Sunday 15 March 2009

Stuffed chicken and ham parcels with sautéed potatoes

I read a recipe in one of Gordon Ramsay's books (get it, it's called "Healthy Appetite" and it rocks) for a chicken breast stuffed with ricotta and herbs and wrapped in prosciutto. I liked the idea of this, but I fancied taking advantage of the market once more by making an anglicised version.

This recipe is a great one for impressing people as it's very easy; a retarded gibbon with an addiction to glue sniffing could make it.

Ingredients:
  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 4 knobs of butter
  • 1-2 tsps English mustard
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • Handful of sage leaves
  • A few thyme sprigs
  • 8 large slices of good smoked ham (not plastic crap)
  • 4 medium potatoes
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsps olive oil

Method:

  1. Butterfly the chicken breasts by cutting into them from the side, but not all the way through, so that you can open them out like books.
  2. Crush the garlic and chop it finely. Mix the butter with some chopped sage leaves and a little salt and pepper, then spoon the butter into the middle of the breasts and close them.
  3. Brush or smear (depending on whether you like getting your hands dirty!) the mustard over the breasts. I left the skin on, but you can remove this if you like.
  4. Lay out the ham slices so that they're slightly overlapping. Put the chicken breasts in the middle, put a sage leaf on top of each one and wrap them in the ham, covering as much as possible, then wrap them tightly in cling film and put them in the fridge for 1-2 hours to firm up (if you're worried that this will take too long then you can just do it the night before and leave them in there until you need them).
  5. Take the breasts out of the fridge about 20 minutes before you want to cook them, so that they can adjust to room temperature, and preheat the oven to 180 degrees. While the oven is heating up, put a roasting tin in there to let it get hot.
  6. Heat some olive oil in a non-stick pan on a medium-hot heat and put the breasts in - make sure they sizzle upon contact, if they don't then just take them out and let the oil heat up properly. Brown them for a couple of minutes on each side, then put them in the hot roasting tin, garnish them with thyme sprigs and put them in the oven for about 15 minutes until they're cooked all the way through. Leave them to rest for a few minutes once they're cooked.
  7. Meanwhile, peel your potatoes and chop them into thin slices (use a mandolin if you have one). Fry them in the pan for a few minutes on each side, adding a little more oil if necessary, until they've turned golden brown; try not to flip them too much or this will take longer.
  8. If you want to look cool, serve the potato slices in a circle in the middle of the plate, carve the chicken breasts on the diagonal and place them on top of the potatoes.

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