Since going off to see Police Dog Hogan I’ve developed a bit of an obsession with Dijon mustard, and this is the second post to major on it as an ingredient.

It’s very rich, and it goes particularly well with a refreshing salad of freekeh, celery and mint.

You can make ahead – but if you do so leave out the cream and add in just before you reheat in an oven for a quarter of an hour or so at 160°C.

Recipe for Je Préfère Drunken Dijon Poulet

For two people

• 5 tbsps Dijon mustard
• bittersweet smoked Spanish paprika
• 8 rashers unsmoked back bacon, chopped. If you use smoked it gets too salty.
• 1 banana shallot, peeled and chopped
• 2 chicken breasts
• Olive oil for frying
• 240 ml/1 cup dry cider
• 6 grinds Indonesian long pepper
• 120 ml/½ cup double cream

1. Slather the mustard over the chicken breasts and then sprinkle over the paprika and grind over the pepper, massage in and leave – overnight even.
2. In a large frying pan fry the bacon and shallot gently – add oil if necessary and the natural fat in the bacon is not sufficient. Add the chicken breasts and fry for a couple of minutes on both sides. Remove the not-yet-completely-cooked-chicken onto a warmed plate and continue to fry shallot and bacon until both are cooked and the shallot is translucent and just turning golden. Remove these to the same plate, but keeping them separate, as the chicken.
3. Add the cider to the frying pan and deglaze.
4. Mix back in the bacon and shallot, stirring.
5. Put the chicken also back into the pan, and reduce the heat to just simmering. After several minutes turn the chicken, and if it is looking a bit dry, cover the pan with foil. Cook for several more minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
6. Add the cream to the pan and mix in.