Meat mains
Chicken, sorrel and potato stew with French beans and mustard
This is such a simple and healthy dish to cook. Using one pan leaves little washing up, another bonus!
Cook's notes
Sorrel adds a fresh citrus-like taste to the mustardy chicken broth. If you've not used it before and are unsure of its flavour, add half to start with, taste and add more as you like. It does lose its bright green colour shortly after adding to the pan, this is normal. It also loses its fresh flavour if cooked for too long, so it's always best added at the end.
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- oil for frying e.g. sunflower or light olive
- 300g diced chicken leg
- 400g salad potatoes
- 50ml white wine
- 500ml chicken stock
- 150g French beans
- 60g sorrel - add to taste
- 1 tbsp coarse grain mustard
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Peel and finely slice the onion. Season the chicken with a little salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a good sized pan. Add the chicken pieces and fry, turning now and then, until golden, about 3-4 minutes or so. Transfer them to a plate.
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Step 2
Add the onion to the same pan, with a splash more oil if needed. Cook on a very low heat for 10 minutes, stirring now and then. Add a splash of water if it looks like catching at any point. While the onion cooks, wash and scrub the potatoes clean (no need to peel them).
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Step 3
Cut into bite-sized pieces, half's or quarter's depending on size, not too large, so they cook in time. After 10 minutes, add the white wine to the onion and increase the heat slightly. Let the wine bubble away until almost all absorbed.
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Step 4
Add the chicken stock, the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook on a low boil for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, wash and thinly shred the sorrel leaves (the easiest way to do this is to lay them on top of each other, roll them up then shred).
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Step 5
Wash and trim the stalk tops off the French beans. If any beans are particularly long, you could chop them in half. After 5 minutes, add the chicken back to the pan. Cover with a pan lid, or lay a torn piece of greaseproof or baking parchment directly on top to cover it.
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Step 6
Cook at a low simmering boil for 5 minutes. Add the beans and cook for a further 5 minutes or so, until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through. You want to ensure that there are no pink juices remaining in the chicken, test by cutting one piece open.
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Step 7
Once the chicken and veg are cooked, add the mustard and stir in the sorrel to your own taste (it has a citrus flavour, add as much as you like). Check the seasoning and serve into bowls.