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Tuesday, 24 April 2012

Chicken and Broccoli Gratin

This is another recipe from the Avoca Cafe Cookbook (I know, I'll try mix it up a bit in my next post!) I had tried making this dish in Home Ec years ago, but it wasn't a patch on this recipe.

Recipe

6 chicken breasts
1 Spanish onion, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
A few springs of parsley
1 bay leaf
A few black peppercorns
300mls double cream
1 large head of broccoli, divided into florets
15g butter
50g strong cheese, grated
110g breadcrumbs

For Roux

50g butter 50g plain flour

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Peel and chop the carrot, celery and onion.




Place the chicken in a large saucepan with the onion, carrots, celery, parsley, bay leaf, peppercorns and enough water to cover. Bring slowly to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan, and leave to cool. Strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan.

Next make the roux, melt the butter and add the flour. Cook gently for 5 minutes, taking care that the mixture does not colour. Allow to cool. Meanwhile, dice the chicken.


Boil cooking liquid until reduced to 600mls/ 1 pint. Add the cream, return to the boil and then whisk in the roux a little at a time to form a thick sauce.


Blanch the broccoli in boiling salted water until just tender, then drain and refresh under cold water. Stir the diced chicken and broccoli into the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Pour this mixture into an ovenproof dish.

Melt the butter and mix with the cheese and breadcrumbs. Spread over the chicken mixture and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until brown and bubbling.



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