STEVE’S CORN-FED CHICKEN BREAST WITH FRIED BREAD
PREP AND COOK TIME: 2 HOURSSERVES: 4
½ head of cauliflower, thickly cut into tree-shaped slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sumac
4 large corn-fed chicken breasts, skin left on
1 litre milk
50g butter
1 loaf of sourdough bread
4 brussels sprouts, leaves carefully removed, core discarded
12 pickled baby heirloom carrots (see Winter Pickles)
CHICKEN JUS:
20g butter
2 chicken carcasses, broken down (ask your butcher to do this)
2 carrots, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
½ bunch of thyme
2 bay leaves (fresh if available, dried if not)
1 cup white wine
1 litre Chicken Stock
sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
CAULIFLOWER PUREE:
½ head of cauliflower, cut into florets
50g butter
1 bay leaf (fresh if available, dried if not)
3 thyme sprigs
2 cups milk
1. To make the chicken jus, in a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium–high heat. Add the chicken bones and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until caramelised. Add the carrot, celery and onion and sauté for 5 minutes until the vegetables have browned. Stir in the garlic, thyme and bay leaves and cook for 2–3 minutes until the flavours infused. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and flambé. To flambé, tip the pan carefully away from you but towards an open flame, allow the vapours to ignite and keep the pan at arm’s length. Allow the alcohol to burn off naturally before you continue cooking.
2. Now gradually add the stock, ladle by ladle, and allow to reduce by half each time. Continue until all the stock has been added and the jus has developed sufficiently, about 45 minutes. Sieve into a clean saucepan, season to taste and keep warm over low heat.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
4. To make the cauliflower puree, place the cauliflower florets in a saucepan, season, add the butter, bay leaf and thyme sprigs, cover with the milk and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes until tender.
5. Strain cauliflower and reserve the poaching liquid. Place the cauliflower in a blender and blitz until smooth. If the puree is too thick, add some of the reserved poaching liquid to loosen. Once you have the desired texture, sieve into a clean saucepan and keep warm on low heat.
6. Place the sliced cauliflower on a baking tray greased with a little olive oil, season and sprinkle the sumac on both sides of each piece. Roast for 5 minutes on each side until golden and tender.
7. Meanwhile, season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and allow to reach room temperature. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over medium–high heat, add the chicken, skin side down, and cook for 5 minutes until the fat has rendered and the skin is golden brown. Turn the chicken and place the pan in the oven for 12–14 minutes, depending on the size of the breast, until the chicken is cooked though and the juices run clear.
8. Rip the bread into slightly larger than bite-sized pieces, toss in a bowl with salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Bake in the oven for 3–5 minutes until golden brown.
9. Seconds before assembling the dish, season and dress the brussels sprout leaves with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.
10. Toss the pickled carrots in a pan to warm them through.
11. To assemble, slice each chicken breast diagonally lengthways and arrange in the middle of the plate. Add the pickled carrots to the plate. Add three pieces of roasted cauliflower, scatter the sprout leaves around the dish and add a few pieces of fried bread between the sprout leaves. Add the cauliflower puree in a side dish and finish with a drizzle of chicken jus.
WILL Deglaze, there’s that word again. What are you going on about?
STEVE You don’t know because I don’t let you do this bit, you’d probably set your eyebrows on fire! It’s basically a way of releasing all the flavour from the base of the pan where caramelisation has built up. Usually we do this with wine and then allow the pan to catch fire and burn off the alcohol, that’s flambé. Stand back, Will!