RECIPE Heston’s Perfect Roast Chicken

Heston Blumenthal's perfectly roasted chicken. 

This recipe is the best roast chicken recipe I have ever tried, if you want juicy, succulent chicken straight out of the oven. When I followed the instructions on the recipe, I had a roast chicken that oozed juices when I sliced it. The secret is in brining the bird the night before and cutting it loose from the trussing. Roasting it at a low heat will ensure it remains succulent. 

Watch him make this recipe here: 

http://youtu.be/L_8gA4NHeCI

That link is broken - need to watch it on BBC now 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kq8k7yTr8Y

Heston's ultimate chicken is made extra juicy by brining the bird the day before

Heston: "A firm family favourite made extra juicy by brining the chicken before roasting it then cooking it for a long time at a gentle temperature. Brining is a fantastic technique for keeping moisture in food and it is incredibly simple to do. It involves a little forethought but minimum effort and it will guarantee a juicy and succulent bird every time."

Serves 4–6

Warning: Whilst Heston cooks his chicken to an internal temperature of 60°C, if you want to stick to safety guidelines your chicken should reach 75°C in the thickest part of the breast.

Ingredients

• 6% brine (300g salt dissolved in 5 litres of water)
• 1.5-2kg chicken
• 1 lemon
• 1 bunch of thyme
• 125g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for rubbing into the skin
• 30ml dry white wine

For the gravy (optional)

• 20ml dry white wine
• 250ml chicken stock
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 sprig of tarragon
• 1 sprig of parsley

Method

1. Remove the trussing from the chicken then place it in a clean container. Pour over the brine ensuring that the chicken is submerged then cover the container with clingfilm and place in the fridge overnight.

2. Remove the chicken from the liquid and dry well with kitchen paper. Remove the wishbone and place on a cooling rack over a tray.

3. Preheat the oven to 90ºC (about fan 70°C, gas mark ¼ PLEASE NOTE ovens vary so use an oven thermometer to get an accurate temperature).

4. Roll and pierce the lemon then place it in the cavity of the bird with half the thyme. Rub some butter on top of the skin.

5. Place the chicken on the rack in a roasting tray and place in the oven. Roast the chicken until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast is 60ºC (this should take 3-4 hours).

6. Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest for 45 minutes. Turn the oven temperature as high as it will go.

7. In the meantime, melt the butter in a pan and add 30ml wine and a few sprigs of thyme. Bring to the boil then remove the pan from the heat and use the melted butter to baste the chicken before and during browning.

8. Once the resting time has elapsed, put the chicken back in the roasting tray and return it to the oven for approximately 10 minutes or until golden brown, taking care that it doesn’t burn.

9. Once coloured, remove the chicken from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

10. To carve the chicken, remove the legs by slicing down where they meet the breast and splaying them outwards to expose the joint, which you can then sever.

11. Remove the breast by running a sharp knife deeply into the flesh along one side of the centre bone that extends the length of the bird, making a deep vertical cut. Then cut horizontally through the flesh at the bottom of the breast until the horizontal cut meets the vertical, separating the breast from the ribcage. Repeat the procedure on the other side of the centre bone. The breasts can then be laid cut-side down on the chopping board and sliced.

12. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper

If making the gravy...

13. When the chicken has been browned and removed from the roasting tray, place the tray containing the juices on the hob over a medium-high heat. Add the white wine and scrape and stir to deglaze the pan. Add the chicken stock and cook until reduced to a sauce. Strain into a small saucepan.

14. Before serving, stir in the mustard and warm through. Finish with freshly chopped tarragon and parsley and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Recipe from Heston Blumenthal at Home, Published by Bloomsbury

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/how-to-cook-like-heston/articles/all/roast-chicken-recipe

🍗 4 April 2015

RECIPE Rose Chiffon Cake

Rose Chiffon Cake 

Chiffon cakes are light and airy, they are delectable without feeling sinful. The process involves creaming up the egg yolk and whipping up the egg whites separately so that maximum amount of air can be introduced to the cake to allow it to rise to its full potential >.< 

Rose chiffon cakes are the most whimsical of the lot and here I found a perfect recipe. 

It's easier if you have two mixing bowls to start out with. One for the whites and one for the yolks. 

As with all meringues, make sure the bowl and mixers are clean and oil free. Once you get to the stuff peaks stage, carefully fold in to the yolk batter.  I've used pink food colouring here. 

I have here 2 recipes listed. In both my attempts, I used recipe #1, as seen in pictures. 

Recipe #1

http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/13930064/rose-chiffon-cake/

70 ml rose water (mix rose syrup with water)

4 egg yolks

70 ml canola oil

1 tsp rose essence

20 g sugar

½ tsp double acting baking powder

100 g cake flour

4 egg whites

100 g sugar

If you wish, you could frost the cake with a rose creme chantilly. 

Rose Creme Chantilly :

100 ml dairy whipping cream

rose syrup and sifted icing sugar, to taste

Sift together baking powder and cake flour. set aside.

In a bowl whisk together rose water, essence, egg yolks, oil and 20g sugar until light and fluffy, then fold in the flour mixture until well combined.

In another bowl whisk egg whites until foamy, then gradually add in the 100g sugar and whisk until stiff glossy peaks.

Fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the yolk mixture to temper it, then followed by the rest of the egg whites.

Pour into an ungreased 22cm chiffon tin or tube pan and bake in a preheated oven of 170C for about 40 mins.

Immediately invert the pan and leave to cool completely before unmolding.

To make the rose creme chantilly, whisk together whipping cream, icing sugar and rose syrup until soft peaks, then use a palette knife to frost onto cooled cake.

Recipe #2

http://cakesbakesandcookies.com/2013/06/17/rose-chiffon-cake-recipe/

• 6 large eggs
• 225 plain flour (sieved)
• 300 g caster sugar (sieved)
• 1 tbsp baking powder (yes tablespoon!)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 120 ml sunflower oil
• 180 ml rose water (Measure 1 tablespoon of Rose essence and make up the rest of the volume with water)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• Icing sugar to decorate

Method:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 170ºC (150ºC Fan) Oil and line a 9” cake tin or a ring shaped tin. This cake rises very high so make sure that your baking paper is taller than the side of the tin.
2. Separate the egg whites and yolks.
3. Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl (keeping 50g sugar to one side)
4. Add the oil, egg yolks, rose water and vanilla essence to the flour and beat until combined.
5. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until you have soft peaks (that means that when you lift out the whisk the peak of egg whites just flops over and doesn’t stand to attention. Then whisk in the last 50g of sugar.
6. Using a metal spoon carefully fold the egg whites into the cake batter. Do this in three stages so that the cake will remain light and fluffy. Be careful not to over mix as you will bash out all the air in the eggs which is what makes the cake’s texture so yummy.
7. Pour the batter into your prepared tin and bake for 45-60 minutes or until the cake comes away from the side of the tin.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool whilst in the tin. The cake will be very puffy when it comes out and will deflate and wrinkle back into the tin as it cools. Don’t worry- it will still be light as a feather.
9. Remove from the tin and sprinkle with sieved icing sugar.
10. Enjoy with some fresh fruit and a drizzle of cream

TROUBLESHOOTING

Sometimes all doesn't go well with Chiffon Cakes- just like macarons, they are divas in their own rights too..... 

First they rose very nicely and all of a sudden, they just plopped and sunk in. I was horrified! In the end, they came out bottoms burnt and sunken in. They tasted lovely, a little wet but still light and fluffy. 

I found a website which was rather helpful in pin-pointing the faults. 

http://allthatmatters2rei.blogspot.sg/2008/07/chiffon-cake-tips-and-trouble-ii.html?m=1

According to the website, here's the math (formula) for success. 

"the amount of flour used is 120g. The amount of liquid used, including oil is 180g. Therefore, the flour over liquid ratio is 120 : 180. That is 2 parts to 3 parts or 66.67%, if you prefer. The higher percentage you have, will result in a more stable cake but it will have a drier texture. If the flour versus liquid ratio is lower then 60%, say, 50%, the chances of the cake collapsing is high. Reason being; there is too much liquid in the cake and the structure is not strong enough to hold it. In this case, usually after removing from the pan, or after slicing the cake, the cake will start to shrink. A good chiffon cake, as my mom taught me, should be able to hold its shape after cutting. The cake will spring back after you press it."

🍰 4 April 2015