At Last… poussin breast with gnocchi

For those of you (hopefully most…) who didn’t see my starless turn on Britain’s Best Dish, this is what I cooked – with the caveat that this one actually works, the gnocchi is not ‘horrible’ (Burton Race is a rude git), the sauce is the right consistency cos it hasn’t sat under lights for ten minutes, and the poussin isn’t dry for the same reason!! Oh, and rather than being cooked over almost two hrs, it takes about 40 mins… ;-). The really annoying thing is that we were told to plate up on a plate, and then i was criticised for not using a bowl! How dumb is that!

Ok, moan over. 

I think this is a good little dish, came about by mistake, but tastes great.  Given that it took me weeks to get the gnocchi like gnocchi, if i was you i’d resort to a packet (pictured…)! But I’ve included it below nonetheless…

Thanks to all the support and kind words from everyone over the process, including the ITV production team who were all lovely, even if the ‘stars’ weren’t!

Ingredients (1 serving)

1 whole poussin
1 tsp ras el hanout
1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
6 cloves garlic
3-4 sprigs of thyme or lemon thyme
100ml good quality olive oil
2 banana shallots
300ml water for making stock from the carcasses
50g bacon lardons
200g chestnut mushrooms
100g butter
2 fresh bay leaves
2 glasses white wine
1 whole nutmeg
2 strands of saffron
150ml double cream
100g parmesan
salt and black pepper in mills for seasoning

For the gnocchi (makes 2 servings):

3 medium floury potatoes
small pinch of turmeric
250g plain flour
1 free range egg
seasoning to taste

Method

Remove the poussin breasts from the bird, leaving the last wing knuckle in place. Then break the carcass into two.

Mix together the ras el hanout, oregano, 2 cloves of garlic, a little bit of thyme, salt and pepper and a splash of good olive oil, and bash into a paste in a pestle and mortar.

Stuff the poussin breasts just under the skin with the herb and spice mixture.

Fry the carcass in a wide pan for a couple of minutes to brown, with one of the shallots (halved), then cover in water and bring to the boil for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, finely chop the other shallot, the rest of the garlic, the bacon and mushrooms.

Fry all the mushrooms and bacon and half the garlic and shallot in a pan half the butter, adding a couple of sprigs of thyme and one bay leaf. 

Once the mushrooms have browned enough, add 1 glass of wine and cook off the alcohol then add 1 ladle of the poussin stock and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, adding a little more stock as necessary. Grate in about half of the nutmeg and add a couple of strands of saffron.

In another pan, add the rest of the chopped shallot, garlic and butter and fry over a medium heat with the other bay leaf, then add the poussin breast, skin side down to brown off, seasoning to taste. Add the rest of the thyme.

Add the cream to the pan with the mushrooms and bring to boil until thickened (about 5-6 minutes).

Turn the poussin breast over and grate some parmesan on to the skins, then turn back over to crisp.

Once crisp, turn back on to other side and add the other glass of wine to the pan, leaving it to reduce.

Remove the poussin breast from the pan and rest it for a couple of minutes while cooking the gnocchi, then add the deglazed remnants to the sauce, stirring in.

For the gnocchi

Bake the potatoes in a microwave for about 8–9 minutes.

Peel the potatoes and push through a ricer. Season and add a tiny little bit of turmeric.

Add the flour and egg and knead it in.

To shape the gnocchi, roll the gnocchi dough into long sausages then cut them into 2cm sections. Lightly flour a fork with long tines. Then press the gnocchi pieces onto the tines of the fork and roll the dough back on itself to form a small, cylindrical, shell-like shape.

Place the gnocchi straight into boiling water and cook for about a minute. Drain and serve.