Neil Perry's Amazing Chicken!

Last week I cooked up a chicken dish by Neil Perry that was in The Age's Good Weekend magazine. I have never cooked lettuce before and was intrigued to try it. The recipe was really quite simple and turned out to be absolutely delicious!

The braised cos lettuce was soft, but not slimy, which I had thought it might be. The sauce had amazing flavour and the chicken on the bone was just so tender. I couldn't get breasts with the wing bone in, so just used thighs on the bone. Having that extra bit of fat made the meat juicy and full of flavour. I also used frozen broad beans because I was a bit lazy and couldn't be bothered double podding fresh ones. If you have the time and inclination to prepare fresh broad beans, I'm sure they'd lift this dish to the next level!

I made this on a weeknight after work, and it really didn't take that long to prepare at all. You could even make it the day before and just reheat it, if that suited you better. The leftovers I had sure made a tasty lunch the next day!

Matched with a lovely Hunter Valley Semillon, this was a beautiful midweek meal. Thanks Neil Perry for a delicious dinner.

Chicken With Braised Baby Cos and Broad Beans

2 cloves of cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
4  chicken breasts, skin on, with wing bone (or skin on, bone in thighs)
1kg broad beans, in the pod (or 250g frozen)
A drizzle of olive oil
100g unsalted butter
2 heads baby cos lettuce (outer leaves removed), cut into eighths
4 small shallots, halved and thinly sliced
2 tbsp bacon, chopped
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste


In a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic and thyme. Rub this mixture into the chicken breasts and season generously. Set aside for the flavours to infuse.

If using fresh broad beans, remove them from the large green pods. Blanch them in boiling salted water for 1 minute, then refresh in iced water and drain. Peel the blanched beans, giving you about 250g of double-peeled beans.

Add a drizzle of oil to a wide, deep pan over medium heat. Place the chicken breasts skin-side down into the pan. Cook slowly until the skin is golden brown then turn over to seal the other side. Remove chicken from pan and drain off any excess fat.

Melt half the butter in the pan then add the lettuce. Brown on both sides and remove. 

Place the sliced shallots into the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Add the bacon and continue to cook until golden. 

Add the wine and increase heat to high, scraping the base of the pan, then reduce for a minute.

Add stock and return chicken to pan, skin-side up. Simmer, covered, over a medium heat for about 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked. 

In the last five minutes before the chicken is cooked, add the lettuce, cover and continue to simmer until the lettuce is braised but still holding its shape.

Remove the chicken and lettuce from the braising liquid and keep warm. Add the remaining butter then cook the sauce over a high heat until reduced and glossy.

Just before serving, warm the broad beans in the sauce.

Serve the chicken breast on the braised lettuce with the broad beans and sauce poured over the top.

Enjoy!

And To Drink....

The Hunter Valley is known for its Semillon and Tyrrell's Wines would have be one of the most well known wineries from the area. We visited the Hunter Valley for a friend's wedding some years ago and picked up this bottle of liquid gold then.

Being nine years old the 2005 Single Vineyard 'Stevens' Semillon had a beautiful golden colour and aromas of quince, apple and lemon. There was still some lovely acidity, but also nice toasty flavours. Given that this Semillon was not oaked at all, it still had a beautiful complexity and rounded mouthfeel.

Neil Perry recommended having a Chardonnay with the chicken, but an aged Semillon was also a perfect match. The acidity balanced the richness of the chicken skin and the stock based sauce. I used this wine in the sauce as well, so the flavours married very well.

If you've never really tried a Semillon, but drink a lot of Chardonnay, then I urge you to give this variety a try. It is beautiful when enjoyed fresh and young when it has nice crisp acidity, but also fabulous with a bit of age on it, when it becomes rich and complex.