2 Meals: Chicken & Veg Fricassée & Chicken Pie

Meal 1:

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°C (fan)/ gas 6, boil a kettle, then take your chicken out of the fridge, open the packet and let it air

Cut your potatoes in half, add to a heatproof bowl and cover with cling film

Put the bowl in the microwave for 4 min or until slightly softened

Add the softened potatoes to a baking tray (or two!) with a drizzle of vegetable oil and a pinch of salt and put the tray[s] in the oven for 25-30 min or until golden and crisp

While the potatoes cook, heat a large, wide-based, hob-safe oven-proof casserole dish with a drizzle of vegetable oil over a high heat

Tip: Cooking for 4 or more? Use 2 casserole dishes!

Once hot, add your chicken thighs to the dish with a pinch of salt and 1 tbsp [1 1/2 tbsp] [2 tbsp] flour and cook for 3-4 min or until lightly browned

Crush your garlic open by squashing it with the side of a knife and remove the skin

Once the chicken is lightly browned, tear your white cup mushrooms roughly into the dish and add the crushed garlic

Add your chicken stock mix and Chinese rice wine with 350ml [450ml] [600ml] boiled water and give everything a good mix up

Bring to the boil over a high heat

Once boiling, put the dish in the oven, uncovered, for an initial 25 min or until the chicken is cooked through (no pink meat!)

Meanwhile, reboil a kettle

Wash your shredded kale then add to a colander and pour boiled water all over it so that it starts to wilt

After 25 min, add your clotted cream and a generous pinch of pepper to the dish and give everything a good mix up

Transfer half the creamy chicken fricasse to a covered container and cool down quickly (within 2 hours max) and refrigerate. Enjoy within 24 hours

Add your wilted kale to the casserole dish and stir it all together, return the dish to the oven, uncovered, for a final 5 min or until warmed through – this is your one-pot creamy chicken & vegetable fricassée

Once the potatoes are golden, remove the tray[s] from the oven and crush the potatoes firmly with a spatula or the bottom of a plate, add a small knob of butter, season with pepper and mix it all together – these are your buttery crushed potatoes

Serve the creamy chicken thigh & vegetable fricassée over the buttery crushed potatoes

Dig in!

Meal 2:

Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C (fan)/ gas 7

Transfer the remaining cooled creamy fricasse to an ovenproof dish

Tip: Cooking for 4 or more? Use 2 ovenproof dishes!

Add your wholegrain mustard and blanched peas and stir it all together – this is your pie mix

Dust your work surface with a generous sprinkling of flour

Unwrap your puff pastry and roll it out with a rolling pin until it is large enough to cover the oven proof dish[es]

Top the pie mix with the rolled pastry, crimp round the edge with a fork and pierce a hole in the middle of the pastry with a sharp knife

Put the dish[es] in the oven for 25-30 min or until the filling is piping hot and the pastry is puffed up, golden and cooked through – this is your creamy chicken, mushroom & mustard pie