Chicken Goulash with Seasonal Vegetables

Perfect cold weather food, make a fire and a pig of yourself 

Well you could argue that this is nothing more than a great way of emptying the fridge of what you have been trying to use up all week and giving it a posh name just by sticking paprika in it!

That's true but this does actually turn out to be a really simple and delicious all-in-one meal which the kids LOVED and that, as any parent knows is a joy.

The recipe can be adapted depending on what you have in the fridge so the following is not essential (apart from the chicken as that would make it another kind of goulash wouldn't it.  A goulash can be a soup or a stew and the word goulash comes from the Hungarian 'herdsman' (ah he knows how to use the internet i here you mutter under your breath)

Just a little sidetrack here about cooking with potatoes.  I love potatoes in stews, casseroles, goulashes or whatever you want to call them.  Potatoes vary from waxy to floury and this is important to know when you are cooking with them.  If you use floury potatoes in stews you end up with potato soup and waxy potatoes make very poor mash. Obvious you say but it doesn't end there.  Different potatoes behave differently at different times of the growing season.  It is worth checking depending what you are using potatoes for at Love Potatoes website

Ingredients for 6 people

• 4 large chicken breasts
• 6 rashes of panchetta (or bacon it's just that I had panchetta and I think smoked streaky bacon would be better)
• 4 large carrots
• 6 medium sized potatoes 
• 2 sticks of celery
• 1 large onion
• 300 g of closed cup mushrooms
• 500g of passata (sieved tomato - this gives the sauce a much thicker consistency)
• 1 pint of chicken stock
• 2 heaped teaspoons of paprika
• 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard (if you have been following this blog you may have noticed I use this a lot)
• Salt and Pepper

Stage One

Cube the chicken into and slice the bacon and add to a hot casserole dish (Dutch oven) and seal the meat and  cook the bacon through.

Stage Two

Chop the vegetables into decent sized chunks so they hold their form and add to the pot

Stage Three

Add the passata, stock, paprika, mustard and bring to the boil.

Stage Four

Once it has simmered on the top for a few minutes check the seasoning and add salt and pepper as required.

Stage Five

Cook for about 2 hours at about 160degrees and take out the oven.  I would then, depending on how thin the liquid is, put on the hob without the lid and reduce as required.