[WATCH] Chicken thighs with pea puree and a mushy pea salad

Watch Sean Gravina turn a simple chicken dinner into a dish worthy of a dinner party.

Chicken thighs with pea puree and a mushy pea salad

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil
• 8 chicken thighs, boned but skin left on
• Salt
• 3 egg yolks
• 15g caster sugar
• ½ vanilla pod, split
• 25ml double cream
• 375g frozen peas
• 250g frozen peas, defrosted
• 100g fresh raw peas
• 1 shallot, peeled and diced
• ½ bunch of marjoram, leaves picked
• Pinch of curry powder
• Pinch of ginger powder
• Olive oil
• Micro herbs for garnish
• Baby green and reds

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Heat an oven-proof frying pan until hot, add a little vegetable oil and fry the chicken, skin side down, until the skin is golden brown.
3. Add a knob of butter and baste the thighs in melted butter until the entire thigh is golden.
4. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes, or until cooked through.
5. Remove from the oven, season to taste with salt and leave to rest in a warm place.
6. To make the pea puree, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and seeds scraped from the vanilla pod in a bowl.
7. Blanch the frozen peas in salted water, then drain and whiz in a blender to a puree.
8. Warm the cream and pureed peas in a saucepan, then pour over the egg yolk mixture. Return the contents to the saucepan and whisk the mixture over a medium heat until it thickens to a custard consistency.
9. Pour into a bowl, cover closely with clingfilm to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate.
10. To make the mushy pea salad, pulse the defrosted peas a couple of times in a blender. Add the fresh peas, shallot and marjoram.
11. Season with curry powder, ginger and salt, then bring together with a little olive oil to create a pea salad.
12. Dress each serving plate with pea puree, two chicken thighs and a generous spoonful of pea salad.

This recipe first appeared on Gourmet Today TV, aired on TVM on 8 May, 2015. 

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