An easy razzle dazzle chicken recipe

Yep you got it: this post is a 2 in 1.
A razzle dazzle AND a chicken run.
I honestly didn't even think it were possible!

Thanks to a fellow blogger (actually that's quite an understatement, she's the goddess of cooking blogs in France)I happily succeeded in making my first own chicken "roulé".

Usually when I have friends for dinner, I try something new, something that I would not do just for myself. I've tried a lot of things, had brilliant successes and pretty horrific failures too (fortunately for you guys I don't take pictures of these dishes).

This time I felt like doing something elaborate. Well that looks elaborate at least.

But the truth is, it's ridiculously simple. That's the beauty of it.

A "Roulé" is basically a maki sushi. Only there's no rice. No seaweed and no soy sauce.

You flatten your meat, poultry or fish until it's very thin and then add a layer of something tasty inside and roll the whole thing up. It's a roll-up. And it's delicious.

So here is what I did, a little adaptation from Mercotte's original recipe from her magnificent blog (http://www.mercotte.fr/).

Chicken stuffed with dried prunes

For 2 "roulés" (4 person recipe)

Ingredients

120g of thin italian coppa

4 chicken scalops

10-15 dried prunes

1. Cut a large piece of plastic wrap (film transparent) and set it so it's nice and flat.

2. Use a rolling pin (rouleau à patisserie) to flatten your chicken a little. If you feel angry frustrated you may use a large hammer ; it will work perfectly too and I'm sure you'll be able to let go. Just beware not to break your counter!

3. First place the coppa on your plastic wrap so that it is nice and flat and covers the whole surface evenly. Just leave a few inches on each sides so you will be able to roll the whole thing up. Then add the chicken on top. Finally add a line of prunes around 1/3 of the plastic wrap. Add salt and pepper.

4. Roll every thing up as tight as you can. Then close the two endings and knot them.

5. The best way to cook these little chickens is to steam them up. It will keep them nice and moist. I used my Lekue mini steam case for 15 to 20 minutes at 200°C (400°F).

If you really want to show off (which of course I did) don't forget to prepare some sauce without which your chicken might seem a bit dry.

For the sauce I heated chicken broth (not home-made I must admit), added prunes cut into small pieces and a Tbs of corn starch to thicken it. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes.

The last bit of my recipe was a sweet potato purée(with a tad of vanilla) which I found went very well with the sweetness of the prunes and tender poultry.

As for the wine, I chose a delicious Coteaux-du-Layon, the Loire Valley's Sweetheart (http://alamodeaujus.blogspot.com/2010/05/loires-sweethearts.html) whose rich and fragrant aromas blended perfectly with the luscious prunes and potato purée).

What to do with Kumquats? My chicken run # 2

I have Kumquats in my fridge.

A lot. I went on a little kumquat frenzy at my local market last week end.

But the trouble with kumquats is that you can never really figure out what to do with them.

Sure, they are tiny and adorable, but that won't help me to feed my hungry belly tonight.

So, I went through an extensive search in my cookbooks and magazines and finally fell on a charming little recipe that I only subtly transformed.

I used chicken instead of duck. I know. Daring.

This way, not only did I finally get rid of my cute little kumquats but I also managed to post another recipe for my chicken-run. (see my first chicken run recipe)

I'm pretty happy with myself right know ;-)

So here we go, a delicious recipe directly inspired from one of my lovely cookbooks.

Asian style Chicken with Kumquats

Ingredients for 2

2 cups of kumquats, seeded and chopped into slices

1 Tbs of brown sugar (or honey works too)

300g of chicken breasts, cut into 2 inches strips

Cooking sauce

2 Tbs of Hoisin sauce

1 Tbs of oyster sauce (or regular spring roll sauce)

1 Tbs of cornstarch

2 Tbs of Chinese 5 spice

Chili oil (or sesame oil)

1 Tbs of gresh ginger grated (or more if you like)

Half a cup of chicken broth

1 Tbs of rice wine vinegar

The way to go:

1. Combine the chicken, kumquats, sugar (or honey) and 5 spices in a jar and let sit for 20 minutes.

2. Combine the sauce elements.

3. In a wok, add chili oil an grated ginger when the pan is hot. Stir frequently on medium heat for 1 minute.

4. Add the chicken cook for a few minutes until golden brown.

5. Add the sauce, kumquats and stir until it thickens.

7. Add vinegar and scrape the pan to get all the juice of the meat. Add the chicken broth. Turn down the heat, cover pan and cook until the kumquats are soft.

You can serve this as I did with white rice. I usually add a few drops of rice vinegar to give a little twist.

Honestly this dish was easy and quick to put together. The kumquats give it a little bitter taste that is nicely counterbalanced by the sugar and Hoisin sauce but also the spicy ginger.

It's a dish I could really for a dinner party.

In that case, the best wine pairing would probably be either:

- a young Sauternes wine (hense the bottle of Cyprès de Climens, the second wine of the famous Château Climens in the background...) = nose of fruit and flowers (orange, nectarine, mango, apricot) and a little vanilla. Very round mouth, great balance and fresh fruits like oranges.

- or an Alsace region Gewurztraminer = nose of rose, exotic fruits like litchi and orange zests ; Powerful mouth, fruity with ginger and sometimes a little orangy tanginess.

Easy chicken recipe - my chicken run

Everyone eats chicken.
It's easy to make, tasty and not too expensive.
Actually, I'm lying.
It's not always tasty. In fact, more often then not, it's either cardboard hard, burnt or totally bland.