Looking for that perfect starter recipe for a celebratory meal? My Chicken and Potato Pressé, Pickled Plums, Liver Parfait, Bread Tuille is a firm favourite at Restaurant Mark Greenaway and is the perfect dish to prepare ahead and impress your guests.
As with all of my dishes, there are a few elements to put together. If trying this at home then don't feel that you have to try every element, you can pick and choose. The pressé alone makes a wonderful starter.
Whether you cook this dish in its entirety or just part of it, please tweet me a photo @markgreenaway. It is always exciting to see my dishes being cooked in kitchens across Scotland!
Serves 4
Chicken and Potato Pressé
Ingredients:
6 chicken legs
6 sprigs thyme, picked and finely chopped
1kg duck fat
5 Maris Piper potatoes
Salt
You need two specific oven trays for this: 1 casserole tray to confit the chicken legs and 1 tray with 1 inch sides to make the terrine. Both dishes need to be ovenproof.
Method
1 Melt the duck fat and season the chicken legs with salt and chopped thyme
2 Place the chicken legs into the casserole dish and pour over the duck fat
3 Place in the oven at 120C and cook for 3 hours until the meat is meltingly soft
4 Drain the chicken legs
5 Once slightly cooled pick all of the meat and discard skin and bones
6 Peel and slice the potatoes as thinly as you can
7 Layer the potatoes and the confit chicken in the tray, 3 layers of potatoes for every layer of chicken, making sure you season each layer with a little salt
8 Bake at 185C for 50 minutes or until the potatoes are nice and soft
9 Take out of the oven and lay greaseproof paper over the top, press the mixture down with a tray of equal size and chill overnight
Pickled plums
Ingredients:
200g plums (de-stoned)
150g caster sugar
Star anise
150ml water
150ml red wine vinegar
Method
1 Place the sugar in a non-stick pan and heat until it melts to a caramel
2 Add the star anise
3 Add the water
4 Add the vinegar
5 When the pickling liquor is still boiling hot, pour it over the plums
Bread Tuille
Ingredients:
4 slices of white bread, crusts removed
50g clarified butter
Method
1 In a pasta machine pass the bread through each size setting twice until you reach the last setting
2 Cut each slice of bread into 2 rectangles
3 Lightly brush with clarified butter and wrap around a metal pipe lined with greaseproof paper (we buy our pipes from B&Q)
4 Deep fry in 180C oil until golden and crispy
5 Slide the bread off the pipe and allow to cool
Chicken Liver Parfait
Ingredients:
250g chicken livers
1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
75g butter
2 measures brandy
125ml double cream
Method
1 Ask the butcher to fully prepare your chicken livers making sure they remove all of the sinew
2 Cut the livers in half
3 Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat
4 Add the shallot and sweat gently
5 Turn up the heat, add the livers and sear for a couple of minutes until browned on the outside but pink inside
6 Add the brandy be careful as this will flame
7 Add the cream
8 Blend in a food processor until the mix is smooth and lump free
9 Season with salt to taste
10 Pour into a small bowl
11 Press cling film onto the mix and chill for 1 hour
To assemble the dish
Slice the terrine and place into the centre of your plate
Place the parfait into a piping bag and pipe into the bread tubes
Scatter the pickled plums around the dish
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