Chicken Wrapped Bacon: An Inspiration

Good day to all! As the first post of this food blog, I thought of starting with something closer to my heart: An overview of the one of the many 3 course menus served at our very own Temasek Culinary Academy, the restaurant TopTable.

The quality of service varies so greatly that I wouldn't like to mention it here. Afterall, the waiters are students who waiter once a week and this is the first week of operations.

The First Course : Caesar Salad

Its one of my favourite salads, traditionally made with romaine lettuce, croutons, parmesan cheese and of course the all time favourite ceasar dressing made primarily with anchovies, garlic, egg yolks and olive oil. I was pleasantly surprised to note that they added grated egg over the salad, giving it a slightly creamier mouthfeel. The dressing was light and refreshing and not at all like the others I've eaten which has been heavily salted and contains too much garlic.

The Second Course: Parma Ham Wrapped Chicken with Panzanella (Bread Salad)

Wow! I like the idea of this dish! I've never in my life seen this being done before. The parma ham, also sometimes known is prosciutto ham, was used to wrap the chicken breast before it was baked. And look! There are sage leaves (herbs) inserted in between the ham and the chicken.

The ham and the chicken married well together, with the fat and saltiness of the ham, tenderising and moisturising the chicken while it is being cooked. The breast of chicken is known to be dry and tough. But in this case, it was pretty juicy all over.

The bread salad was arugula leaves or rocket leaves, with black olives, cherry tomatoes, croutons and cucumber chunks as well as basil leaves. The dressing I'm sure is basil infused olive oil. I'm amazed at how the salad goes nicely with the chicken. Eat it together and it is like a mouthful of Italian and the Mediterranean. Nice.



The Third Course: Creme Caramel with Caramel Sauce

A custard dessert, cold and sweet, yet light enough to be refreshing. Perfectly done.

After that meal, I was extremely inspired by the Chicken and thought of preparing something that I've heard about, but never done before. Here it is: I call it

Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Spinach Salad and Paprika Jus

I referred to http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,161,130176-248196,00.html to check the feasibility of the dish and to get some ideas.

The idea of this is pretty simple. Wrap the chicken breasts with bacon instead of ham. Use spinach instead of arugula (its cheaper). I decided to toss in some fusilli pasta and make a spinach salad in the style of Aglio Olio which uses olive oil and garlic only. I intended to create a salad after TopTable's Panzenella.

I added sliced cucumbers and 1 whole piece of toasted crouton which I felt goes very well with the sauce. The dish is not made of 1 whole chicken breast, but rather 1 breast cut into 3 for presentation purposes.

There is nothing unique about the sauce. I added paprika for colour and it is there simply to give moisture to the otherwise dry chicken breasts.

Recipe:

1 breast of chicken

3 strips of streaky bacon

Half bunch of spinach, reserve 1 leaf for garnish

Hand full of fusilli pasta

1 tsp chopped garlic

4 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot sliced

1 piece of bread toasted and cut into 4 triangles

Cooking method:

1) Bring a small pot of water to boil and add the fusilli and cook until it is al dente (cooked to the tooth). Eat one to be sure that it is cooked. Drain the water.

2) Wash the chicken breast and cut into 3 strips. Wrap each one with a bacon strip. Bake at 200 degrees until it is thoroughly cooked and the inside is no longer pink.

3) Heat a small frying pan and add the olive oil. Stir-fry the garlic and shallots until an aroma is present. Add the spinach and pasta and cook until the spinach has wilted completely. Taste and season with salt.

4) To assemble, place a bed of the salad at the base of the plate. Place 2 strips of chicken on the bed of salad. Place the sliced cucumber and 1 piece of crouton on top of the 2 chicken. Place 1 more chicken on top of that. To garnish, slice up the reserved leaf and scatter on top.

Sauce preparation:

Simply heat a sauce pan and add 2 tbspn of cooking oil and add about 20 g of flour to that, cooking until it becomes a paste, about 10 seconds. Add in 200 ml of water and whisk to prevent lumps from forming. Bring the mixture to a boil and check the thickness.

You can adjust it by adding more water to make it thinner or adding cornstarch mixed with a tsp of water to create a thickening agent. I added paprika spices and lots of black pepper according to my taste and spooned it over the plate.

And here, you have an easy to prepare, yet tasty dish =)