Chicken to Impress--Mission Impossible

Part 1

Who serves chicken these days and can impress anyone with the result? Impossible.

Last year, during a visit to London, I had a luck to dine at a three Michelin star restaurant. I read that booking at such a highly recommended place should be made long in advance so I did not really hope to get a table there straight from the street especially on a Saturday night. Even though it was November and the rain was pouring even beyond British tolerance, streets were full of people going out (like me).

It was impossible to catch a taxi so I decided to walk. With some difficulty and guidance from several Indian vendors I found the renowned restaurant I had read about in the restaurant guide. It was located on a tiny one-way street. I walked in just out of sheer curiosity at least to see the interior.

The restaurant did not seem to be full, but in fact it was completely booked. Luckily, the girl who asked if I had the reservation happened to be Polish and, for once, the Polish connection worked for me--someone cancelled at the last moment and the waitress was sweet enough to offer me that place.

I have recently read on Delicious Days that, if we plan to review a restaurant, it is good to sleep over our thoughts, in order to be objective and to calm our emotions. I have slept on my impressions for almost ten months and I believe I am now ready to share them with the world.

I was offered a fixed menu that included a chicken as a main course. I was very happy about that as I have always been curious to find out how the world famous cooks are able to change something so ordinary into a culinary poetry.

Unfortunately, I am sorry to admit, the whole meal was very prosaic and not only for a restaurant rewarded with three Michelin stars but any reputable culinary place. The least interesting part was the chicken itself, or rather the hen. Even if this free-range bird was hand-massaged and volunteered to give up his life to be my dinner, it still was one of the most ordinary, dull, and fibrous poultry I had ever eaten. It had no taste and on top of that it was served with a very bland rice.

I left this restaurant truly disappointed. After this experience I concluded that it was impossible, even for a top culinary institution, to impress anyone by serving chicken for dinner. But...

Part 2

...there was a time in my life, when I first moved to DC, I was brave enough to serve chicken, even at dinner parties. I still think there are in my recipe book at least three chicken dishes that are able to impress many guests. In my opinion, chicken in basil sauce is certainly one of them. It used to be a dish that people asked me about the most. I got it from my friend in Geneva and I think that the recipe could come from England, where she had lived for a couple of years.

I hope it will deserve at least one star in your rating. The taste of this dish comes mainly from the basil sauce. Next time you decide to serve chicken, please try this one and judge for yourself if a humble chicken can impress anyone, or is this mission impossible.

Chicken Breasts in Basil Sauce

Ingredients:
6 chicken breast fillets or 8-10 breast tenderloins,
1/2 cup of fresh breadcrumbs,
1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese,
3 stripes of lean bacon cut into small pieces,
2 tbsp of soft butter,
2 garlic cloves finely chopped,
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce,
1 tsp mustard,
salt and pepper.

Preparation:
1. Heat the oven to 375F.
2. Mix butter, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Rub breasts in that sauce and arrange in an oven proof dish.
4. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and bacon, and sprinkle them over the breasts.
5. Put the the dish in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, for breasts it could be slightly longer than for tenderloins

While meat is baking prepare the green sauce.

Basil Sauce:
1/3 cup olive oil,
1/4 white vinegar,
2 garlic cloves
1 cup fresh basil leaves,
1/3 cup extra heavy whipping cream,
salt pepper to taste.

1. Put all the ingredients in a food blender and puree until obtain a smooth sauce.
2. Transfer the sauce to the pan and heat carefully, until hot. Do not allow it to boil as the basil will change color from green to brownish.
3. Pour over baked breasts and serve.

This dish tastes excellent with roasted baby potatoes or cooked rice.

Arugula Salad and Roasted Potatoes--Simple Beginnings

It may seem odd to propagate such an ordinary food as potatoes and salad on a culinary blog that aspires to be sophisticated. But those who just start their culinary adventure may need to be made aware of such simple dishes. If done properly, they can enhance any dinner. They are perfect for a vegetarian palate but will also bring out the taste of any meat dishes

To start with, just a green salad. Arugula is my favorite: rich in iron and a with a characteristic peppery, strong flavor.

This salad can be eaten just with bread and prosciutto or served with dinner: at the beginning--the German way, as an accompaniment--the way we do it in Poland, or afterward--as it is done in France.

I have read and tried many methods of preparing arugula. In my view, any dressing with mustard kills the subtlety of its taste. And although the Italians serve arugula with balsamic vinegar, I prefer to use lemon juice instead. Walnut oil is the other important ingredient I use to bring out all its valor.

I also tried replacing walnut oil with hazelnut oil. Since it is less aromatic I topped it up with split roasted hazelnuts.

Please try it, both versions. I hope you like at least one and if anyone knows better way of serving it, please share it here.



Arugula Salad

Ingredients:
1 pack (about 4 oz) of arugula, preferably wild,
1/2 lemon,
3-5 tbsp of walnut oil; the best is from roasted nuts,
2 tbsp or shredded Parmesan cheese,
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste,
2 tbsp of roasted almonds or pine nuts.

Preparation:
1. Place arugula in a salad bowl.
2. Squeeze lemon juice into a small bowl, add salt and pepper and walnut oil.
3. Blend them together with a fork or a small whisker.
4. Pour dressing over arugula, mix gently.
5. Using a vegetable peeler shred a little bit of Parmesan cheese on the salad and top with roasted almonds or pine nuts.
6. Serve immediately or salad will darken as the leaves will absorb the oil.

Roasted Potatoes

There is nothing simpler than baking potatoes, but to make them really soft and still looking appetizing may be a challenge. I heard about a method of soaking potatoes in water before baking, but doing this for longer than 15 minutes washes out important minerals, like potassium, from them.

Not to talk for too long about such a simple subject, here is method that always works. I try to use baby or finger potatoes, which look nicest. For more bland dishes I bake them with garlic cloves and rosemary, for more spicy ones just in oil and salt. I believe that the pictures of what comes out from my oven can speak for themselves.



Ingredients:
1 lb baby potatoes,
8-12 garlic cloves, depending on taste,
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil,
1 tsp of sea salt,
1 branch of rosemary or 1 tsp dried.

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Wash and dry the potatoes, cut them in halves.
3. Place potatoes in the oven-proof dish, sprinkle with oil, salt, and rosemary.
4. Using hands toss the potatoes to make sure that they are evenly covered with oil.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes (until gold and soft); turn them over at least once to prevent burning.