Chicken and porcini casserole

I love using porcini mushrooms. There's a certain richness that it generates in stews and soups, that you can't get from normal button/chestnut mushrooms. For this recipe, place 20g of porcini mushrooms in a bowl and cover with 1/4 cup of boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes until the mushrooms are fully hydrated. Lightly toss 1.5 kg of chicken pieces in 1/4 cup of seasoned plain flour to coat. Heat oil in pan and cook the chicken over medium heat in batches until browned. Set aside. Add 1 chopped onion and 2 cloves of chopped garlic to the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup of chicken stock. Return the chicken to the pan with the porcini mushrooms and the liquid. Add 1/3 cup of white wine, 1 can of chopped tomatoes, 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar, 3 sprigs of thyme and 1 bay leave. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, add 300g of field mushrooms. Cook, uncovered for 20 minutes until the sauce thickens. Serve with pasta.

Beef carbonnade

Yet another recipe from the One Pot cookbook. First, preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Brown beef chunks (1kg) with butter and olive oil. Remove from the pan. Cook 2 sliced onions, and 2 crushed garlic cloves at medium heat for 4 minutes. Add 2 tbsp of plain flour, stir well and cook for 1 minute. Combine 1 1/2 cups of brown ale with 1 1/2 cup of water and add to the pan. Stir well, bring to the boil and return the meat to the pan. Add bouquet garni, season with salt and pepper, and return to the boil. Transfer to a casserole dish, cover well with foil and cook in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Spread French bread slices with dijon mustard and butter. Place bread on stew, and cook uncovered for 20 minutes until the bread becomes crusty.