Creating Flavour: Epiphany #1: Chicken

Have you noticed that things don't taste of very much? I swear I can actually taste the manure and fertilizer on fruit and vegetables these days above their natural flavours. Meat is particularly bad from supermarkets. Putting a picture of the farmer on the packaging doesn't excuse the fact that it's bland and of poor quality.

I only know this because yesterday I had an epiphany. I stopped into my local farm shop and bought a chicken breast. This was no normal chicken breast. It had been expertly butchered - it was obvious from the fact that the wing had been left in tact, and the skin was taut. This chicken also led a happy life. It was full and meaty, not in some GM-experiment kind of way, but because, like me, it had eaten good food all its life.

I bought one - 2.95. Not bad for a quality bit of meat, but a lot more expensive than Sainsbury's 4 for 3 pounds budget range. It was worth every penny. I cooked it in loads of garlic and lemon and butter and herbs, yet the meat was still tastable through the other flavours. I had fried it and roasted it, yet it was as succulent and tender as a peach from the Ardeche.

I know we can't all always afford to buy this stuff, or we don't have the time to go Farm Shops. But the difference was mind-blowing. This was the best chicken I'd ever had. Worth 2.95? I think so.

Breast of Chicken with Tomato Compote

With chicken, it's all about quality ingredients.

Ingredients:

Chicken breast

Salt

Pepper (black and white)

Lemon

Butter

Garlic (about 4 cloves per breast)

Rosemary

Thyme

Tomato (pomodorino, or something smallish)

Garlic

Bay leaf

Olive oil

Method:

Set the oven to 160.

Season the chicken breast with salt, black and white pepper and the herbs. Make a mix of butter, lemon juice, and chopped garlic (loads of it). Smear it over the chicken.

Roast whole garlic cloves with whole tomatoes in olive oil. Add a bay leaf.

Fry the chicken on a high heat in butter (or duck fat) to brown it all over. Transfer to the oven and roast for about 25 minutes (I had a huge chicken breast).

Remove the skins from the tomatoes once roasted. Mash up the tomatoes with the roast garlic to make a pasty compote. Let the chicken stand before serving. Eat and enjoy.

Pork Liver Pate

A simple pate, easy to make, and tasty.

Ingredients:

Pork livers

Milk

Butter

Brandy

Cream (optional)

Method:

Soak the pork livers in milk. Heat a load of butter to quite hot. Remove livers from milk and fry in butter (medium). Put a heap more of butter, cream (optional) and pork livers with the melted butter into a blender, season, and mix heartily. Burn off the alcohol from the brandy and add to the mix. Blend again.

Press the mix through a sieve into a bowl. This smooths it out and a grainy, solid waste will be left behind. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Melt some more butter and pour over top of refrigerated pate. Leave it for 4 hours.

Pork Tenderloin Pastry Pie, Portobello Mushrooms with Apple

Hefty, pastry, pork, mushrooms, flavour. Bo!

Ingredients:

Flour 180g

Butter 100g

Water

Pork loin

Rosemary

Thyme

Portobello mushrooms

Apple

Brandy

Stock

Cream/Creme fraiche

Cabbage

Method:

Mix the flour in with the butter until it is fine. Add water a little at a time. Make a nice ball of dough. Refrigerate.

Marinate the pork loin with rosemary and thyme. Add plenty of salt and pepper before frying butter for a few minutes on each side.

Brush the pastry with a beaten egg. Put the loin in the pastry. Wrap the pastry around it. Put in the oven at about 180 for 45 minutes.

Slice the portobellos. Fry in butter with plenty of pepper. Add the apple (cubed). Add some brandy until alcohol burns off. Add stock (I used mushroom jus from the rehydrated portobellos). Add some cream.

Steam a few cabbage leaves for a few minutes. Eat!

Belgian Beef Stew

A heart beery beefy hotpot

Ingredients:

Shin of beef

Onion

Duck fat

Belgian beer (Kwak or similar)

Carrots

Mushrooms

Redcurrant jelly, or jam

Red wine vinegar

Method:

Coat the shin of beef chunks in flour, salt and pepper. Brown it in duck fat (or equally life-threatening lard) in a separate pan. Move to the casserole. Brown the sliced onion in fat. Add a whole bottle of beer. Put it in the oven for 1 hour.

Chop the carrots into chunks. Add them and halved 'shrooms to the stew. After another hour, mix the jelly/jam with the red wine vinegar and to the stew for some beautiful sweet and sour flavours.

Return to oven for 10 minutes. Beef should be very tender, but still whole. Serve with warm bread.

Fried Hake, Dill Peas with Hollandaise Sauce

Mmm...

Ingredients:

Hake

Peas

Butter

Dill

Egg yolks

Butter

Lemon

Water

Method:

First make the hollandaise. Boil a pan of water. In a bowl over the top, add 2 or 3 egg yolks. Splosh in a wee bit of water and mix. Gradually add the butter (loads of butter - rough guide: 3 yolks to 250g butter) and keep mixing. Squeeze in some lemon and add pepper generously. Mix and turn off heat. It will stay good, but mix it every now and then.

Prepare the peas. Add hefty butter and salt. Mix. Add the dill. Bosh!

The hake can be bony. Take 'em out. The skin is optional. It's not great. Season it. Coat with flour or make a crumby seasoning. Pan fry in butter. Turn the fish and lower the heat.

Swordfish on Fennel and Red Onion

Swordfish is a hearty meat that can take the big flavours.

Ingredients:

Swordfish

Fennel

Red Onion

Capers

Dill

White Wine

Method:

Caramelize the chopped fennel and red onion in butter. It will take a while. Meanwhile, steam the swordfish in a... steamer. Add a splosh of white wine to the fennel and red onion and some chopped capers.

Grilled Mackerel, Creamy Vinaigrette

An unusual combo, creamy sauces and mackerel, but try it.

Ingredients:


Mackerel

White wine vinegar
Water
Dill
Creme fraiche
Mustard

Method:


Remove the innards of the fish, and wash it. Season with salt and pepper. Preheat grill. Put mackerel under grill for 5 minutes or so, then turn it over.

Add about equal parts vinegar and water, and put in plenty of dill (do not chop it up). Heat until it is gently simmering. Remove the dill. Add a fair bit of creme fraiche and stir. Add a small bit of mustard (careful not to overpower the subtle dill flavour with mustard). Heat it gently.

Serve the sauce on the side of the fish. Mackerel has some bones, but it's not difficult to eat. The sauce complements the fleshy fish very well with it's smoky flavours and creaminess countering the fish's salty oiliness.

Mackerel Ceviche, Beetroot Puree, Simple Salad, Bread

Today's lunch was mackerel. What a beautiful fish! And cheap too.

Ingredients:

Mackerel
Chilli
Dill
Lemon
Salt

Beetroot
Red wine vinegar
Cream
Dill/Parsley

Salad leaves
Olives
Olive oil

Bread

Method:

Fillet the mackerel (see this guide on filleting mackerel) and remove the skin. Chop into small pieces. Chop the chilli and the dill. Mix it all together in a bowl with the lemon juice and season it lightly. Leave to stand for at least 5 minutes. The lemon juice effectively "cooks" the mackerel, but it still has that raw texture.

Mix the beetroot in a blender with the red wine vinegar, a splash of cream and the herbs. It should be sweet, sour, creamy and colourful, but it should still have some rough texture.

Make a simple salad of leaves and olives tossed with olive oil, and well seasoned.

Serve with fresh, warm bread.