Monday, February 10, 2014

Lemon and Tarragon Grilled Chicken with Roasted Prosciutto

Pairing simple flavours in summer.


Ingredients
Serves 2
1 chicken breast
2 -3 tbsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped
½ lemon, juiced
1/4 extra virgin olive oil          
100g prosciutto
Salt and pepper. To taste

For the salad
½ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
150g cherry tomatoes, halved
50g walnuts
150g  mango, fresh and sliced
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions
In a bowl combine lemon, olive oil, tarragon, salt and pepper. Slice chicken breast in two, place in marinade and set in the fridge.

Pre-heat oven at 200 degrees Celsius. Place prosciutto on tray and bake for 10 minutes.

In a bowl, combine salad ingredients, but be sure to add walnuts and olive oil at the last minute, to keep salad fresh.

Take marinated chicken and grill for 10 – 15 minutes, depending on thickness. Be sure to watch the chicken does not dry out.


To plate, serve salad in a bowl and serve chicken sliced, topped with chopped parsley, prosciutto and olive oil. 

Cinnamon Caramelised Fig with Salted Pistachios

'Tis the season for figs! They are becoming more accessible and used in everyday dishes at home, but they have been cultivated for thousands of years, dating back to the ancient Middle East.



I’ve had a lot of amazing fig salads over summer and I wanted to match the savoury with a sweet dessert that exploded and enhanced the richness of figs.

I actually found out quite recently that figs are the product of pollination by a special fig wasp. Figs have grown and evolved with these wasps and start out as a flower, pollinated and turned into a fruit that bares a beautiful rich fruit.

I have paired a sweet cinnamon caramelised fig with salted pistachio, served with a bourbon, macadamia, honey and vanilla bean ice cream. The dessert is simple, delicious and takes less than ten minutes to prepare.





Ingredients
Serves 2

3 figs
4 tbsp white sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon, ground
1 small handful of salted and shelled pistachios
4 – 6 tbsp Ice cream

Directions
Slice figs in half, length ways and set aside. Place sugar and cinnamon in a non stick pan on medium heat and spread through the middle. Turn heat to medium and after 30 seconds place figs over sugar.

The figs should start to brown and bubble in the sugar turned caramel. Cook the figs face down for no longer than 2 minutes, then turn over and cook for 30 seconds, coating in caramel.

Take figs out of pan and let sit for a few minutes. Lay figs on plate, top with crushed pistachios and serve with ice cream.