Golden French roast Chicken with raspberries and mashed potatoes with basil and olive oil (Filet de poulet doré aux framboises, écrasé de pommes de terre à l’huile d’olive et au basilica) is a typically French meal which you’d think might be quite a task to prepare – but you would be wrong!
I learned how to make this at the Atelier des Chefs – a cookery school with premises all over France where anyone can learn how to cook a meal like a chef in from just 30 minutes – fantastic!
To serve six
200g fresh raspberries
3 cl olive oil
2 cloves garlic
3 twigs of thyme
20 g unsalted butter
1 shallot
15 cl chicken stock
25g honey
8cl raspberry vinegar
Pinch of salt
Paprika
Mashed potatoes
Potatoes suitable for mashing
Several basil leaves
Espresso cup of olive oil (!)
Method
Preheat oven to 210 ° C (gas mark 7).
Peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes. In a saucepan, place the potato cubes and a pinch of coarse salt in cold water in a pan and bring to the boil. Cook the potatoes in boiling water for about 10 minutes (check with a knife to make sure cooked through.
While the potatoes are cooking thinly slice the shallot and the basil leaves.
In a hot frying pan, brown both sides of the chicken in olive oil on a high heat.
Transfer the chicken to a baking tray, add salt and pepper and pop in the oven.
Retain the oil in the frying pan and add the shallots, thyme, crushed garlic, a little butter and pinch of salt.
When the shallot is translucent, add the honey and boil. Add half of the raspberries then deglaze with the raspberry vinegar and chicken stock and reduce for about 10 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the oven (where it will have been for about 15 minutes)
Drain and mash the potatoes – add the olive oil, milk and basil and keep it warm until ready to serve.
Place the chicken on a plate, sprinkle a little paprika, pour the sauce over, add the remaining raspberries and dish up the mashed potatoes using a metal ring to give it a great shape.
You can make the plate look lovely by tracing a pattern with reduced balsamic vinegar on the plate – it also really adds flavour.
Serve and enjoy…
Bon appetit
