Duck leg with smoked Risotto

Christmas is coming and I want to do something different for the festive season. Duck goes well in the Christmas season, but I am bored of the traditional Duck in Orange sauce. So I am preparing today a slow cooked duck leg, and as it is cooked in its own fat it is called confit. The cooking process takes 3 to 4 hours, one has to be patient, but the result is absolutely delicious.

With the duck leg I prepare a risotto. I have mushrooms in it and instead of a light chicken stock I make a brown chicken stock. For that I roast the bones in the oven till they are nice and dark brow.....remember, only dark brown as if the bones burn the stock will be bitter.

As for the smoke..... I am "cheating" a bit, I am taking one of my fancy powders from the Molecular Cuisine, the smoke powder. If you use smoke powder get a top quality one. I use the products of a company called Sosa. They specialize in all sorts of flavors and products used in the Molecular Cuisine but can of course be used as well in normal cuisine. We don't actually do Molecular here, I call it more progressive Cuisine as we use the aids which can give you amazing flavor combinations, without actually being Molecular.

The risotto is prepared exactly the same way like a normal risotto, but with the brown chicken stock it gives it more the look of being smoked.

Then of course we are using some lovely green vegetables to make the dish perfect in looks and taste

Just for a garnish OI made a little beetroot chip, just looks very nice

Recipe
4 Ea Duck leg

160 G (6 oz) Arborio Rice
560 Ml  (0.55 quart) Chicken Stock
50 G (2 oz) Parmesan
3 g Smoke Powder
120 G (4 oz) Asparagus, green
100 G (3.5 oz) Mushrooms
80 G (2.5 oz) Mange Tout
40 (1.5 oz) Ml Fresh Cream
50 G (2 oz) Onions

Method
Confit the duck leg in duck fat in the oven for 3 hours at 135 C
Chop onions finely, fry in olive oil without color
Add the risotto, fry a little
Add chicken stock and smoke powder
Be careful that you don't add too much powder
Add the cream, mushrooms and Parmesan at the end

Saute the vegetables

Chicken Breast, wild Mushroom Ravioli

 

I just felt like cooking, just had this urge of doing something nice, something tasty. I went into the walk in fridge and there was this chicken lying, just calling out my name: "Come here, take me, cook me!!!!!"

How could I resist?

I took the chicken gently and off I went into the kitchen. I first deboned carefully the breasts, making sure the wing bone is nice and clean and then leaving the skin on. Then I took the legs off ready to be braised. The just would be made from the bones, so I chopped them roughly together and in a hot pan and a little olive oil roasted them till they were nice and brown. Adding some carrots, onions and celeriac, I roasted everything a little longer. Then the tomato paste and of course the wine. Ahhh, the smell was just wonderful and I knew already that the chicken would be happy with the result, hehehehe.

Anyway, I braised the legs on low temperature in the stock and when they were nice and tender I took them out, reducing the stock till it was strong and powerful

Then I took some lovely wild mushrooms, sauteed them with onions and garlic, added at the end the chopped chicken legs and some spinach for color. That was then my filling for the ravioli.

So I just had to roast the chicken breast, do some lovely, crunchy fresh vegetables and voila, my chicken dish was done......sounds easy? It is.........sort of, I have to admit, it is a little time consuming to braise the leg, make the pasta dough, finish off everything and ......it was worth every little move, every taster.

That is why sometimes I just cook a dish, this chicken is not on the menu and I only made 2 portions.....just for fun. It relaxes me, other people do yoga....not me, I cook, it takes my mind off the everyday hassles going on around me, it makes me ME again.

Ahhhhhh, now you want the recipe? I thought so, then let me share it with you. Just one more word of advise....it is a little labor intensive, but worth the while making it

5 ea Chicken, whole
500 g Pasta dough
100 g Wild mushrooms
25 g Onions
15 g Garlic
100 ml White wine
150 g Spinach
25 g Basil
30 g Butter

250 g Broad beans
250 g French beans
250 g White asparagus
250 g Carrots
30 g Butter
Salt
Pepper

Debone the chicken, keeping the wing bone and skin on the breast
Roast the bones till brown, fry the legs in a little oil
Then braise the legs with the bones together till tender
Strain the sauce off and discard the bones
Debone the legs and keep the meat for the ravioli
Chop the onions and garlic finely.
Sauté in olive oil
Chop the mushrooms and add them to the sauté
Deglaze with the white wine, add chopped chicken leg
Simmer till all liquid has evaporated
Add the roughly chopped spinach
Season to taste and cool the mix down

Roll out the pasta dough thinly.
With the pasta dough and filling make half-moon shaped ravioli
Blanch them in water then shock in ice water
Drain off the water and add some oil to the ravioli to prevent them from sticking together

Blanch the vegetables and roast the chicken breast
To finish the plate, heat the ravioli and fry them without color in a bit butter and basil julienne
Heat the vegetables up and season to taste
Have the reduced sauce ready
Plate everything nicely on a plate

Chicken Breast on Creamy Asparagus Tagliolini

Today we have a super easy and delicious recipe, something when you start eating it you can't stop. Creamy pasta is always nice, but with asparagus it is just that much nicer.

The secret to this dish is that you use the stock of the white asparagus as a base for your white sauce, so there is plenty of flavor in it.......basically you will use the white asparagus soup as a sauce, with plenty of fresh green and white asparagus inside, then a crispy roast organic chicken breast on top, this is just like being in heaven.

When cooking asparagus you will be able to use about everything. I even take the water from blanching the green asparagus to cook my pasta in, it just adds to the flavor. Try it out yourself you will see it is just that much more delicious. I often use the blanching water of vegetables to cook my pasta

so here is the recipe

2 Kg (4.5 lb) Chicken breast
75 Ml (3 oz) Olive oil
20 G (2.5 oz) Salt
5 G (0.2 oz) Pepper
500 G (1 lb) Tagliolini
750 G (1.5 lb) Green asparagus
750 G (1.5 lb) White asparagus
250 Ml (10 oz) Cream
250 Ml (10 oz) Asparagus stock, white

Reduce the asparagus stock till half
Add the cream and boil up
Add the blanched green and cooked white asparagus
Season to taste Cook the tagliolini al dente, chill
Just before serving boil up the sauce and add the tagliolini, heat and plate

Season the chicken breast and fry in olive oil till golden brown
Finish the breast off in the oven
Let the breast rest for 5 minutes
Slice and plate


Garnish the plate with fresh herbs and a swirl of jus

Chicken Roulade with Lobster Mousse

I am on a roll at the moment. We are changing a lot of dishes on the menu, have new promotions coming up and therefore there is a lot of cooking and testing going on. I wanted to give you a very special recipe, something we actually did for the Valentines menu, but because I was so busy with other things had no time to make a blog about it.

It is a bit time consuming to make, but the result looks really stunning and is worth the effort. I wanted to create a stunning looking dish that amazes with its clear lines, classically and flavor.

Funny enough to combine lobster and chicken is nothing new, it has been done since 100 years by French chefs. The beauty of this combination is that both ingredients, as different as they are, the flavors just go wonderfully together.

I have then paired it with a simple potato gratin and fine green beans. A little chicken jus and the dish is finish.....ok, it is not that easy, but really worth the effort.

So here is the recipe
2 Chicken legs
250 Lobster meat
150 Salmon
300 Cream
10 Salt
3 Pepper

450 Green Beans
25 Butter
5 Garlic
10 Shallots
10 Salt
2 Pepper

250 Tomatoes
25 Olive Oil
5 Salt
1 Pepper

2 Potatoes
200 Milk
300 Cream
5 Nutmeg
10 Salt
2 Pepper
100 Parmesan

Method

De bone the chicken legs and remove all skin
Flatten the legs a little
Blend Lobster meat and salmon in blender, add seasoning
The add ice cold cream, make sure everything stays cold
Take plastic wrap and spread it on your working place
Spread the mousse on the plastic
Then put one deboned leg on it
Roll it carefully and make a knot on each side
Make sure the plastic is nice and tight

Poach in water for 20 minutes at 85 C Cool down in the fridge
When using take the plastic off and fry in butter till golden brown, then finish off in the oven

Clean the beans and blanch, then fry with shallots and garlic, season to taste
Roast the tomatoes in the oven till semi dried

For the potato gratin boil up cream with garlic, onions salt, pepper and nutmeg
Cut the potatoes very thin, then add 2 layers of potatoes and then some of the flavored cream.
Repeat till you have a nice stack
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 180 C Cool the gratin down over night
The next day cut it in portions, sprinkle with Parmesan and heat up in the oven

Chicken Galantine with wild Mushrooms

This is the second time I am writing a blog about Chicken Galantines. Last time I showed step by step how to make one....and yes, it is still a lot of work till it is done but it is so worth the while.

This time I just want to show you a different variation of the Galantine, with dried fruit and wild mushroom salad. It goes with our wild mushroom promotion which has just started and I am sure it will be a great success.

Terrines are great starters of a menu, they are delicate and often involve a lot of work, labour of love I call it.

This time I had about 6 of my chefs with me, so we made a whole training about the Galantine and now they made their first ones themselves....I am very happy because slowly the standard is getting better and better here.

But now I got the recipe for all my readers

Galantine
1.3 Kg Chicken whole
0.3 Kg Chicken breast
0.015 Kg Salt
0.005 Kg Pepper
0.05 Kg Pistachios
0.1 Kg Cepes
0.1 Kg Chanterelles
0.01 L Cognac
0.3 L Cream

Salad
0.1 Kg Cepes
0.1 Kg Chanterelles
0.2 Kg Oyster mushrooms
0.1 Kg Trumpet mushrooms
0.05 Kg Shallots

Dressing
0.05 L Olive oil
0.05 Kg Walnuts
0.1 L Cider Vinegar
0.2 L Olive oil

De bone the chicken carefully, leave skin intact
Blend the chicken breast with salt and pepper
Add ice cold cream continuously till it is a smooth mix
Take it out of the blender, it has to stay cold at all times
Cut cepes and chanterelles, saute quickly in olive oil
Add mushrooms, pistachios and parsley to the mix
Season and add Cognac at the end
Roll the galantine in plastic and tinfoil to form a sausage
Poach in the oven for about 45 minutes till cooked

Clean the mushrooms, saute quickly with shallots and olive oil
Chop walnuts, add vinegar and oil
Let rest over night

Serves 10 portions

Rice Casimir

Now we are really going wild here. This is one dish that has become a staple of Swiss Cuisine even so it is as un-Swiss as it can get. It is a Chicken Curry in a Rice Ring with poached fruit (often out of the can), a dollop of cream and then toasted almond.......

Swiss??? Yes it is. It has its origins in 1952 when Moevenpick put it on their menu for the first time.....and the rest is history. This dish is so common in Switzerland that even in the chef training, the apprenticeship, we had to learn how to do it and many restaurants still have it on the menu.

The only thing the Rice Casimir has in common with a good Indian Curry is.....Curry Powder, but that's it. It is not spicy, but actually slightly sweet.

And I have to admit, I grew up with it, happily ate it when we went to a restaurant and still like it, it brings back childhood memories, like the Moevenpick Birchermuesli.......more about that you will read soon in my Breakfast Blog.

The funny thing is that many people who are not fond of curry really like this this, just because it is not really a curry.

So, I won't let you wait any longer, here it is, the famous Rice Casimir Recipe!!!!!

2.2 Kg Chicken Breast
100 G Curry Powder
10 G Chili
50 G Masala
5 G Cinnamon
1 Ea Bay leaf
1 Ea Glove
1 Ea Pepper Corns

400 Ml Cream
400 Ml Coconut Milk

1 Kg Pears
1 Kg Pineapples
1 Kg Peaches

500 G Rice
75 Ml Cream
50 G Almonds, toasted

Slice the chicken Breast in fine slices
Fry in a bit oil Add curry powder, Masala and other spices
Add coconut milk
Simmer till the chicken is soft
Add cream
Season to taste

Poach pears, pineapples and peaches
Plate a rice ring
Put the curry in the middle
Garnish with the fruit
Serve with whipped cream op at the end with toasted almonds

Serves 10 Guests

Cajun Chicken Salad

Mmmmmm Cajun Chicken is a lovely dish, so I thought to spice the normal chicken salad up a bit I will marinate my chicken breast in Cajun spices, then roast it in the oven. Then I deep fried some plantain which go wonderfully with the spicyness of the chicken. The dressing then is vhili infused, and a bit of sugar in it as well, so the combination is really tantalizing

It is actually one of our new salads we will serve on the new a la carte menu and all the readers of this blog are lucky as I am busy with doing all the recipes and photos, I can share them with you here on the blog

Recipe
50 G Lollo Rosso
50 G Endive
50 G Radicchio
50 G lettuce local
20 G Italian parsley
1 Kg Chicken breast
50 G Cajun spice
1 Kg Plantain
75 Ml Plain oil
25 Ml Cider vinegar
10 G Chili, red salt pepper
10 G sugar

Method

Wash all the lettuce leaves
Rub the chicken breast with Cajun spice
Heat the oil and fry in the pan till colored
Finish off in the oven, make sure the breast stay juicy
Cool the chicken down
Slice, one breast per person
Deep fry the plantain

Dress Chicken and plantain on top of the lettuce