziplock bags. Due to the price and being a tight Scot I don’t even cut of crusts! These breadcrumbs were made from gluten free rolls!

If you would rather not fry the chicken it bakes well too, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade and bake for 25-30 mins.

The schnitzels can be frozen uncooked and cooked. Leftovers are popular in rolls as fast food chains chicken burger!

Ingredients

5 large chicken breasts

3 eggs, beaten

300g gluten free fresh breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons dried mixed herbs

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon salt

freshly ground pepper

Method

Take each breast and cut into three chunks.

Line a chopping board with baking parchment, place a piece of chicken on and top with another piece of parchment.

Using the flat side of a meat tenderiser, bash the chicken into a thin shnitzel, around 3mm thick, set aside and repeat with the remaining chicken.

In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, herbs, salt and pepper.

In another bowl, beat the eggs.

Dip the chicken into the egg and then into the breadcrumb mix to coat, set aside and repeat with the rest of the chicken.

Pour enough oil into a frying pan to just cover the bottom, heat over a medium high flame.

Once hot, add a few pieces of chicken, don’t over crowd the pan, cook until golden and crisp, turn over and repeat.