Chicken and Chips
Gareth created this dish for MasterChef UK Professionals Series 18. A tribute to his late father, it pairs a reverse ballotine roulade - chicken breast wrapped in a chicken and truffle mousse - with king oyster mushroom purée, tarragon mayonnaise and a rich Madeira sauce built from deeply roasted chicken wings. The judges called the chicken perfect, the mousse brilliant, and the shoestring fries - dusted in salt powder and topped with crispy chicken skin - a smart finishing touch. Chef's Notes On the Reverse Ballotine The reverse ballotine - mousse on the outside of the breast rather than inside - is a technically demanding inversion of the standard ballotine approach. The advantage is visual: sliced, it reveals a clean band of white breast surrounded by a truffle-flecked mousse cloud. The challenge is structural: the mousse must be cold and firm enough to hold its cylindrical shape through cooking without shrinking away from the breast. Temperature discipline during mousse preparatio…
- Time: 300 min
Source: Relaxed Recipes
Ingredients
- MAKE THE MOUSSE
- Place the chicken thigh meat in a food processor and process until smooth — all
- PREPARE THE CHICKEN BREASTS
- Place each chicken breast between two sheets of cling film. Using a meat mallet
- BUILD THE REVERSE BALLOTINE
- Pipe or spread a generous, even layer of chilled mousse onto the top of each fla
- COOK THE ROULADE
- Option A — Sous vide : Cook at 64°C for 45 minutes. Remove from cling film and s
- MAKE THE MADEIRA SAUCE
- Preheat oven to 220°C . Roast the chicken wings in a dry tray for 35–45 minutes,
- MAKE THE KING OYSTER MUSHROOM SET PURÉE
- Slice the king oyster mushrooms. In a wide pan, melt the butter over medium-high
- MAKE THE TARRAGON MAYONNAISE
- Blanch the tarragon leaves for 20 seconds in boiling water; refresh in ice water
- MAKE THE SHOESTRING FRIES
- Cut the peeled potatoes into very fine matchsticks — aim for 2–3mm thickness usi
- MAKE THE SALT POWDER AND CRISPY CHICKEN SKIN
- Salt powder: combine the fleur de sel or Maldon salt with the dried thyme. If us
- PLATE AND SERVE
- Slice each roulade cleanly with a sharp knife into 2–3 pieces per portion. Warm