Blue Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts on Polenta

This dish is one inspired by a dish that my mother used to cook when entertaining in the 80s/90s. I think she got the original recipe from the Dairy Book of Cookery, but my childhood increasingly belongs to history LOL.

I do remember being wowed as a little girl but the magic of this culinary dish in a time when homecooking was going through it's first major revolution in centuries. It seemed so sophisticated and grown up.

Now, I sometimes cook it as a comforting date night dish as it's just the right amount of special without being too much effort.

I've upgraded it to include spinach and polenta (something that wouldn't have been easily accessible in the early 90s in rural Lincolnshire but which goes with this dish beautifully.)

This dish begs for a good bottle of white bourgone or chablis, and so that's another reason to save it for date night or a Friday night special supper with friends.

COST MEDIUM ££ (If using Cornfed organic chicken £10 for 2 / £5 a head)
LEVEL MEDIUM. 
MEAT


INGREDIENTS

• Chicken breasts (Preferably Corn Fed and organic) OR Guinea Fowl breasts 
• Blue cheese (Whatever you have in the fridge, stilton or gorgonzola are best)
• 2 slices of Pancetta
• Bag of spinach
• 1/2 pint of cream
• 2 garlic cloves
• Polenta 
• Generous bowl of grated parmesan cheese. 

METHOD

1) Butterfly out the chicken breasts and give a light beat to flatten out a little but don't rekill it

2) take a generous tablespoon of blue cheese and place in the middle of the chicken. Roll. 

3) Wrap tightly with the pancetta and seal off in a frying pan, before placing into a baking dish. 

4) Place in the oven at 180 for approximately 25-35 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. It may look a little pink because of the pancetta. If in any doubt, use a meat thermometer. 

5) Whilst the chicken breasts are in the oven, wilt the spinach in the same frying pan as you sealed the chicken. Add the cream and cook down until thick. Place to one side. 

6) Make the polenta according to the pack instructions. Add plenty more butter and parmesan than they suggest ;) 

7) Allow the chicken to rest for about 5 minutes before cutting it in half. 

8) Plate up by spooning out the Polenta into the bowl and then add a spoonful of the creamy spinach, and place the chicken on top. 

Persian Inspired Rice & Pheasant, with Chestnut Patties and Cauliflower Puree

This ended up being a really popular post on the Instagram Page and so I've prioritised the recording of the recipe.

This dish came about because we had Jonathan's parents for a couple of days over the Christmas period and I'd planned on doing a rare beef salad, but the meat, although beautifully hung, was spoiled and so we had to ditch it, meaning a very quick menu replan out of the freezer.

Fortunately I had 3 packs of 4x pheasant breast from the Farmer's market as they had been on 3 packs for £10. Then it was very much a case of what did I have in the store cupboard. After a swift gin and tonic, this dish was the result, and it was absolutely beautiful.

And apologies to the legacy of Persian cuisine for me totally messing with your food. I'll hope you'll forgive my joyful inspired culinary moment based on my small knowledge of Persian food.

This dish is a bit of a challenge but it's a pleasure to cook and great fun if you can bring in a sous chef to help you out. There's a lot going on but none of it is particularly difficult if you take your time and enjoy the fact that it isn't a fast food dish.


SERVES 8

COST £   (£13 total - approx £1.65 a head)

DIFFICULTY - medium

TIME  approx 50-60mins

For the Persian Inspired Rice. (v) 
This makes a fabulous salad dish when served cold. It's a dish inspired by a very similar rice dish that we've had as a side dish on Christmas day for nearly 20 years.

INGREDIENTS

1tbsp olive oil
3 cups of wild rice
3 cloves of chopped garlic
2 onions
1 heaped tbsp of powdered coriander
1 tsp of coriander seeds
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 heaped tsbp of fennel seeds
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp of whole blanched almonds
1 tbsp of chopped blanched almonds.
5/6 chopped dried figs
2tbsp of dried cranberries
2 knorr veggie stock cubes
1-1.5pints of boiling water
1 fresh ripe mango (which is a cheeky alien addition but works)

METHOD 
1) Finely dice the onions and add to a heavy bottomed frying pan with the olive oil, cook until translucent. Add the chopped garlic and spices and cook out for about 1-2 minutes
2) Add the rice and turn over in the oil.
3) Make the stock by adding the stock gels to the boiling water and pour half of it into the pan with the rice. Stir occasionally to stop it sticking.
4) When the rice is on the turn (approx 20 minutes) add the chopped figs, cranberries and stir, adding the rest of the stock little by little waiting for it to absorb before adding more. Continue cooking until the rice is on point and all the liquid has been absorbed.
5) Add the nuts and fresh chopped mango, stir, place a lid over the top and set aside for at least 20 minutes for all the flavours to infuse.

*

For the Pureed Cauliflower (v) 
A little time consuming but worth it as it serves as your sauce.

INGREDIENTS
1 cauliflower
0.5 pints of double cream
Nutmeg

1) Steam or microwave the cauliflower florets so it has minimal water contact.
2) Using a hand blender, blitz the cauliflower until it's smooth as possible.
3) Stir in the double cream and the powdered Nutmeg and then pass through a fine sieve until a smooth puree is achieved.

*

For the Pheasant

Much hilarity accompanied my attempts at sous vide.
 I think we might invest in a vacuum gadget being as
they aren't too expensive and the sous vide
 technique makes cooking for big numbers super easy. 

Pheasant has a reputation for being a little tricky, in that if it's 
over cooked or under cooked then it can go tough, but please
 don't let that put you off this wonderful sustainable healthy 
meat. In oder to prevent it going tough it is really recommended 
that you firstly sous vide the pheasant, which sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is.

We had great fun using the method suggested in The Field, the classic British Country magazine but it comes very much with 
a non liability form.


HOW TO SOUS VIDE AT HOME

• Place the pheasant breasts, 4 at a time into a ziplock food bag.
• Add a dash of olive oil and a sprig of rosemary along with a grinding of pepper
• Press out as much air as possible as you ziplock it up, and then taking a drinking straw, insert into one corner of the bag, sucking the rest of the air out to create a vacuum
• Place in a pan of water at 67 degrees Celsius for approximate 20-30minutes.  
• Then pan fry your pheasant breasts in hot butter until the breasts take on a golden brown colour. Rest for at least 5 minutes and then slice thinly. 

A jam / cooking thermometer is
crucial for this activity

*

For the Chestnut Patties

INGREDIENTS

6 good quality Herby sausages

8 slices of back bacon

cooks chestnuts

METHOD

1) Split the sausages and place into a bowl. 

2) Add the chopped chestnuts. 

3) mould into small patties and wrap in a slice of bacon

4) Oven bake for 20-30 minutes on 180 until cooked through. 

Parmesan Truffle Polenta with Garlic Wild Mushrooms.

So of all the dishes I have made during the last fortnight, this has to be my absolute favourite. It's so packed with big flavour, indulgent, and elegant enough to be used for entertaining - or humble enough to eat on the sofa with a box-set.

Polenta can be a bit of a tricky ingredient to conquer,
but I promise you that it's worth the persistence. It's
temperamental but divine once you've cracked it - and
like most life-skills, once you've learned how to
do it, it becomes second nature. It's delicious with
chicken / guinea fowl and fabulous with casseroles
and stews. Be brave. 

Polenta is one of our family favourites, but there's no denying that it's a little bit of a tricky beast to master. We like ours soft, just slightly loser than the consistency of cream mashed potato. We also like it heavily loaded with butter and parmesan; so this isn't the best of the healthy eating recipes, although it is all natural ingredients and it is meat free, so it has that going for it. It's also fantastically economical as an entertaining / dinner party dish.

The trick is to fry your mushrooms longer than you think you need to and play Russian Roulette with your chopped garlic pieces so they are just on the cusp of burning. You need them to caramelise but not go bitter.

This is why I'm giving this recipe a MEDIUM-TRICKY level because it's very much about being confident to work organically with the recipe and the instructions, and also because quite a lot could go wrong with this recipe if you don't keep your eye on the ball. It all happens within a slightly hectic 8 minutes - but honestly, the results are more than worth it, and I promise you, the more you cook with polenta, the easier it gets.

If you've never cooked with polenta, I would save this recipe until you've got it down pat. The best way to do this is to cook polenta as a mashed potato replacement with big stews and ragu so that if it goes a little wonky, it doesn't matter too much. I cut my teeth making polenta for Sunday lunch to go with Chicken or Guinea fowl, as it makes a lovely Sunday lunch accompaniment.

LEVEL: MEDIUM-TRICKY (Polenta experience recommended)
COST: £ approx £2 a portion
VEGETARIAN
TIME: 10 minutes start to finish.

INGREDIENTS: (Serves 2-3)
3 cups of Polenta grains
Hot water approx 750ml
35g of butter
truffle oil
Standard Box of mixed wild / exotic mushrooms
3 large cloves of garlic
Good handful of grated parmesan

(I'd serve it with wilted spinach in future, although I served it with Salad this week, which was fine but wilted spinach or black kale would be nicer)

METHOD
Okay, hold your horses, you're going to have to multi-task.

• Each polenta grain mix has ever so slightly different properties so follow the ratios they recommend on the box. The ones I have given above are a rough guide and I sometimes add a little more water as I go along to thin it slightly. 

• Boil water in a sauce pan and add half the butter, then sprinkle the polenta over the top, stirring all the time. It will swell almost immediately, but it's still quite grainy. You need to cook it out until the grains split and it transforms from grainy to floury/ soft. It will thicken rapidly and that's fine just keep stirring. If it becomes so your spoon doesn't move easily through it, add a little more water. 

• Add in the parmesan and the other half of the butter (be as generous as your conscience will allow) turn down to a low heat and continue to stir with one hand - it will take around 8-10 minutes for it to change state. 

• Meanwhile, in a good heavy frying pan, melt a knob of butter and a splash of olive oil (to stop the butter burning) until it foaming. 

• Break the mushrooms apart with your fingers - and for the button mushrooms, slice into 1cm slices. 

• Roughly chop the garlic at least 3 cloves but more if you like. 

• Place the sliced button mushrooms in the butter first and let them start to get brown. Add the garlic at this point and give a good stir / toss of the pan. 

• Add the broken down softer mushrooms and cook out until they are golden brown and the garlic has started to caramelise. This may take a good 6-10 minutes. You don't want them soggy but golden.

• Add about 1-2tbsp of truffle oil to your polenta and spoon onto a warmed plate. It should just hold but sort of sag around the edges.

• Place the mushrooms on top 

GRILLED GOATS CHEESE & CARAMELISED ONION CROSTINI ON SALAD WITH BALSAMIC DRESSING

I forgot to take a photo, which is a pity because it was
a really pretty plate of food, but instead, let me kill you
with cuteness as you look at these little poppets
gambolling around. 

LEVEL: EASY
COST: ££ (Approx £4 for 2)
VEGETARIAN
TIME: approx 20 minutes

NOTES: This is a dish that I have made many times as a starter dish when entertaining. It's a crowd pleaser (unless you hate goats' cheese and then this is probably not the recipe for you)
It's full of big flavours that trick you into thinking you have eaten a really substantial and satisfying meal, and of course there is the creamy goats cheese that makes you feel you're eating something really decadent.

It's very much worth making your own caramelised onion chutney because a) it's much cheaper, b) it tastes amazing c) it's not full of preservatives. You can always make a full sized batch up and use the rest over the course of the week in pack up sandwiches etc.

One of our all time favourite dishes that makes you look like a pro-chef with hardly any effort.

INGREDIENTS: 
Soft goats cheese
A stale french stick or loaf
Green mixed salad bag
2 medium onions
2tbsp Brown sugar
1tbsp of Red wine vinegar
half a cup of water
Balsamic reduction (can now be got from most supermarkets and a bottle lasts for ages)
Walnuts.

METHOD: 

• Slice your onion thinly and fry off in a little butter in a good non-stick pan until translucent and taking a little colour. Add the red wine vinegar and a smash of water and the sugar. Cook down and continuously stir for about 15-20 minutes until a lovely dark toffee colour. SET ASIDE
• Slice your bread (2 slices each) and toast one side. Turn over to the uncooked side and put the goats' cheese on and return to grill. 
• Plate out the bagged mixed salad (one with spinach, kale and watercress addition are really nice) 
• Scatter the walnuts over the salad. Place the grilled, brown cheesy loveliness in the middle of the plate, top with caramelised onions and then finish the plate with a drizzle of the balsamic reduction.