We’re very lucky up here at Castle Farm to have the lovely people of Stream Farm just over the valley.

The family that own and run the farm want to show that the British countryside will fare much better when looked after by large numbers of small farms selling what they produce directly to the consumer rather than by just a few huge farms selling straight into the supermarkets.  As well as the finest organic pork, beef and chicken they smoke their own trout in a converted caravan on the premise.   They’ve even started bottling the water from the stream high up in the Quantock Hills that gives the farm it’s name.   As passionate advocates of local and seasonal grub they ring our bells on every level.  Their meat and in particular their trout also tastes utterly divine – as you can tell we’re converts!

Every week we buy an organic chicken from them that conveniently is delivered straight to our door.  We’ve cooked these little fowl every which way in the year since our deliveries started – the latest being an AGA slow roast which proved to be a pretty good reason to consider keeping the hated range (more of that another time).  By far my favourite is of course Somerset Chicken.

This recipe uses the best of local produce nearly all of which can be sourced less than 3 miles from the house (or from the garden naturally!).

Ingredients:

• organic free range chicken jointed out
• flour for dusting
• salt and pepper
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 rashers of streaky bacon, cut into 1cm/½ inch pieces
• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 2 eating apples, peeled and sliced
• 300ml/½ pint dry cider (cider from a can is alright but try and use scrumpy if you live in cider country)
• 300ml/½ pint chicken stock
• 150ml/¼ pint cream
• a bunch of sage
• Splash of lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons of dijon mustard
• pinch of sugar

Method:

• Set the oven to 180°.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan on the hob and add the butter.
• Dust the chicken pieces in seasoned flour and quickly brown them in the butter.
• Set them aside.
• Fry off the onion, bacon and celery.
• Place  the onion, bacon and celery into a heavy bottomed casserole dish.
• Layer the apple slices over these ingredients.
• Place the chicken pieces on top.
• Add 1 tablespoon of the seasoned flour to the juices in the frying pan, scrape and cook for a minute, then add the cider, lemon juice, sugar and dijon mustard and stir until thickened.
• Add the stock until the sauce looks a little like single cream.
• Pour this sauce into casserole and bake for 30-40 minutes.
• Pour in the cream (reducing the sauce if necessary) and add the chopped sage.

We serve with a healthy chunk of the blonde’s rye bread to mop up the sauce!

To learn more about the team at Stream Farm or order your own scrumptious meats then visit them at  http://www.streamfarm.co.uk/

We’ve stolen the image from the pub food company but the recipe is all our own.