Basil Chicken

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fresh basil for basil chicken

This basil chicken is such a simple but tasty way of livening up plain chicken breast fillets.

You could of course use chicken pieces with the bone in, but you would have to adjust the cooking time by an additional 5 to 10 minutes, to allow time for the chicken to cook through to the centre. 

I personally prefer to have chicken breast fillets as there is less waste.  I don't like fiddling with bones either, I'm a lazy eater sometimes! 

Also, if they're skinless, then you have less fat in your meal - and we all need to be a bit careful about unneccesary fats in our diets.  Chicken is a low fat meat, but the skin does have some fat in it, so to reduce your fat intake, remove the skin prior to cooking. 


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You will only need a glass of wine in this recipe - you can exercise cook's privileges and finish off the bottle while you're waiting - or you could of course share it... but if you're on your own in the kitchen, nobody will know!

Chicken with Basil

  • 1 tbspn oil
  • 1 tbspn butter
  • 4 chicken breast fillets
  • 1 onion - peeled and diced
  • 1 large carrot - peeled and sliced
  • 1 glass dry white wine
  • 1/2 glass chicken stock or water
  • 3 tbspns single cream or plain yoghurt or creme fraiche
  • 2 tbspns chopped fresh basil
  • salt and black pepper to taste

Heat the oil and butter in a large flameproof casserole.

Add the chicken pieces and brown on all sides, then remove from the pan.

Add the onion and carrot and 'sweat' - fry until soft and transparent.

Retun the chicken and add the wine and stock.

Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through - pierce at the thickest point to check that the juices run clear.

Remove the chicken and keep warm.

Give the contents of the pan a good stir to loosen any residue, then add the cream/yoghurt/creme fraiche.

Stir thoroughly for a couple of minutes until piping hot.

Throw in the basil and heat another minute or so.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve with buttered new potatoes or jacket/baked potatoes and a selection of fresh vegetables.

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