John Cesters Poultry & Game Meat

Venison & Game Meat Melbourne

Martha Stewart’s Buttermilk Chicken

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INGREDIENTS 02edf21_e_vert

  • Vegetable oil, for baking sheet
  • 8 slices white bread
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon hot-pepper sauce
  • Salt and pepper
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (2 1/2 ounces)
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 kg chicken parts (preferably legs, thighs, and wings), rinsed and patted dry

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously rub a baking sheet with oil. In a food processor, pulse bread until it turns into coarse crumbs.

  2. In a large bowl, stir together buttermilk, hot-pepper sauce, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a separate bowl, mix breadcrumbs, Parmesan, thyme, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

  3. Place the chicken in the buttermilk mixture, turning to coat evenly. Working with one piece at a time, remove chicken from liquid, letting excess drip back into bowl; dredge in the breadcrumb mixture, turning to coat evenly. Place coated chicken pieces on prepared baking sheet.

  4. Bake until chicken is golden brown, about 35 minutes.

(Martha Stewart, 2012)

Balsamic Glazed Mediterranean Chicken Bake

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10 min Prep Time / 20 min Cook Time / 30 min Total Time

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegarbalsamic-glazed-mediterranean-chicken-bake-3-of-101 tablespoon good quality olive oil 
  • 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs 
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 250g can or jar of marinated artichoke hearts
  • 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, left whole
  • 1 250g can white beans, drained & rinsed
  • 3/4 cup whole salted cashews
  • 1 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • 1 cup mozzarella pearls (whole milk mozzarella)
  • 4 fresh sprigs of fresh oregano, chopped

Instructions

    1. Marinate the chicken breast in balsamic vinegar for at least 30 minutes.
    2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
    3. In a 9×13 casserole dish, add beans, cashews, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and onion.
    4. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper to taste. Heat olive oil in large skillet and brown the chicken on both sides for about 2 minutes on each side. (The chicken will be browned, but not cooked through. it will finish cooking in the oven.)
    5. Nestle the browned chicken into the casserole dish, allowing it to just sit on top of all the other ingredients. Brush with more balsamic vinegar.
    6. Add the chicken broth to the dish and lay in the oregano.
    7. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked through.
    8. Remove from the oven and add in the mozzarella.
    9. Serve over rice, pasta, or just by itself!!

(The Cookie Rookie, 2014)

 

 

Quail, Grapes and Goats Cheese

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IngredientsImageHandler

Glazed Quail:

Macerated Grapes:

Grape Chutney:

Smoked Goat’s Cheese:

Dried Vine Leaves:

Salad:

Blanched Grapes:

Garnish:

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C.
  2. For the Glazed Quails, prepare 4 quails by removing wings and setting aside. Remove legs and trim crown. Place the quail legs and crowns on a tray and set aside in the fridge until needed.
  3. To make the glaze, chop the reserved wings, trimmings and remaining 2 whole quail into small pieces. Place a large fry pan on the stove top over high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the chopped quail and fry, until quail pieces are golden brown and caramelised.
  4. Add the golden sultanas, spring onion, orange zest, black garlic and salt and pepper to taste and cook until fragrant and golden, about 5 minutes.
  5. Add 180ml of the verjus, red wine, saba and 1 cup of water, reduce heat and simmer until liquid is reduce by half, about 12 minutes.
  6. Once reduced, strain the glaze through a fine sieve, reserving solids. Transfer the liquid to a clean saucepan and place on a medium heat. Continue to simmer the glaze until reduce to approximately 150ml.
  7. When reduced, add the remaining 40ml of verjus. Place the grapes in a small, fine mesh sieve and press with the back of a spoon to release the juice. Add the fresh grape juice to the glaze and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine and continue to simmer until liquid is reduced to a syrupy glaze. Remove from heat and set aside, keeping warm, until needed.
  8. Reserve any quail meat from reserved solids, ensure there are no bones and set aside until needed. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the glaze solids mixture, ensuring there are no bones, and set aside until needed.
  9. For the Macerated Grapes, slice each grape into 4 discs and place the two centre slices in a small bowl. Add the verjus and toss to coat. Set the bowl aside and allow the grapes to macerate until needed. Reserve the trimmed ends for the Grape Jam.
  10. For the Grape Chutney, place a medium fry pan on the stove top over low heat. Add olive oil, spring onion, sultanas and reserved trimmed ends of grapes and cook gently until mixture is soft, about 10 minutes.
  11. Deglaze pan with the verjus, scraping the bottom of the pan with a silicon spatula or wooden spoon. Place the whole, fresh grapes in a small, fine mesh sieve and press with the back of a spoon to release the juice. Add the fresh grape juice to the pan and stir to combine. Continue to simmer until the mixture has a jam like consistency, then set aside, keeping warm, until needed.
  12. For the Smoked Goat’s Cheese, place milk and lavender into a small saucepan over high heat and bring to the boil. Remove form heat and set aside to infuse for 10 minutes. Once infused, strain the milk through a fine sieve and set aside to cool until needed.
  13. Meanwhile, place goats curd in a medium bowl and use an electric hand mixer to whip lightly. Fold in the cooled lavender milk, a teaspoon at a time, until soft peaks form.
  14. Cover the bowl tightly with two layers of cling film. Prepare a smoking gun with applewood smoking chips. Pierce the cling film with the nozzle of the smoking gun, ignite gun and allow the bowl to fill with smoke. Remove nozzle and cover bowl tightly with another layer of cling film to seal and set the bowl aside for 10 minutes to smoke. Once curd is smoked, set the bowl aside in the fridge until needed.
  15. For the Dried Vine Leaves, place vine leaves onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in the pre-heated oven until crisp but not brown, about 10 minutes. Once dry, remove from oven and set aside to cool on the tray until needed.
  16. For the Salad, place olive oil, verjus, saba and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl and whisk together to emulsify. Add the Grape Chutney and reserved quail meat and reserved glaze stock solids and toss well to combine. Set aside until needed.
  17. For the Blanched Grapes, place a small saucepan of water on the stovetop over high heat and bring to the boil. Prepare a small bowl of iced water.
  18. When water is boiling, plunge the whole grapes into the boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove and transfer immediately to the iced water bath to refresh. Once cool, peel the grapes and set aside until needed.
  19. To cook quail, lightly oil quail legs and crowns with remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season to taste. Place a large frypan over medium heat and add quail legs. Cook on one side for 3 minutes then turn and cook for a further 2 minutes on the other side, or until golden brown. Take quail legs out of pan and set aside on kitchen paper to drain.
  20. Add the crown sections to the pan, skin side down and cook for 4 – 5 minutes turning to seal all sides until golden brown and cooked through. Remove quail crowns from pan
  21. French the quail legs by cutting the skin and sinew away from the bottom of the leg and scraping the leg bone with a small knife to push any meat to the thick end of the leg and leave a clean bone exposed. Remove the breasts from the quail crown and trim to neaten.
  22. Use a pastry brush to brush the pieces of quail with the warm glaze to coat evenly. Set Glazed Quail aside, keeping warm, until needed.
  23. To serve, place a 10cm ring cutter into the centre of each serving plate. Spoon Smoked Goats Cheese into the base of each ring to 1cm high and use the back of the spoon to level. Carefully remove the ring.
  24. Place the Dried Vine Leaves in a fine mesh sieve and crush with fingertips to sprinkle a fine dusting of Dried Vine Leaf powder over each plate. Sprinkle a spoonful of finely chopped toasted walnuts over the Smoked Goat’s Cheese.
  25. Pile Salad into the centre of the goats cheese, leaving a 1cm border of cheese showing. Divide Macerated Grapes evenly between the plates, scattered on top of the Salad. Place 4 Blanched Grapes on top of the Salad on each plate. Top with 2 Glazed Quail legs and 2 Glazed Quail breasts on each plate, stacked on top of the Salad. Drizzle with a little more warm glaze to finish.

(Masterchef Australia, 2016)

Duck Two Ways with Onions and Char Siu Glaze

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Duck Two Ways with Onions and Char Siu Glaze

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Master Stock Duck Legs:

Onion Puree:

3 white onions, finely sliced

Crispy Duck Breast:

Roast Leeks and Shallots:

Char Siu Glaze:

Garlic Chips:

Garnish:

Method

  1. Heat oven to 190C. Heat a pressure cooker on browning setting.
  2. For the Master Stock Duck Legs, place the garlic and 2 tablespoons of the oil in the pressure cooker on browning setting and fry until garlic is golden and caramelised.
  3. Add sugar, soy sauce and water and stir to combine. Turn the machine to pressure cooker setting and add the duck legs. Secure lid and cook for 35 minutes.
  4. Once the duck legs are cooked, remove from pressure cooker. Strain the master stock liquid through a fine sieve, discarding the solids. Set the master stock aside until needed.
  5. Place a medium fry pan over medium heat and add the remaining oil. Add the cooked duck legs and half the master stock. Simmer until duck legs are glazed and caramelised, about 8 minutes. Add more master stock to the pan during cooking if required.
  6. For the Onion Purée, place the sliced onions in a medium saucepan along with the butter. Cover the saucepan with a lid and place on the stove top over low heat and cook gently, stirring occasionally until onions are soft, about 10 minutes.
  7. Once onions are soft and cooked through, transfer to a stick blender canister along with the pan juices and blitz to a smooth purée. Season with salt and white pepper to taste and set aside, keeping warm, until needed.
  8. For the Crispy Duck Breast, place duck breasts, skin side down, in a cold fry pan. Place over medium heat and allow to cook gently on skin side until duck skin is rendered, about 8 – 9 minutes. Turn the duck breasts over and continue cooking on the other side for a further 5 minutes or until duck is cooked and still slightly pink in the middle. Remove duck breasts from the pan and place on a wire rack to rest until required. Reserve the rendered duck fat in the pan for the Roast Leeks and Shallots.
  9. For The Roast Leeks and Shallots, place the leek and shallot slices in the reserved fry pan of rendered duck fat. Place over a medium heat and cook gently for 10 – 15 minutes or until soft and caramelised, being careful not to break up the vegetables. Once cooked, remove leeks and shallots from pan and set aside, keeping warm, until needed.
  10. For the Char Siu Glaze, place a large fry pan on the stove top over high heat. Add oil and duck bone and wing pieces and fry until bones are golden and caramelised, about 5 minutes.
  11. Add the water and char siu sauce to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula. Reduce heat and allow the sauce to simmer until syrupy and reduced by half, about 20 minutes.
  12. Once reduced, strain the glaze through a fine sieve, discarding solids and set aside until needed.
  13. Place a clean fr pan over high heat and add the butter. Swirl the pan until the butter melts and turns a dark, nut brown colour, being careful not to burn. Add the strained glaze and whisk to combine. Add vinegar, sugar and salt to taste until flavour is balanced. Set glaze aside, keeping warm, until needed.
  14. For the Garlic Chips, heat oil in a small saucepan to 190C. Drop the finely sliced garlic into the hot oil and deep fry until crisp and golden, about 1 minute. Remove the garlic form the oil an drain on paper towel. Season to taste and set aside until needed.
  15. To serve, place 2 spoonsful of the Onion Purée into the centre of each plate and smear slightly. Place 2 pieces of roast leek and 2 pieces of roast shallot on each plate near the purée.
  16. Trim the duck breasts and slice in half diagonally. Place half a duck breast on each plate on one side of the purée. Trim the meat away from the duck legs, removing the bone. Roll the meat in a little warm master stock and place on each plate on the purée at the opposite side of the plate from the duck breast.
  17. Scatter garlic chips over each dish. Drain the sliced spring onion and pat dry. Scatter over each dish to garnish.

(Masterchef, 2016)

Chris’ Tips for Perfectly Cooking Chicken on the BBQ

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Need to know how to cook chicken on the BBQ – check out these handy hints from the bossman himself!

“We’ve all been served up burnt, tasteless chicken bits. Chicken can but shouldn’t be the hardest to barbeque correctly.

Chris says the secrets to great barbecued chicken are: choosing great quality chicken in an excellent marinade; keeping the heat low so that the marinade does not burn; and basting the poultry often.

The result will be moist, tender, flavoursome meat, with smoky and deliciously crispy, marinated skin.

When purchasing pre-marinated chicken, Chris suggests you add a cup of water or, even better, chicken stock to the meat. Mix and drain all excess liquid but set it aside and use it to baste the meat as is cooks on the barbeque.

Chris sells a butterflied whole marinated chicken. It is vacuum sealed to keep all the yummy marinade on and in the meat. Simply slice the top of the bag, add the chicken stock and swish around, pour all liquid into a bowl and place the whole bird on the preheated barbeque.

Chris’ butterflied chickens require 15 minutes cooking time on each side and to be basted every 5 to 7 minutes.”

 

(Chris Gavriel, 2014)