I have a dinner party organised for tonight and as I am feeling quite rotten it will be a simple meal; chicken in cider. For four people you will need:

4 chicken breasts
4 chicken thighs
1kg decent mushrooms sliced
3 large onions
750g streaky bacon cut into 2cm lengths
Fresh chicken stock
2 dessert spoons vegetable stock powder
Plenty of decent dry cider
Butter

Chop and fry the onions in a bit of butter until soft, transfer them to a stew pot. Fry the sliced mushrooms in plenty of butter until just cooked then add them into the stew pot. Fry the bacon until cooked but not crispy, put it in the stew pot. Fry the chicken pieces quickly until the outside is cooked, then put them in with the other ingredients. To the stew pot add the chicken and vegetable stocks then add the cider until all of the ingredients are covered by it; this will require roughly a litre of cider. Get the stew up to a simmering temperature then simmer on the lowest possible heat for two-three hours. Low temperature simmering is the key to slow cooking. The surface of the stew should just be quivering with heat, not boiling.

This is normally served with rice.

David.