Saturday 25 May 2013

Saturday Supper - Chicken Simla

Crumbs, it's months since I posted a recipe here so here goes. It's a recipe I've had for many years, and almost forgotten about but I made it again the other evening, for the first time for Len. He loved it! From the name you might expect a curry sort of dish - but not so. It has a luscious creamy sauce with a bit of a tang to it but not a hint of curry:
Grin, I think I broke the main rule of photographing food here. The chicken, which is what this is all about after all, is hidden tucked towards the back of the plate, nestled in the watercress, surrounded by tomato quarters and sprinkled with roasted flaked almonds (which of course are optional). But I'd already dished the full meal when I remembered to run for the camera - and someone was hovering nearby sniffing the air appreciatively so no way could I deconstruct the plate of food :)

Chicken Simla:

Served two but I think the sauce is enough for four so you could just increase the chicken portions.

2 chicken joints (I used chicken breasts)
1oz. seasoned flour
2 tablespoons oil
2oz butter
1/2 pint chicken stock
2 tablespoons mild mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce (that's really where the tang comes from)
1/4 pint double cream

Toss chicken in seasoned flour (I just do this in a poly bag), fry until golden in butter and oil.

Arrange in a shallow, ovenproof, dish then pour over the hot stock mixed with the mustard and Worcestershire Sauce.

Cover and bake for 1 hour at Reg. 3, 325 F or 160 C.

Stir in cream and sprinkle with flaked almonds.

Garnish with fresh tomatoes and watercress - serve.

Things I do: I dithered over using Dijon mustard but thought it might not be mild enough so nipped out and bought American Style mustard which worked brilliantly.

I forgot to cover the chicken when it was baking in the oven, but it came out golden and not at all dry as there was plenty of liquid around it. If you were to cook four chicken portions then perhaps you should cover the dish.

After adding the cream I popped the dish back in the oven for about 5 minutes to heat the cream through.

We had mashed potato (to soak up the lovely sauce) and asparagus - but rice would go really well. The watercress and tomatoes do add a lovely splash of colour so I'd still add those if I was serving rice.

It's a really easy dish to make but very scrummylicious indeed :)

Enjoy!

Di
x

10 comments:

  1. This looks yummy and like something we'd get in a fancy restaurant!

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  2. My mouth is watering. Your meal looks lovely.

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  3. O njami, I decide today for lunch is going to be rice with chicken and vegetables,
    have a lovely day
    hugs Tamara

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  4. Oh that looks scrummy and easy to make and when l flower "Chicken" l normally put it on a plate but your idea of putting it in a plastic bag is brilliant so if you didn't realise there is a tip for anyone that did the same as me and l'm sure its a lot easier too! l'll need to try this so thanks for the recipe Di enjoy your weekend xx

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  5. This looks yummeeee, was going to try it tonight, went off the supermarket got the chicken breasts and watercress, already had the mustard. Got home... no cream.
    Had to settle for a jar of M&S cider and apple sauce, goes just as well with chicken as pork.

    Kath x

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  6. Hello Di, this looks and sounds delicious and I'd love to try it but the EM's digestive system can't cope with cream. Will have to put my thinking cap on and see if I can modify the recipe somehow. Oh, and I often forget to photograph dishes so a lot never make it to the blog! Hugs, Elizabeth xx

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  7. That sounds great...tasty and great...I will give it a try...like the interesting twist of the Worcestershire sauce.

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  8. I will be round on Sunday!!
    Hugs
    xx

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  9. Sounds very appealing and ever so delicious.

    Gosh . . . I had a lot of catching up to do! Turn my fingers away from the keyboard for 5 mins and look what happens!

    Hugs
    Sarn xxx

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  10. How funny, this is a family favourite of ours too! We had it the other night and were wondering what the origin of the recipe was? Your blog post popped up when I googled it. Do you know what the provenance of this recipe is? It's delicious anyway (we use Dijon mustard in it).

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