The Olives Nest

Crumb coated pulled confit styled chicken leg, served with creamy tomato and Kalamata olive sauce surrounded by sauteed multi-coloured baby carrots, asparagus spears and shimeji mushrooms with a hint of crispy chicken skin. – serves 4

Confit Crumbed Chicken Ingredients:

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 135°C. Season the chicken legs with salt and pepper on both sides and nestle them into a baking dish. Arrange shallots, garlic and 12 thyme sprigs around the chicken and pour the olive oil over. Bake until chicken is cooked through and tender and shallots and garlic have started to caramelize, 2-2 ½ hours.
2. Once chicken is done, reserve remaining oil, the caramelized shallots and garlic. Remove skin and place of paper towel keep that aside for your crispy chicken skin.
3. Pull the chicken meat from bones and place into a bowl.
4. Dice up your red pepper and green olives. Mix that into your confit chicken with parmesan cheese and add a bit of your left-over confit oil. Shape it into a ball. Spray and cook a fair amount of cling wrap, place the ball there and tightly wrap it to keep its shaped, place them in the freezer for a few minutes to hold its shape.
5. Once chilled then coat it with the seasoned flour, then dip it in the egg and finish off the coating with breadcrumbs.
6. Then deep fry the confit chicken balls in olive oil until golden brown.

Crispy Chicken Skin Ingredients:

Chicken skins from the confit chicken.

Method:

1. Once the chicken skins are drained from oil, deep fry them until crisp. Oil temp. @ 180 ‘c
2. Once crisp place on tray with paper towel and let the oil drain out.

Tomato & Kalamata Olive Sauce Ingredients:

Method

1. Peel and roughly slice the carrots, slice the celery, and peel and roughly chop the onions. Peel and slice the garlic.
2. Heat 2 tbsp. of the oil in a large pan over a medium heat, add all the prepared ingredients, then cook with lid ajar for 10 to 15 minutes, or until softened.
3. Add 750 ml of boiling water and stock pot to the pan, then add tinned and fresh whole tomatoes.
4. Give it a good stir and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 10 min with the lid on. While simmering pick your bay leaves.
5. Remove the pan from the heat. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper then stir in your bay leaves, squeeze confit garlic into mix and add confit shallots (do not add the skin) as well as your chopped kalamata olives.
6. Using a stick blender or liquidizer, pulse the sauce until smooth. Taste and check seasoning.

Sautéed Vegetables Ingredients:

Multi-coloured baby carrots (orange, purple and yellow)
Asparagus spears
Shimeji mushrooms
Left over confit olive oil
Salt and pepper to season

Method

1. Cut and trim your vegetables. Asparagus spears and baby carrots should be cut into half symmetrically.
2. Heat up a pan with the leftover confit oil on high heat.
3. Toss vegetables until they have colour. Sautee for about 5 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper.

How it should be assembled:

1. On a hot plate pour the sauce to form a puddle.
2. Place the chicken ball in the center.
3. Neatly place vegetables around the chicken to form a nest.
4. Crush the crispy chicken skins and sprinkles them on top of the vegetables.
5. Then garnish and finish off with a drizzle of medium olive oil.