Creamy Chicken Casserole

Ingredients

Chicken thighs (don’t shy away from meat on the bone, I used to but it has such a different substantial taste, perfect for this ( plus I used free range chicken)
2 tbsp seasoned (salt & pepper) flour
150g smoked bacon pieces
6 banana shallots
500g chestnut mushrooms
2 tbsp dijon mustard
500 ml chicken stock (Iuse Kallo organic)
150 ml dry white wine
5 tbsp creme fraiche

Method

1/ Pre-heat your oven to 160C (slightly higher for non fan)
2/ Toss chicken in seasoned flour and heat up oil (I used sunflower oil for heat), brown chicken pieces on both sides.
3/ Put the pieces in a lidded casserole dish with any leftover flour and set aside for just now
4/ Cook off the bacon in the same pan till brown and crispy.  Lightly brown sliced shallots in same pan, I sneaked in a couple of chunks of butter here the aroma is wonderful.  Toss the chestnut mushrooms in the pan for a few minutes. 
5/ Add all your ingredients into the casserole with the dijon mustard
6/ Pour chicken stock and wine into the pan and bring to the boil scraping all the bits off  the pan, pour over the casserole, cover and cook for one hour
7/ After an hour strain the liquid off into a pan and put the pieces back into the casserole dish cover and set aside for the moment.
8/ Add the creme fraiche to the sauce in the pan and bring to boil, simmer for a few minutes till smooth and completely amalgamated.  Taste for seasoning and pour back over chicken serve.

We had ours with buttery mash potatoes and crunchy carrots for a few extra vitamins, it was great give it a try.  The creme fraiche introduces a luxurious but not overly rich element and the smoked bacon goes brilliantly with the flavoursome chicken.