Creamy and crispy Dijon chicken

If you’re still searching for the answer to that perennial question, “what’s for dinner?”, you’re in luck. This French-inspired Dijon chicken is the answer. It’s weeknight cooking at its best with simple ingredients that deliver flavour and comfort with every bite. Be sure to cook the chicken skin (in step 1) until it’s nice and brown to ensure that crispy crunch when you dish up. If you’re looking to add a little more iron to your diet, throw in a couple of handfuls of baby spinach when you add the potatoes to the pan. It’ll wilt nicely during cooking and tastes great drenched in the creamy sauce.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 8 small chicken thigh cutlets, excess skin trimmed
• 25g butter
• 700g baby chat potatoes, halved
• 150g rindless bacon, chopped
• 1 brown onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 8 small sprigs fresh thyme, plus extra to serve
• 125ml (1/2 cup) chicken stock
• 300ml pouring cream
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan forced. Heat a flameproof, ovenproof baking dish over two hotplates on high. Place chicken, skin-side-down in dish. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden. Turn and cook for a further 2 minutes to seal. Transfer to a plate.

2. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the dish. Return the dish to heat. Add butter and cook until foamy. Add potato, bacon, onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Nestle chicken into the potato mixture. Season with salt and pepper and scatter over thyme.

3. Bake for 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden. Combine cream, stock and mustard in a jug. Drizzle around chicken and potatoes. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Scatter remaining thyme on top before serving.