Prosciutto-wrapped, basil pesto-marinated chicken breast
Jackie Cameron’s blonde hair is immaculately pulled back and she surveys the world through piercing blue eyes. Her ready smile and obvious passion is countered with a steely determination and Germanic precision in her kitchen.
The kitchen in question still incorporates wooden dressers and the original sash windows of historic Midlands-based Hartford House. With an eight-year tenure to her credit, she has put the five-star boutique hotel on the foodie map and has been endorsed by being the only KZN restaurant to make it onto the 2010 roll call for Eat Out Top 10.
Jackie’s predilection is sourcing local ingredients. “It’s not about me creating a dish, it’s about me finding an ingredient and making dishes to suit that ingredient.”
The gauntlet was thrown down when the ingredient took the form of the Eikendal Merlot 2008 and, lest she overlook a seemingly unlikely match, she systematically set about tasting a wide range of ingredients to find the perfect match. “You can’t change the wine but you can easily change what one places on the plate, so I feel time must be taken to create unity.”
“It’s a big wine and needs to be accompanied by a rich, hearty, almost wintery dish. With temperatures soaring recently, I found it difficult to shift my mind-set from light and delicate to heavy, buttery and robust flavours. I knew this dish needed a creamy element to form balance.”
The result was a chicken breast subtly fragranced by basil pesto then wrapped in a locally produced Parma-style ham, served with sweet caramelised red onions, potato crème, exotic mushrooms and roasted garlic. Jackie believes you shouldn’t cook with wine you wouldn’t drink and incorporated the Merlot, most notably in the red wine jus, which matched the weight of the wine.
PROSCIUTTO-WRAPPED, BASIL PESTO-MARINATED CHICKEN BREAST (SERVES FOUR)
RED WINE SAUCE
5kg meaty beef bones
7l cold water
4.25l beef stock
600ml red wine
120g tomato paste
1. Roast the bones in a warm oven until browned. Place in a 25-litre pot, cover with cold water, bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 24 hours. Strain through a muslin cloth and place in the fridge overnight to allow the fat to solidify. Remove the fat and discard.
2. Heat a heavy-based pot, add red wine and heat. While simmering add the tomato paste and reduce. Add chilled beef stock and simmer for about two hours or until heavy rolling bubbles form. Strain through a dampened oil filter, reduce and place into a little saucepan for heating later.
ROASTED GARLIC
65g large garlic cloves with skins on
5g sunflower oil
Roast the garlic in the oven until soft, remove skins and set aside.
PROSCIUTTO-WRAPPED, MARINATED CHICKEN BREAST
12 slices of Parma ham
2 egg whites, lightly whisked
15-30ml basil pesto
4 skinless chicken breasts (use best quality available)
30g salted butter
5g sunflower oil
micro herbs to garnish
1. Preheat the oven to 220ºC.
2. Smear the pesto over the chicken breasts. Lay out the Parma ham on a working surface. Brush a thin layer of whisked egg white onto each Parma slice. Wrap the ham around the chicken breast, using two or three slices per breast.
3. Heat a pan, add the butter and oil. Sear the breast, presentation side first, until well caramelised. Sear the other side of the breast for a few seconds. Place onto an oven tray and pour a thin layer of cold water onto the base of the pan. (Chef’s note: while the chicken is roasting it is also poaching, so maintaining moisture.)
4. Place the breasts into the oven for five minutes or until cooked. Remove and rest outside the oven for 10 minutes. Repeat this step and then cover with tinfoil.
5. To serve, heat the potato crème, garlic and red wine sauce and sear the mushrooms.
6. Place two tablespoons of potato crème in the centre of the plate. Top this with mushrooms, garlic, chicken slices, chilled caramelised onions, sauce, spaghetti and then micro herbs.
CARAMELISED RED ONIONS
328g white onion, sliced
250ml red wine
75g treacle sugar
Place all of the ingredients into a heavy-based pan. Simmer on low heat until caramelised and the red wine has reduced to make a syrup coating the onion slices (15 to 20 minutes).
POTATO CRÈME
100g cream
55g full-cream milk
55g salted butter
300g mashed potato
salt and freshly ground black pepper
❶ Heat a pot, add the cream, milk and butter and reduce by half until the butter is splitting away from the cream and milk. ❷ Once reduced add the mashed potato and incorporate everything together. If lumpy, push through a sieve. Season well.
EXOTIC MUSHROOMS
40g salted butter
160g mixed mushrooms
salt and freshly ground black pepper
❶Heat a frying pan, add butter and heat until brown and releasing a nutty aroma. ❷ Add the mushrooms and sauté until cooked and season.
POTATO SPAGHETTI
2 large potatoes
sunflower oil
❶ Using a zester, zest a potato, aiming for long pieces. Run water through this ‘spaghetti’ to remove excess starch. ❷ Deep fry until crispy in sunflower oil. Drain on paper towel. Set aside for later use.
PREPARED BY
Jackie Cameron of
HARTFORD HOUSE
Hlatikulu Road, Mooi River
TEL: 033 263 2713
www.hartford.co.za
