#KitchenClearout recipe : Creamy Sweetcorn Chicken with Rice

Since starting secondary school in September - a school which is literally opposite our house - Juliette has decided to come home for her lunch break, rather than stay at the school canteen. (There's no such thing as packed lunches in France - you have to eat the food that is provided by the school.) She's allowed to use the microwave, the kettle and the Optigrill but isn't allowed to use the oven or the hob - although she's been helping me out in the kitchen lately and I think that might change soon. She often resorts to a pouch of microwaveable rice, but there is always about an inch or two of rice that doesn't get eaten - not enough for another serving but too much to throw away. This means that, by the end of the week, I often have this looking at me when I open the fridge door !

As I was making Balmoral Chicken (I keep nearly typing Balamory Chicken !), which is chicken stuffed with haggis and wrapped in pancetta, I guessed the kids wouldn't be keen, so I decided to make something using their portion of chicken breast and the leftover rice. This was the quick and simple result using nothing but kitchen basics.

Creamy Sweetcorn Chicken with Rice

ingredients :

drizzle of olive oil

2-3 chicken breasts

4 mushrooms

salt, pepper, herbes de Provence

20cl crème fraîche

tin of sweetcorn

leftover cooked rice

Chop the chicken into chunks.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the chicken for a few minutes until it turns white, then add the mushrooms and continue cooking for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the chicken in cooked through. Season with salt, pepper and herbes de Provence, or whatever you have in your spice rack.

Add the sweetcorn, crème fraîche and rice and cook, stirring, until it is completely warmed through.

It's up to you if you want lots of sauce left in the pan or if you keep cooking until it is partially absorbed into the rice, but still creamy.

Serve immediately, sprinkled with parmesan or grated cheddar, if you like.