Velvet chicken with mustard, bay and perry

Cider and chicken might not seem like an obvious pairing - its usually porcine cuts that pair best with this fruity tipple.

But on Easter Sunday upon arriving at the folks' house to "help" (which inevitably means to cook everything myself) instead of having a great wodge of gammon to contend with, my mum approached me in great trepidation with a bag of chiken thighs that "have to be used by today!"

My parents' kitchen, although packed to the hilt with food, tends to be a mecca of convenience, being laden with tinned sauces, and soups, biscuits and preserves - none of which are very helpful when you need to actually COOK something.

I had come armed with a small, slow-cooked lamb shoulder, English mustard, a bowl of hot cross bun mixture and a bottle of Thatchers pear cider (which incensed my dad - "There is no such thing as pear cider- it's perry! Perry!")

Thinking quickly on my feet I rustled-up what turned out to be a delicious chicken dish, with a creamy, non-cream sauce to boot.

I began by slicing one onion down the middle and slicing each half thinly, putting the onion into a slow frying pan to gently sizzle away.

When the onion was starting to turn golden I added the boned, skinless chicken thighs (about 600g) and seasoning, letting the chicken colour all over.

I added 2tsps cornflour to coat and then 2 bay leaves, one chicken stock cube,1 tbsp of English mustard and 400ml of pear cider (sorry - perry!).

I simmered the mixture slowly until the chicken was cooked through and the sauce coated the back of a wooden spoon.

A savoury, succulent dish with a hint of sweetness and spice.