Dijon/France

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Chicken Liver Salad
Ingredients :
300g chicken livers
2 T butter
4 boiled eggs - sliced
1 cup corn kernels, drained
1 iceberg lettuce – broken or chopped roughly into pieces
1 cup croutons

Dressing
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 T Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Whisk all ingredients together.

To make the salad:
Start by lightly frying the chicken livers in butter for 4-5 minutes. Remove these and set aside.
Assemble the salad with iceberg lettuce, sliced boiled eggs and corn. Add livers and crispy croutons and dress with a Dijon Mustard vinagrette. Gently toss the salad.

Coq au Vin – Chicken in Wine
I love this easy variation on the original coq au vin recipe. It’s a great dish to do for large numbers because it can be prepared the day beforehand and served at the table.

Serves 8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes

You will need:
20g butter
3 rashers smokey bacon, diced
24 baby onions (or shallots), peeled
2 stalks celery, leave whole
24 brown button mushrooms, stalks removed
2 whole chickens - cut into serving sized portions, excess fat removed (or use pre-prepared chicken pieces)
2 Tbsp olive oil
500mls red wine (Pinot Noir or Burgundy)
3 bay leaves
2T fresh thyme
250ml chicken stock
20g plain flour to thicken (optional)
Salt and pepper

What to do: For this dish, use a large pot or flame/ovenproof casserole dish (Le Creuset or similar) that has a lid.
Melt the butter in the pot and add the baby onions (or shallots), celery stalks and bacon. Sauté until golden, remove and set aside. Now sauté the mushrooms in the same pot (no need to wash the pot in between!) for 2-3 minutes. Remove these and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in the pot and brown the chicken pieces. If necessary, do this in 2-3 batches so as not to overcrowd the pot. Once finished browning, return all the chicken, onions, celery and bacon to the pot. Add the wine and bring to the boil for 2 minutes – this allows the alcohol to cook off. Add the chicken stock, bay leaves and thyme. Bring to the boil, cover then simmer for 45 minutes–1 hour (or cover and cook in pre-heated oven at 160°C for 1 hour), until the chicken is very tender and wanting to fall away from the bone. Add the mushrooms and season to taste with salt and pepper. Thicken the sauce if you wish with 20g flour mixed with water, cooking for a further 10 minutes. You want a sauce that is not too thick, not too thin, just right!

Potato Gratin
Serves 8
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes

75 g butter
8 medium –large potatoes (floury variety), thinly sliced
1 large onion
Salt and freshly ground pepper
400ml vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup grated cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease or butter an ovenproof dish and arrange sliced potatoes and onions in layers. Dot with butter and pour in the stock (heat stock first in a pot to decrease the oven cooking time if you’re in a hurry). Season with S+P. Ensure that the potatoes are completely submerged in the stock, pressing them down if you need to. Bake for 45 minutes or until potatoes are just tender and beginning to go golden brown on top. Sprinkle cheese on top and grill until golden.

Crème Brûlée (burnt cream)
This is a fantastic dessert that is easy and delicious. They are best made the day before and the tops “burnt” 30 minutes before your guests arrive.

Makes 8 x150ml ramekins.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

You will need:
800ml cream
6 Tbsp caster sugar
8 egg yolks
1 vanilla pod, split
Extra caster sugar

What to do: Pre-heat oven to 150C. Heat cream + vanilla pod in a pot to near boiling. While this is happening whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar until they are pale, light and creamy. Add the hot cream slowly to the egg/sugar mix, whisking at the same time if you can. Work quickly so that you don’t get lumps. Pour this mixture into small ramekins or one large dish.
Place the ramekins in a roasting dish and then carefully pour some boiling water into the dish so that the water level comes up to 2/3 of the sides of the ramekins.
Carefully put the whole roasting dish into the oven (don’t slop the water into the desserts!) at 150C to slowly bake and set the crème brûlée – about 30-40 minutes. This method of cooking is called a “water bath”. When they are cooked they will still be a bit soft but on cooling in the fridge they will set more firmly.

Once cold, sprinkle caster sugar over the top in a thin layer and put them under a very hot grill and watch them carefully until they just begin to bubble and burn. Refrigerate again for 15-30minutes.
They are ready to serve.

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