French chicken

I don't remember why I call this French Chicken. There doesn't seem much French about it - it might be because it reminds me a bit of Petit Pois a la Francais. Anyway, that's what I always think of it as, so that's what I'm calling it.

I never really cooked until I moved in with my husband. When we started living together we'd cook from scratch only occasionally, but over time we found that anything we bought pre-made didn't live up to making it ourselves, and now we divide the week's cooking between us. The downside is that we normally spend up to an hour and a half in the kitchen after a day at work. So it's great when a recipe is really quick to put together but still has bags of flavour.

Husband isn't currently eating lactose, so I have tried substituting the creme fraiche for lactose free cream, which tasted the same but did give a thinner sauce.

If you can, use pancetta lardons rather than bacon as they tend to make it a bit salty.

Ingredients:

100g pancetta lardons
400g sliced chicken breast
1 tsp garlic purée
4-5 shallots finely diced
200ml chicken stock
100ml white wine
2 tsp thyme
250g frozen peas
1 little gem lettuce shredded
4 dessert spoons half fat creme fraiche

How to make it:

1. Fry the pancetta until it starts to crisp, then add the shallot.

2. Turn the heat down and allow the shallot to soften but not brown.

3. Turn the heat back up, add the stock, wine, garlic and thyme and stir.

4. Allow to bubble for a few minutes, then turn the heat right down and add the chicken.

5. Cover and allow the chicken to gently poach in the liquor for about 5 mins.

6. Add the peas and lettuce and leave on the heat for another 5 mins.

7. Stir through the creme fraiche and check the taste - season only if needed.

8. Serve with crusty bread to soak up all the lovely juices.