Perfect chicken breast fillet

Much more difficult than it sounds, I’m sure you’ll agree. Chicken dries out so quick, almost the same way as a chocolate fondant will solidify in the blink of an eye. The trick is to be very quick and very hot, but let’s not forget that it must be heated right the way through, I’ve never met anyone who orders their chicken medium rare!
It took me a long time to master this, to get it perfect and after reading this, you’ll have perfect chicken too.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken breast fillet, mine are around 1 inch thick, at the thickest point and are skinless.

Lemon wedge

Fresh thyme, or dried. Dried thyme and oregano are the king and queen of dried herbs and are still pretty potent when awakened in hot oil.

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Knob of butter

Generous glug of olive oil

METHOD

Take the chicken out of the fridge ten mins prior to cooking.

Place on a board and remove any fat whilst maintaining a good shape, season generously with salt, pepper, thyme on both sides.

Pre heat oven to 200 degrees. (I have fan assisted oven)

Next heat a heavy bottomed pan with a knob of butter and a splash of olive oil, combine the two in the pan with a spatula. The butter gets a great crispy sear whilst the oil stops the butter from burning at high heat.

When the pan is smoking hot press your fillets down into the center of the pan, try to get every millimeter of the meat in contact with the pan. A quick, even sear will keep maximum moisture in the chicken.

2 minutes and 30 seconds on each side, keep them moving but don’t loose contact. Keep the pan very hot, as hot as you dare really.

Quickly transfer to an oven proof dish and place in the center oven for 6 minutes and 30 seconds, if your fillets are thicker you’ll need to adjust the time by another 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Once cooked transfer the chicken to a clean board an allow to rest for one minute, this is important for the meat to retain maximum moisture and also to finish it’s cooking process.

Slice the breast diagonally from right to left so you see a good cross section of the meat and transfer to your plate.

Add a quick squeeze of lemon and your good to go.

Potato terrine, the ultimate fine dining side to any meat.

This has got to be my favourite accompaniment to a special dinner at home. It’s a bit of a fiddle and takes a while to prepare but it really is a labour of love, the end result is an expensive looking, beautiful and tasty side to any meat or fish. Your going to need a killer sauce and your meat needs to be perfectly cooked and seasoned or this accompaniment will steal the show.

This recipe will make 4 terrines

4 large potatoes , I find maris piper potatoes are the best because they have a dry floury texture and don’t leak to much moisture out when it come to pressing, also the marinade sticks to them really well.
100ml of full cream
3 garlic cloves bashed with the flat of a knife until split open
1 sage leaf
Parmesan grated
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper to season

Pre heat the oven to 175 degrees.

Pour the cream into a sauce pan and heat gently, don’t let it boil. Add the bay leaf, a pinch of salt and pepper and the garlic cloves. Heat through until tiny bubbles start to appear around the sides of the pan and remove from the heat.

Peel the potatoes and slice them finely, making sure they are all the same thickness (roughly 2-3mm). If you have a round mould slice them into circles, I have a square mould so I’ll be slicing them square.

Sieve the cream mixture into a deep bowl and add the slices of potato, stir them with your hands until all are coated and then leave to rest.

While the potatoes are marinating, grease the sides of the two moulds and place them onto a heat proof dish on top of grease proof paper.

Layer the potato slices into the moulds making sure to reach into all four corners, layer evenly pressing gently down to feel hollow spots. Season every other layer with a pinch of salt and pepper and finally, pour a desert spoon sized amount of the remaining cream mixture over each terrine.

Place on the middle shelf in the oven and bake for 50 minutes.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 mins.

Using a palette knife lift the terrines in their moulds onto a plate topped with grease proof paper, cover the terrines with another sheet of grease proof paper.

Place the terrines in the fridge with a weight on top of them, I’m using two jars full of water and allow to cool and set for 4 hours.

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees once your 15 minutes from plating up the rest of your dish.

Whilst the oven is heating, remove the terrines from the fridge. Take the weight off and remove the grease proof paper top. Carefully lift the mould off with your fingers pressing gently down on all four corners of the potato.

With a palette knife lift and slide the terrine onto a fresh piece of grease proof paper and transfer to an oven proof dish.

Finely slice a knob of butter and spread out on top of the terrine, next grate fresh Parmesan on top of the butter.

Place in the center of the oven for 13 minutes until golden brown, then remove and stand for 3 minutes.

That’s it, serve with your chosen meat or fish, I served mine with fillet of lamb, cauliflower purée and rosemary jus.