Moneypenny and Timesaver Chicken and Vegetables in Creamy Provencal Sauce

This chicken dish has saved my family many times from preservative-laden frozen foods or expensive restaurant takeaways.  Eating out here is expensive compared to Singapore where you can get a delicious meal for about 20 Euros as a family (even less at food courts).  A restaurant meal for 2 adults and 2 children with drinks will set you back at least 40 Euros, and that is for the pizza-pasta-burger-salad-and-the-occassional-small-steak variety at most places. And when we go out for sushi at our favourite Tokyo Sushi Restaurant in Mannheim - well it's more likely close to 90 Euros (doesn't help that my children gobble up a plate of sashimi each.) And there is nary a Thai, Malaysian or Chinese food place that does not use MSG (gives me debilitating headaches), although I do make an exception for Tiger and Dragon Cafe in Heidelberg that serves Thai/Vietnamese/Asian-influenced rice and noodle-based dishes as they seem to use the least of that stuff. But a really great bowl of Pho without MSG with broth made from scratch will set you back 12 Euros. And a plate or rice with beef rendang? 15 Euros! Not to mention 3 sticks of satay with condiments for 10 Euros!! Aarrrgh! And so you see, being able to cook here is actually a survival skill. And as my friend (you know who you are Mr K.A) and I fervently concur, "Eating well is the best revenge".

And so it's a blessing that I can cook and love to cook but being a busy work-at-home mom  (I am typing this after doing translation work for the university and organising my lesson plans for a class I will be teaching while the laundry stares at me, fervently hoping I will finish my to-do list before I have to pick up the children from kindergarten - oh shi* i still have to cook lunch!)  and that my children love chicken but my husband has his days when he feels "chickened-out" (due to a childhood chicken overdose) and for those days, I will add potatoes and more vegetables to the dish so he'll get the vegetarian version.

The leftovers are wonderful as a sandwich (mash the chicken pieces into the sauce and pile it up on a sourdough with crunchy salad on the side).  Or top it with some mashed potatoes and cheese and bake it until the cheese melts for a chicken pot pie + cottage pie mash up.

Ingredients (for 4 and some leftovers):

Note : If making the vegetarian version, leave out the chicken breast pieces, add more vegetables and use vegetable stock.

• 2 or 3 chicken breasts
• 1 large potato, peeled
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• A handful of french beans (or peas or brocolli or something green)
• A handful of mushrooms (I used brown button ones but any kind will do)
• 300 ml of chicken or vegetable stock (homemade or from concentrate or cube)
• 3 tablespoons of creme fraiche or cream (or in a pinch, cream cheese)
• A pinch of dried herb de provence or tarragon or thyme 
• A dash of garlic powder (you can also use 1 finely chopped garlic but make sure they don't burn)
• Shakes of salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour

This is how we do it :

Cut the chicken breast meat and the vegetables into bite-sized pieces.

Add the butter (and a little vegetable oil to the pan to stop the butter from burning), to the pan and add the chicken, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and onions. Let them brown a little before adding the flour.

Once everything is coated and slick with the flour and butter, add the stock. Let it bubble a little before adding the cream (or cream cheese). Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and the dried herb de provence and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Let it bubble some more, thickening the sauce. Put the lid on and stir occassionally for the next 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender enough to your liking.

Towards the end, add in the french beans (they take the least time to cook but if you are using broccoli add that together with the other vegetables). If the sauce is too thick, add in some water and if it still too runny, add in some more cream or parmesan cheese if you want.

And so, your creamy chicken should look somewhat like this :

Creamy Chicken Provencal (sans the carrots though, sorry)

I served it with steamed white rice with lots of cracked black pepper, but it also goes well over mashed potatoes, cooked polenta or eaten with with biscuits/savoury scones.

And definitely a winner as a tummy-warmer in 30 minutes.