INGREDIENTS
Confit chicken
4 chicken marylands
2 tablespoons eight spice powder
3 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1kg duck fat, melted
Chicken Sauce
2 litres chicken stock
Lentilles “à la française”
250g cooked du puy lentils
1 tablespoon duck fat
100g flat pancetta, rind removed, finely cut into thin strips
1 tablespoon shallot, finely chopped
1 teaspoon garlic puree
3 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon brown chicken sauce
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
30g butter
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Classic ratatouille
¼ cup olive oil
1 onion, cut into small dice
1 large red capsicum, cut into small dice
1 large eggplant, cut into small dice
1 zucchini, cut into small dice, core discarded
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons French salami or ham, diced
5 anchovies, crushed
1 x 425g can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon Murray River Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
Eight spice powder
20g juniper berries
30g whole star anise
15g white peppercorns
15g cinnamon quills
15g cloves
1 pinch saffron threads
25g salt
10g cardamom pods
To serve
Watercress leaves
METHOD
Eight spice powder
- Toast the spices in a large pan over medium heat, Induction setting 5, for 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Grind all the spices to a fine powder in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Cool.
- Store remaining spices in an airtight container.
Confit chicken
- Sprinkle each chicken leg with the eight spice powder and thyme. Rub all over and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.
- Wash and pat dry the chicken with kitchen paper.
- Pre-heat oven on Fan Plus at 100°C.
- Place the chicken in a medium Gourmet oven dish, cover chicken with duck fat, add bay leaf and cook on shelf
position 2 for 1 hour 15 minutes. When cooked, the meat should be almost falling off the bone.
Chicken sauce
- Place chicken stock in a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce to medium heat, Induction setting 5-6 and cook until reduced to 100ml. The chicken sauce should be a golden colour and syrupy. Pour into a small glass bowl and set aside until required.
Lentilles “à la française”
- Heat the duck fat in a pan on medium heat, Induction setting 5-6.
- Add the pancetta and cook until crispy.
- Add the shallots and the garlic and cook for 20 seconds. Be careful not to burn the shallots and garlic.
- Add the lentils and deglaze with the sherry vinegar.
- Add a tablespoon of brown chicken sauce. Add the butter and diced carrot. Stir through and keep warm (carrots should be crunchy for texture).
Ratatouille
- Heat oil on medium heat, Induction setting 5-6 and fry the vegetables for 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, ham and anchovies, cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and salt and continue to cook for a further 25 minutes.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
To serve
- Wash and dry the watercress leaves.
- Add the parsley to the warmed lentils just before serving.
- Serve the ratatouille and lentils in bowls as individual portions, garnish the chicken with watercress. As an alternative, serve on platters as shared plates.
Hints and tips
- Eight spice powder can be stored for up to 3 months in an airtight container.
- The remaining chicken sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for one week or frozen in ice cube trays for later use.
APPLIANCE / FUNCTION
Shannon Bennett
In 2011, acclaimed Australian chef Shannon Bennett undertook the greatest challenge of his life – moving his award winning Vue de monde restaurant to the dramatic new location on the 55th floor of Melbourne’s iconic Rialto building. From the beginning, Shannon’s goal has been to make Vue de monde Australia’s most sustainable restaurant. More than 50 cutting-edge technologies are being utilised, from an E-water system to ‘cold kitchen technology’ (no exposed flames or gas)
