The main looked so simple yet delicious and it delivered on both points.. i would definately do this again.. and again.. my guests even asked for the recipe!
Here it comes!
Baked chicken with mascarpone and tarragon (serves 4)
4 x breast fillets (on the bone and with skin)
250 gram cherry tomatoes
1 tub/250 grams of mascarpone
1 tbsp of dijon mustard
1 bunch of tarragon finely chopped
2 tbsp grated parmesan
4 tbsp of rinsed and slightly dried capers
drizzle of olive oil/salt and pepper
1 tbsp of concentrated chicken stock or equivalent
Heat the oven to 200 C (fan)
Mix about a 100 gram of the mascarpone with the mustard, grated parmesan and half of the chopped tarragon. Season with salt and pepper.
Gently separate the skin from the chicken breasts to create a "pocket" and fill/spread with 1 tbsp of the mascarpone mix. Smooth the skin over. Put all the chicken breasts in one layer in an oven proof dish and drizzle with some olive oil and salt and pepper. Put in the oven for about 35 min until done and the skin is crisp.
in the meantime, put the cherry tomatoes in an oven proof dish, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and put in the oven for 20 min until the tomatoes are releasing their juices and are cooked.
Take the tomatoes out of the oven and pour the tomato juices in a small saucepan and reserve the tomatoes - keep warm under foil.
When the chicken is done, take out and pour the cooking juices into the saucepan with the tomatoe juice, also add the rest of the mascarpone, the rest of the tarragon and the chicken stock, salt and pepper and whisk over medium heat for a few minutes until it comes together.
Heat a small frying pan with some olive oil and fry the drained capers until they frizzle.
Divide up the tomatoes and the chicken on the plates and pour some sauce over - serve the rest in a jug on the side. Sprinkle the fried capers over. Bon Appetit
I made oven roasted mini potatoes to go with this dish (just needs 25 min in the oven) and it worked really nicely.
Dessert.. i was very intrigued by this recipe.. you will understand why when you read it!
Pineapple Crumble with Ice cream (Serves 4)
100 gram caster sugar
4 tbsp water
2 bananas - sliced
1/2 a red chili - seeded and chopped
1 small piece of fresh ginger, chopped
1 vanilla pod - split (or vanilla extract - 1 tsp)
100 ml orange juice
1 pineapple - peeled, cored and cut into bite size dice/chunks
1 tub of ice cream (Caramel/Ginger or Vanilla)
Sprigs of mint for decoration
Crumble:
50 gr butter
50 gr flour
50 gr sugar
50 gr ground almonds
To make the sauce, put the water and sugar in a pan and heat until you have a light caramel then add the chili, ginger, banana and vanilla and stir together. Let it come to a simmer then take of the heat, let cool, remove the vanilla pod and either mix in a blender or use a stick blender. Sieve and reserve the sauce (should have the consistency of custard) This can be done in advance.
For the crumble, mix the flour and butter in a food processor then stir in the sugar and ground almonds - pour onto an oven tray and bake for about 15 min until golden (stir a couple of times to create some different sized crumble pieces) Take out and let cool (this can be done in advance)
Put the pineapple chunks in an oven proof dish and pour the sauce on top and mix. Put in the oven for 20 min until slightly caramellized and the pineapple is slightly cooked.
Spoon the pineapple mix into glasses, sprinkle some crumble on top and then add ice cream and a sprig of mint.
Really lovely dessert, you can really taste the chili/ginger/banana in the sauce - it's a keeper!
