Georgina Campbell's Cookery Feature - Chicken: Fillets Not the Only Meat

Georgina Campbell

How often do you eat chicken? It is by far the most popular meat in Ireland, accounting for about a third of the nation’s total meat consumption, so the chances are you eat it several times a week. And the demand for chicken breast fillets in Ireland is extraordinarily high compared to other parts of Europe.

At a special ‘chicken lunch’ held recently at Dublin’s Fallon & Byrne restaurant by Ireland’s longest established chicken producer, Manor Farm (est 1775), their MD Vincent Carton said that in Ireland we eat 10 chicken breasts for every chicken leg eaten - and, although they have a healthy export market sending other cuts abroad, especially to Scandinavia, it is a trend they would like to reverse.

Research carried out by the company found that over 40% of adults under 35 have never cooked a whole chicken, which is a pretty shocking reflection on our life skills teaching record in Ireland. If you are one of those people who have never had the pleasure of serving up roast chicken to an admiring audience, just try Diana Henry’s deliciously simple modern recipe below and you will be hooked for life.

As any good shopper knows, buying a whole bird or other cuts of the chicken offers much better value than chicken fillets which, although admittedly convenient, also have less flavour than other parts of the bird. And, as well as giving more for your money, buying whole chickens, or different cuts, opens up the possibility of making a whole range of more interesting dishes.

And then there is the question of where the chicken comes from, and how it was raised. The lunch at Fallon & Byrne was held to coincide with the long awaited changes to labelling laws, which should end the confusion of whether or not foods with ‘Irish sounding names’ are actually Irish.

Mandatory country of origin labelling across chicken and other poultry was introduced on April 1st 2015 - although, as guest speaker Ross Golden Bannon pointed out, the country of origin information on labels is allowed to be so small that it is almost impossible to read

However, as MD Vincent Carton pointed out, “Ireland can only be listed as country of origin if the meat in question has been born, bred and slaughtered in Ireland. If any one of these variables takes place elsewhere, it must be stated on the label.

This marks a very positive change for the consumer and for the survival of the entire poultry sector in Ireland”. As this family-owned Cavan company is celebrating 240 years in business this year, they should know bit about survival.

In an ideal world, many of us would choose to eat only free range and organic poultry and we have many excellent small to medium sized businesses producing chicken to the highest standards - examples like Margaret McDonnell's certified organic farm in Kildare, Bertram and Celine Salter’s Carlow Free Range, and Ronan Byrne’s The Friendly Farmer in Athenry all come to mind.

But in reality the majority of shoppers are not willing to pay the necessary premium for the highest quality, so it is vital to ensure that large scale production is as good as it can be. Last year’s scare about a bacteria called campylobacter that was found to be present intwo-thirds of the UK’s chicken meat prompted Slow Food to urge the public to question the true cost of cheap food (as indeed many of us do here, on a regular basis), and even though transparency about country of origin is an important advance, there is certainly no cause for complacency.

Educating shoppers about the real advantages of quality food (better taste and better health to name but two) is the only way forward, and it’s best to start them young. Slow Food Ireland is doing great work in this area; school gardens and poultry have been successfully introduced in East Cork, and the Four Rivers Convivium is also working hard at their Hens For Schools project for schools in the South-East.

Meanwhile, back in Dublin, the idea of a lunch menu revolving entirely around chicken may not immediately appeal, but Fallon & Byrne’s Head Chef, Tom Meenaghan, rose to the challenge. His very delicious all-chicken menu (see below) was ingeniously devised to showcase lesser known cuts from Manor Farm’s premium free-range and cornfed ranges, which account for about 10% of their total production of between 800,000 and 820,000 chickens.

In due course they plan to have all of the recipes on their website, meanwhile some of them are given below. While a little cheffy for some cooks, they are not too difficult if you take the time and any one of them could be an impressive element in a meal when entertaining.

And the dessert is bound to end any gathering on a high, as it is not only seriously moreish but entertaining as well.

RECIPES:

Everyone should know how to roast a chicken and this appealing recipe from Diana Henry’s latest book, A Bird in the Hand Roast - Chicken Recipes for Every Day & Every Mood (Mitchell Beazley, hardback, £20) will be more attractive to many cooks than the traditional roast chicken with roast potatoes and two veg.

Any book by Diana Henry deserves a place on the kitchen bookshelf and perhaps this one most of all, as it demonstrates the enormous versatility of this most popular of foods in dishes that use whole chickens and a wide variety of cuts.

Chicken With Dill And Leeks

Simple, satisfying and perfect for Sunday lunch: whole roast chicken infused with dill and lemon, cooked with waxy potatoes

You might think this recipe comes from Scandinavia – land of dill lovers – but in fact it was inspired by a dish I had in Turkey, where whole fish were cooked on a bed of potatoes and dill (and a little raki). This is a very comforting dish, but light and spring-like at the same time. Serve it with roast tomatoes or a carrot purée.

SERVES 8

INGREDIENTS

2kg chicken
10g dill
75g unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 lemon
500g waxy potatoes, peeled
4 leeks
400ml chicken stock
3-4 tbsp dry vermouth
4 tbsp crème fraiche (optional)

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Remove the coarser stems from the dill and set them aside. Roughly chop the remaining light, leafy part. Mash the butter with half the chopped dill.

Carefully lift the skin of the chicken breast and legs and push about half the butter under. Spread the remaining butter over the bird and season. Put in a roasting tin or a flame- and ovenproof dish. Squeeze the lemon over, then put the shells into the cavity of the bird with the dill stalks. Truss the chicken, if you like. Roast for 20 minutes.

Slice the potatoes to the thickness of a pound coin. Trim the leeks, discarding most of the dark-green tops. Chop into 4cm lengths and wash thoroughly.

Take the chicken out of the oven and put the potatoes and leeks around it, coating them in the juices. Season. Pour the boiling stock on to the vegetables with the vermouth.

Reduce the temperature to 180°C/gas mark 4 and return the bird to the oven for one hour. The potatoes will become tender and the cooking liquid will reduce significantly. If the vegetables haven’t absorbed all the liquid, remove the chicken to a warmed platter and insulate with foil to keep it warm.

Set the roasting tin on the hob and boil until the liquid mostly disappears. Add the crème fraiche, if using. Heat this through – it doesn’t have to be completely mixed into the vegetables. Check for seasoning.

Put the bird back on top of the vegetables, throw on the rest of the chopped dill and serve.

MENU
created by Tom Meenaghan, Fallon & Byrne, for Manor Park

CHICKEN CONSOMMÉ AND CHICKEN LOLLIPOP
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CONFIT OF CHICKEN TERRINE
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POACHED BREAST OF CHICKEN , CHICKEN OYSTER, WITH CRISP KALE, BEETROOT, HAZELNUT DRESSING
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VALRHONA WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE WITH MANGO CAVIAR

FIRST Buy 2 whole free range chickens & prepare for the entire menu to serve four:

Ask your butcher to remove the legs, and the wings. Separate each wing by cutting in two. Keep the part of the wing that is closest to the breast. Cut out the chicken ‘oyster’. Keep the breast skin on and ask your butcher to chop the rest of the bones up.

OR, instead of using whole chickens, ask your butcher for 4 legs and 4 chicken breasts complete with skin and wing bone.

STARTER: Confit Of Chicken Terrine with Parsley Root Purée

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 free range chicken legs
2 tablespoons sea salt
1 garlic clove, crushed
Sprig thyme chopped
Sprig rosemary chopped
1 star anise crushed
1 red onion, about 120g
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
600 ml duck fat
Freshly ground pepper
Salt
10g flatleaf parsley chopped
10g chives chopped

Method
Rub the chicken legs all over with the sea salt, garlic, thyme, rosemary and star anise. Layer In deep dish or plastic container, cover with cling film. Place in refrigerator overnight and then wash chicken legs under cold running water, removing all salt; dry with kitchen paper

Red Onion: Peel onion, cut in half, slice thinly. In a heated saucepan add oil and onion, cook for two minutes. Add the sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper. Cook for 4 minutes; remove and cool down.

Place the chicken legs in a saucepan, cover with duck fat, bring to a simmer and then turn down to the lowest heat; note time. Cook for one hour from time of turning the heat down.

Remove legs, place on a wire rack, leave to cool for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the skin, and pull away the meat from the bone; try not to break the meat up too much. Fold in a tablespoon of the duck fat, twist of pepper, chopped herbs and onion. Taste for seasoning, add a little salt if required.

On a work surface, lay down cling film about the size of an A4 sheet of paper. Place the chicken mixture in a cylinder shape at the bottom end of cling film. closest to you. Roll the cling film away from you, as tightly as you can to make a sausage shape. Twist the ends of the cling film, place in fridge to chill for about 4 hours.

Parsley Root Purée

300g parsley root
250ml milk
20ml water
Sprig thyme
Clove garlic
1 bay leaf

Pinch salt and pepper

Wash and peel, parsley root, cut into approx 2 cm cubes; add all ingredients together in a saucepan,bring to boil. Remove any froth with a spoon, turn down heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until tender. Strain , but keep the cooking liquor. Remove the bay leaf, garlic and thyme. In a food processor or blender blitz to a fine purée, adding the cooking liquor to loosen the mixture.

To serve: Cut the terrine into 2cm circles; remove cling film. Put a table spoon of root purée on each serving plate. With the back of the spoon, drag the purée towards you. Serve with grilled sour dough bread and lambs lettuce or salad of your choice.

MAIN COURSE: Poached Breast Of Chicken and Chicken Oyster, With Crisp Kale, Beetroot, Hazelnut Dressing

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
1 tablespoon table salt
500ml chicken stock, home made or good quality bought
400g curly kale, washed
Pinch table salt
150g golden beet root
150g purple beet root
1 tablespoon honey
4 tablespoon orange juice
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
20g breadcrumbs
60g hazelnuts roasted, rubbed to remove skins, and crushed
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Half teaspoon Dijon mustard

Chicken: Remove the little fillets from the breast of chicken (use for the consommé, if making). Dissolve the salt in the chicken stock, pour over the chicken breast cover refrigerate overnight

When you are ready to cook chicken: Remove chicken from the liquid, place onto a piece of cling film. Roll up into a cylinder shape, tie at both ends. In a medium saucepan, cover chicken with cold water; bring to boil, simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from water. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Remove cling film and carefully peel the skin away from the chicken.

Kale: Remove any centre stalks from the leaf. In a preheated oven at 100º C, place kale on a baking tray. Dry the kale in oven for one hour, or until completely crisp. Remove from oven and season with a pinch of salt. Set aside.

Beetroot: Wash beetroot and wrap in tin foil. Roast in preheated oven at 180ºC for 45 to 50 minutes. Leave to cool, then peel and cut into 2cm squares. To reheat: in a small saucepan add the honey and orange juice. Bring to boil and add beetroot. Heat through.

Hazelnut dressing: Roast the hazelnuts in a pre heated oven at 180ºC for approx 10 minutes. Cool, rub off skins and crush lightly. In a small saucepan, add the olive oil, cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, hazelnuts and a twist of pepper. Heat up gently.

Chicken oyster: Place the chicken oysters between two pieces of cling film. Lightly flatten with the back of a knife. Dust both sides with flour and dip into beaten egg mixed with the milk. Remove and breadcrumb and deep fry or shallow fry in pan for 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve: For presentation, take a small slice from each end of the chicken, then cut chicken in half; place into centre of plate one piece standing upwards, topped with the chicken oyster. On the left hand side put a spoon full of mashed potato (optional ) and top with the crisp kale surrounded by the hazelnut dressing. On the right hand side, arrange 5 squares of beetroot with a little drizzle of the honey and beet root .

DESSERT: VALRHONA WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE WITH MANGO CAVIAR

Serves 4

Ingredients
2g or 2 leaf gelatine
170g Valrhona white chocolate, or other good quality white chocolate
5g sugar
100g milk
Zest of one lemon
200g single cream

Method

Soak the gelatine in cold water 15 minutes

Melt chocolate with sugar in a bain marie

Boil milk with lemon zest

Strain milk, add gelatine and pour over chocolate

With a hand blender pour in cream

Pour into egg cups.

Garnish with finely chopped mango and fresh mint.