It was Chris’ Birthday last Friday and I was hoping to post a wonderful Birthday Recipe for him to try some time. But I was politically waylaid and forced to deal with foreign policy.Â
Now, back to some lighter sides of life. Here is a recipe that Sonia and I have tried a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed. It takes some time and care to prepare but provides an explosion of taste that is quite unique:
 Polenta-encrusted chicken with corn mash, fried bananas and green tomato relish
for the mash:
- 4 ears of corn
- 8 medium potatoes
- sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 bunch of finely sliced scallions
Strip the kernels off each cob. To make the mash, boil the potatoes in salted water until cooked. Drain and return the potatoes to the hot pan and add the milk, corn kernels and salt/pepper. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat. Add the scallions. Mash it all up and keep warm
for the relish
- 1/2 cup of vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 shallots, peeled and sliced
- 14oz green or red tomatoes, chopped
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 handfuls of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 2 handfuls of fresh mint, chopped
Put the vinegar, sugar and shallots in a saucepan. Bring to boil and cook until reduced by half. Add tomatoes and warm. Remove from heat and season with salt/pepper. Add the olive oil. Add the herbs just before serving.
for the chicken
- 4 skinless chicken breast fillets
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 2 eggs
- 7oz polenta (corn meal)
- 2-3 tablespoons butter
- 2 bananas
Take each breast and make 2 slices into the meat lengthwise so that the breast fans out into 3 “prongs”. Mix the flour, spices and salt/pepper. Spread out onto a plate. Beat the egg in a bowl. Pour the polenta onto another plate. Dip the chicken into the flour, then the egg, then the polenta.
Heat a large frying pan and gently fry the chicken in 2 tablespoons of butter for about 5 minutes each side. When the chicken is cooked to a golden brown, remove it from the pan and keep warm. Peel the bananas and cut them lengthwise in half. Fry in a little more butter until tender and golden.
To serve, spoon a mound of mash onto each plate with a piece of banana on top. Place a piece of chicken on top. Stir the parsley and mint into the relish and slap some on top of of the chicken. This recipe serves about 4.
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