I wasn’t really contemplating dinner, it was a sunny, daylight savings afternoon and I was absent-mindedly picking at weeds in my infant veggie patch. A friendly greeting shot over the fence. My neighbour is a botanist. We exchanged pleasantries, he showed me an orchid they had saved from bushland that was being sold for development. He asked me what I was making for dinner. I didn’t really know, beyond the chicken thawing on the bench. He invited me to take some herbs, and grabbed me a couple of abundant handfuls of oregano and mint. 

Inside, I wondered. Find a recipe, or be inventive? Jamie’s 30 minute meals failed me, and my googling was underwhelming. Invention time.

Into the food processor went the oregano leaves, two garlic cloves, five or so sundried tomatoes, and some rice crumbs. We pressed the chicken thighs into the mix, and sizzled in the pan for a few minutes until browned. Next, into the oven to cook through. 

The pan, with the few crumbs left in it, and some of the juices, got a splash of cream and a bit more red wine, some seasoning.

Served with a salad and some nicely nutty brown rice, and the sauce, the chicken sat appetisingly crisp, yet tender and flavoursome. 

There is nothing like a good french name to get you fired up for making a casserole. Honestly, I don’t imagine anyone would be very excited if I announced I was making ‘Chicken with Wine’, especially if you read that line with an Australian drawl attached.

It also makes it less salubrious to admit that the ‘Vin’ I am using is just the cheapest boxy (cask wine) I could find. Let’s just call it rustic and imagine that the good French peasants who invented the dish were also using the dregs of the barrel, or the stuff that turned out bad.

So, mine doesn’t look too beautiful, I didn’t have a chance to do a pro photo shoot. Tasty, though. Remember that.

To make it worse, I am using chicken drumsticks instead of the whole chicken affair. I have recently come to enjoy cooking whole chooks, but hacking them to pieces can prove difficult, and drumsticks are so delightfully cheap affordable.

I made it in a slow cooker, but with all the browning you are supposed to do beforehand, I would have preferred to have a good french oven like a let creusset or a chasseur. Not to mention that these sound so much more French.

The recipe is not from anywhere illustrious (the Australian Women’s Weekly’s Slow Cooker), but actually tasted very good. 

Here it is now:

20 shallots

2 Tbsp olive oil

6 rashers of bacon, thinly sliced

440g button mushrooms

2 cloves garlic

1.8kg chicken (drumsticks, marylands, thighs or a whole chook chopped up into 12 pieces.

2 cups dry red wine

3 carrots, chopped coarsely

3 bay leaves

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/4 cup cornflour mixed with 2 Tbsp water (if the water is cold, this is fun. As a non-Newtonian liquid it acts as a solid under stress. This can make it very hard to stir, but you can also run across it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2XQ97XHjVw

1. Cook whole shallots in a large frying pan. When browned all over, remove and set aside.

2. Add bacon and mushrooms, frying until bacon is crisp. Remove and set aside.

2. Add chicken in batches and brown all over. Remove and set aside.

3. Add wine to the pan and bring to the boil, stirring.

4. Place all ingredients into a slow cooker and cook for 7 hours on low. If using a french oven, it should only take 2-3 hours (I think) at 180C

It was also augmented by the lovely sautéed potatoes my husband whipped up like this:

Parcook potato and sweet potato (boil, steam, microwave), add to heated pan with olive oil. Toss with dill, thyme paprika, salt and pepper.

Also, my husband no longer hates cabbage, because I tossed it with some pepper and stir fried it. 

We get fed.