Chicken and sweetcorn
Chicken served with a sweetcorn sauce and garnished with girolle and trompette mushrooms.
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 chicken crown
- ¼ bunch chives, snipped, to serve
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed, to serve
- mashed potatoes, to serve (optional)
For the sauce
- 3 corncobs
- pinch saffron
- 30g/1oz butter
- 1 banana shallot, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 200ml/7fl oz chicken stock
- 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt
For the glaze
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú sugar
- 100ml/3½fl oz white wine vinegar
- 100ml/3½fl oz chicken stock
- 2 tbsp Irish whiskey
For the garnish
Method
To make the chicken preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Place the crown in a roasting tray and cook for 20–30 minutes.
Heat a pan and add the cooking oil, followed by the cooked chicken, one breast down. Colour until brown then do the next breast.
Meanwhile, to make the sauce, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the corncobs, saffron and a pinch of salt and cook until the kernels are tender. Heat the butter in a frying pan and sweat the shallot and garlic until softened. Slice the corn off the cobs (set aside a quarter of the corn for the garnish) and add the corn to the shallot mixture. Add the stock and cream, bring to the boil and then transfew to a food processor and purée. Keep warm.
To make the glaze, heat the sugar in a saucepan until it dissolves and turns into a caramel. (CAUTION: boiling sugar is extremely hot. Handle very carefully. Use a deep pan to avoid bubbling over.) Add the vinegar and stock, bring to the boil and then add the whiskey.
To make the garnish, heat the butter in a frying pan and sweat the mushrooms and garlic until cooked. Add the tarragon, spinach and remaining corn. Season with salt.
To serve, take the chicken breasts off the bone, coat in the glaze and sprinkle with the chives, coriander seeds, corn and mushrooms. Pile the mushrooms and spinach under the breast and serve with the sauce in a jug on the side, alongside mashed potatoes, if preferred.