Chicken is such a great choice. Everyone seems to like it. Even my vegetarian friends (actually I have only one vegetarian friend) aren't offended by it. This dish is a breeze, and you'll love it.
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My one tip, though, is to get hold of some decent chicken. Now, I know you don't have the luxury of the corn-fed in the rolling Devon hills variety, but you can actually get organically reared chickens in the UAE. However, I do encourage you to check the bird before leaving the shop. A friend of mine went all the way to Masdar to buy an organic chicken for a dinner party, only to find the damned thing was rotten when she took it out of the packaging to cook it. Caveat emptor and all that, so better to be safe than sorry, as we say up north.
As you read this, Abu Dhabi's film festival will be in full flow. I haven't been to the flicks for years, I'm too busy working. But who knows, maybe one day they'll make a film of my life. I wonder who they would get to play me? George Clooney perhaps? And before you say he's far too handsome, you should have seen me in my prime…
Make it yourself
Sun-dried tomato stuffed chicken breast and roasted baby potatoes with mushroom sauce
Ingredients
200g x 8pcs corn-fed chicken breast, skin on
16 pcs sun-dried tomato halves
20g white onion, chopped
40g butter
200g button mushrooms, sliced
100ml chicken stock
800ml full cream
700g white baby potatoes
4 cloves garlic, crushed
10g rosemary, chopped
20ml olive oil
5 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
20g parsley, chopped
Method
1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Flatten the chicken breasts, season with salt and pepper, and place two pieces of sun-dried tomatoes down the middle of each.
3. Roll the breasts, tie with kitchen thread, and sear on all sides in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Reserve.
4. Sweat the onion with the butter. Add sliced mushrooms and chicken stock. Reduce and add cream. Season and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Wash the potatoes and blanch in boiling water for 10 minutes and set aside. When cool enough to handle, slice into halves (the potatoes should be three-quarters cooked).
6. Place the potatoes on a roasting tray around the chicken. Add crushed garlic, rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper and cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
7. Remove the thread and slice the chicken. Place on a serving plate with potatoes aside. Coat with the mushroom sauce, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.
Serves 8
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