“Don’t be afraid to really char your chicken thighs here (making sure to ventilate your kitchen well!) – this’ll add an intense flavour alongside the vibrant dressing and make for a very punchy eating experience,” say chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad.
“That said, you can also grill your chicken thighs in the oven, or swap them out for chicken breasts, if you prefer.”
Blackened chicken with caramel and clementine dressing
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
6 large chicken thighs (1kg), boneless and skin on (850g)
1½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
12 spring onions, trimmed, washed well and dried
Salt
For the caramel and clementine dressing:
85g caster sugar
30g fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
2 red chillies, deseeded, halved widthways and julienned
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
3-4 limes: 1 halved, to serve, and the rest juiced to get 3 tbsp
2 tbsp fish sauce
2-3 clementines, peeled
5g fresh coriander, roughly chopped, to serve
Method:
1. Put the chicken thighs, turmeric, chilli flakes, fish sauce, oil and one teaspoon of salt into a large bowl and mix well to combine. Leave to marinate for an hour, or cover and refrigerate for longer (up to overnight). If the latter, remove the chicken thighs from the fridge about 45 minutes before cooking.
2. Place a large cast-iron sauté pan on a medium-high heat and ventilate your kitchen well. Once hot, add half the chicken thighs, skin side down. Weigh down the thighs with a large saucepan around the same size, so they are well pressed into the pan. Cook for six to eight minutes, or until the skin is charred and blackened. Remove the top pan and set the chicken thighs aside, then repeat with the remaining thighs. The second batch might blacken faster, so check them at the five-minute mark. Remove all the chicken, setting it aside, and let the pan cool for five to 10 minutes.
3. If needed, drain off all but one-and-a-half tablespoons of the fat collected in the pan and return to a medium-high heat. Add the spring onions, using a pair of tongs to coat them in the fat, then put back the chicken thighs, skin side up, and any of their juices, nestling them into the spring onions, along with 90 millilitres of water. Cook for eight minutes, or until the chicken is tender and cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and leave to rest for five minutes before slicing each thigh into two-centimetre-wide strips.
4. While the chicken is cooking, make the caramel and clementine dressing. Heat a medium saucepan on a medium-high heat. Once hot, turn the heat down to medium and sprinkle in the sugar to coat the base – it should immediately start to melt and colour around the sides. Swirl the pan, without stirring, so that all the sugar melts and turns deeply golden, about one-and-a-half to two minutes. Add the ginger and chillies, and stir continuously for 45 seconds, just to take off the spicy edge. Quickly add the vinegar, lime juice and fish sauce, stirring to combine. Cook for 30 seconds, then remove from the heat. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.
5. Use a small serrated knife to slice the clementines into one-centimetre-thick rounds, then pull at them gently to halve them (don’t worry if they break apart further). Stir these into the cooled sauce.
6. To serve, transfer the spring onions to a large platter and top with the chicken and any pan juices, using a spatula to keep each thigh together. Pour the dressing all over, then sprinkle with the coriander. Lastly, squeeze over the lime halves.
Turmeric fried eggs with tamarind dressing
“These are fried eggs but with a very eccentric wardrobe, thanks to the turmeric and chilli, which make them as good to eat as they are to look at.”
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
1 shallot, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
2 tsp lime juice
3½ tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
200g baby spinach
½ tsp ground turmeric
4 large eggs
1 green chilli, finely sliced into rounds, seeds and all
Salt
For the tamarind dressing:
30g tamarind paste
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp light soft brown sugar
5g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
Method:
1. Put the shallot, lime juice and a pinch of salt into a small bowl and use your fingers to gently massage everything together. Set aside to pickle lightly while you continue with the rest.
2. Make the tamarind dressing by putting all the ingredients into a bowl and whisking to combine and dissolve the sugar. Add between two to four teaspoons of water to loosen the mixture (this will vary according to different makes of tamarind paste).
3. Put one tablespoon of oil into a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the garlic and cook for 90 seconds, stirring, until fragrant and lightly coloured, then stir in the spinach and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt and cook until wilted, about four minutes. Transfer to a serving plate and wipe out the pan.
4. Add the remaining two-and-a-half tablespoons of oil plus the turmeric to the same pan, stirring to combine, and return it to a medium-high heat. Once hot but not smoking, crack in the eggs and quickly sprinkle the whites with the chilli slices. Season the eggs all over with a good pinch of salt and use a spatula to separate the whites so the eggs are not joined together. Fry for three to four minutes, spooning some of the oil over the whites. You want the whites to be crispy around the edges and the yolk to be runny (fry them for longer if you like your eggs more cooked).
5. When ready, use a spatula to transfer the eggs to the plate of spinach, drizzling with any extra turmeric oil in the pan. Top with the pickled shallots and then drizzle with some of the tamarind dressing, serving any remaining alongside.
Brown sugar meringue roulade with burnt honey apples
“If the flavours of autumn could be rolled into one, this meringue roulade would be the result: warming cinnamon, burnt honey, sweet apples and tangy orange come together to make a dessert fit for the festive season.
“Make sure all your individual components have completely cooled before assembling – you don’t want to create any excess moisture in the roulade. Get ahead by preparing the apples and cream the day before, keeping them refrigerated until needed.”
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
For the apples:
150g runny honey
1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways, seeds scraped out and reserved with the pod
5 fresh bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp flaked sea salt
3½ tbsp orange juice
1.1kg Braeburn apples, peeled, cored and each cut into 6 wedges (or 8 if they’re larger)
1 tbsp olive oil
For the roulade:
250g egg whites (from 6 large eggs, or from an egg white carton)
100g light soft brown sugar
250g caster sugar
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp cornflour
For the cream:
150ml whipping cream, fridge cold
20g icing sugar
250g mascarpone, fridge cold
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest, plus 1 tsp extra to garnish
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C fan/220C/gas 7.
2. Start making the filling. Put the honey, vanilla seeds and pod, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, ground cinnamon and salt into a large ovenproof sauté pan on a medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for five to six minutes, stirring often, until the honey is deeply brown (don’t be afraid to take it to the edge; you want it to be very dark). Off the heat, whisk in the orange juice. Gently pour 65 grams of the burnt honey into a heatproof bowl. Pick out the bay leaves and vanilla pod and add them to the bowl.
3. Stir the apples and olive oil into the sauté pan with the remaining burnt honey, then transfer to the oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the apples have softened and caramelised but still retain their shape. Set aside to cool completely. Pick out the cinnamon stick and add it to the reserved burnt honey bowl. Keep the oven on.
4. Make the roulade. Line a large 40-centimetre x 30-centimetre baking tray with baking parchment.
5. Put the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment in place and beat on medium-high speed for one minute, until soft peaks form. Combine both sugars in a bowl and gradually add this to the mixer, a tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously on high speed for five minutes, until the mixture is a thick glossy meringue. Reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla paste, cinnamon, vinegar and cornflour. Turn the speed to medium and whisk for a minute, to fully combine.
6. Spoon the meringue on to the prepared tray and use a spatula to spread it out evenly so it’s about 35-centimetre x 25-centimetre. Transfer to the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 180C fan/200C/gas 6. Bake for 30-32 minutes, until the meringue is crusty on top and lightly brown. Set aside to deflate and cool completely.
7. Meanwhile, prepare the cream by putting the whipping cream, icing sugar and mascarpone into the cleaned bowl of the stand mixer with the whisk attachment in place. Beat on medium speed for one to two minutes, until soft peaks form. Stir in the orange zest.
8. Place a clean tea towel on top of the cooled meringue and quickly invert the whole thing on to a work surface. Lift the tin off and peel away the lining. Spread three-quarters of the cream evenly all over the meringue. Top with the burnt honey apples (reserving any liquid released from the apples for another use).
9. Starting with the longest side closest to you and using the tea towel to assist you, roll the meringue up and over, so that the edges come together to form a log. Gently pull away the tea towel as you roll, then slide the meringue on to a long tray or platter, seam side down. Use a serrated knife to trim off two centimetres from the sides to create neat edges (nibble on these if you like!). Refrigerate to firm up, at least 30 minutes – or up to three hours if you’re getting ahead.
10. To serve, spoon the remaining cream down the length of the roulade. Top artfully with the bay leaves, vanilla pod halves and cinnamon stick. Drizzle with the reserved burnt honey syrup and sprinkle with the extra zest.
‘Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things’ by Noor Murad and Yotam Ottolenghi (published by Ebury Press, £25; photography by Elena Heatherwick), available now.
