FLOWER POT KITCHEN: PALEO GOATS CHEESE AND ASPARAGUS STUFFED PAN FRIED CHICKEN

30 Mar 2014

PALEO GOATS CHEESE AND ASPARAGUS STUFFED PAN FRIED CHICKEN

Gorgeous sharp soft goats cheese stuffed into a pocket made in the chicken breast with asparagus, pan seared in a hint of seasoned rapeseed oil for glorious caramelised flavour. This was outstanding for me it was the warm soft sharp goats cheese and asparagus that wooed my taste buds with this dish.

INGREDIENTS

(serves one just double up for more servings)

1 large chicken breast

50g soft goats cheese

3 spears asparagus

glug of rapeseed oil

sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

FOR THE SALAD

handful of watercress

handful of spinach

1 avocado

4 baby plum tomatoes

1 spring onion

optional 1 tsp sweet chilli sauce (naughty but essential)

small handful of mangetout

small handful of stem broccoli

small handful of harricotverts

First put a small deep pan of water on to boil and add the asparagus, mangetout, broccoli and french green beans and blanch for 3-5 minutes, remove and leave to one side.

Take your chicken breast and with a small sharp knife starting at the top fat end of the breast slice a whole 3/4 of the way across being careful not to go to close to the edge, now just keep gently pushing the knife down the chicken breast giving the knife a little wiggle left and right, in effect cutting a pocket making sure you don't pierce the outside of the chicken breast.

Season the pocket with a little salt and black pepper, cut the asparagus to fit the length of the pocket you have made and pop in the pocket. Next take the goats cheese and a teaspoon at a time fill the pocket, and massage the goats cheese down to the bottom of the breast,fill to the top. Rub the chicken breast with oil and sear in a hot non stick pan all sides until are caramelised, turn down the heat and cook through.

Place your watercress and spinach piled high on your plate, sprinkle over the rough chopped avocado, tomatoes, spring onion then a teaspoon of hot sweet chilli sauce, next sprinkle over the mangetout, broccoli and french green beans and finish of with the chicken breast, I sliced the chicken breast on the diagonal to allow the warm goats cheese to ooze out onto the salad giving every bite more flavour.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.