Preparation: 40mins | Cooking time: 90 mins

I’ve included this recipe here as it’s such a classic. It’s certainly not particularly easy or quick, but for a special occasion it certainly impresses the guests!

You don’t have to cook this in an oven in a casserole – you could easily use a crockpot or slow cooker and just leave it in for longer to slow cook. If you’re looking for crockpot chicken recipes, this is one that’s a show stealer.

Ingredients

• 45g butter
• 100g diced streaky bacon
• 12 pickling onions (peeled)
• 1 x 1.5kg roasting chicken, jointed (ask your butcher)
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• 1 bottle Burgundy
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves (peeled and crushed)
• 1 bouquet garni
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 225g small button mushrooms
• 20g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon meat or yeast extract

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C or Gas Mark 4.

Melt half the butter in a casserole (or a pan if you’re going to cook the main bit in a crockpot). Add the bacon and onions and fry till they start to color. Transfer these to a plate.

Add the chicken joints to the casserole (or pan) and brown all over.

Warm the brandy, pour it over the chicken and set it alight (be careful!) When the flames die down, add the bacon and onions back with the chicken.

Heat the wine in another pan, then pour over the chicken. Season well with salt and pepper, then stir in the garlic, bouquet garni and nutmeg.

Cover the casserole and cook in a pre-heated oven for an hour. Now, if you want to use the crockpot then transfer the ingredients to it now instead and leave to cook on low for around 5 hours or so. Plenty of time to let those flavors develop!

Stir in the mushrooms, cover again and cook for 15 more minutes. Then take out the bouquet garni.

Mix the flour with the remaining butter then whisk into to the sauce in small pieces. Bring to the boil, stirring all the time. This thickens the sauce up a bit.

Add the beef or yeast extract at this point, just to deepen the color of the sauce.

This is one of the absolute classic chicken dishes that can easily be adapted to be one of the most beautiful crockpot chicken recipes by simply leaving the cooking time in the middle to the slow cooker.