Made this a few weeks back from a recipe adapted from this book:

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Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts (no skins)
3 tablespoons of oil
25g butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 large carrot, sliced
Half a teaspoon of thyme
175ml of chicken stock
175ml of dry cider
2 large apples, sliced
salt and pepper
3 large potatoes
small saucepan of peas

(half everything for 2 people)

How to make:

(the original recipe called for skins to be crispened on the chickens beforehand, but me being healthy, I avoided that stage)

  • Add the oil and butter to a large pan on the hob on a low-medium heat
  • Add the onion and carrot* and cook for about 10 minutes until softened, then add the thyme
  • Add the chicken stock and cider and bring to the boil
  • Add the sliced apples
  • Pour yourself a nice chef's beverage (in my case it was a glass of mulled wine, bizarrely)
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  • Put the chicken breasts in the pan (I halved mine to get them all in) and turn down to a low heat
  • Cover and gently simmer for about 30-40 minutes

  • In the meantime: get husband/partner to peel potatoes - place in a large pan of boiling water and cook up to make mash; bring small pan of peas to boil and simmer for 10 minutes; appease scavenging cat with a slice of ham
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Et voila!

*the recipe calledfor celery too, but we both HATE celery - add it in if you want here, about 2/3 sticks, chopped.