Poached chicken with spring greens and buttermilk dressing
Spring greens! Creamy buttermilk dressing! Poached chicken! All the Spring Things! If we lost you at ‘poached chicken’, hear us out. We’ve legit found a way to poach chicken breast fillets so they don’t turn into tasteless cardboard and it’s super, super easy. Happily for the busy cook, it even involves an amount of neglect. Here’s the scoop…You half-to-two-thirds fill a large saucepan with water or – even better – with chicken stock (which you can re-use afterwards). If using water, throw in a few aromatics like some coarsely chopped celery, carrot and onion, plus a few slices of lemon. Turf in a small handful of bruised parsley or some parsley stalks too. Salt it well (this is crucial). Bring it to a big, fat boil, add your breast fillets (no more than 3; we used 2 here and they were a decent size), then bring the water back to the boil. The very instant it starts boiling properly again, turn the heat off, cover the pot, then walk away. Leave it. Don’t lift the lid. Forget it exists. Go watch reruns of Mad Men. The chicken will cook in the still-hot-but-cooling liquid and at the end, it will be soft, succulent and tasty (don't forget that salt if using water. You could even use a decent chicken stock powder instead). Don’t walk away and let the liquid boil at the start, or we won’t be responsible for the results. While your bird breasts are steeping and cooling, prep yourself some spring veggies – we blanched asparagus, green beans and broad beans, shaved some fennel, and ripped the leaves off some baby cos but feel free to use peas ,or artichokes, or ribbons of raw zucchini instead of any of these. Throw on some watercress, or use endive. There is no hard and fast here and if you’ve got stuff ready in your veggie patch, all the better. you could even include some sliced, boiled new potatoes. Make the creamy dressing, drizzle it over everything on a large platter (or individual plates), scatter with almonds, and you’re done.
SERVES 4 (as a light dinner)
1 small carrot, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs thyme
4 thin lemon slices
2 chicken breast fillets (about 600g)
2 bunches asparagus, trimmed
350g green beans, trimmed
1 head fennel, finely shaved
500g broad beans, podded
1-2 heads of baby cos, leaves removed
handful baby spinach leaves
roasted slivered almonds or pine nuts, to serve
Dressing
180ml (3¾ cup) buttermilk
¼ cup cream cheese
1 garlic clove, chopped
4 tsp Dijon mustard
60ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil
2-2½ tbsp lemon juice, to taste
2-2½ tsp finely grated lemon zest, to taste
Half to three-quarters fill a large saucepan with water or chicken stock. If using water, add the carrot, celery, onion, bay leaf, thyme, and lemon. Season well with salt. Bring the liquid to a fast boil over high heat. Add the chicken, bring the liquid back to the boil, then the moment it boils, cover the pan, remove the pan from the heat, then stand until the liquid cools and the chicken cooks; this will take a few hours.
Meanwhile, for the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender, then process until smooth and creamy. Season well with salt and pepper.
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Fill a large bowl with iced water. Cook the asparagus for 2-3 minutes or until just tender. Using tongs and draining well, remove to the bowl of iced water to cool. Line a large tray with several layers of kitchen paper, then remove the asparagus to the tray, reserving the bowl of water.
Next, cook the green beans in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes or until just tender, then remove to the bowl of iced water. Drain, then transfer to the lined tray. Lastly, cook the broad beans for about 3 minutes or until tender, then drain into a colander and cool in the iced water. Drain well, then transfer to the lined tray to finish drying.
Arrange the blanched and shaved vegetables and the leaves on a serving platter or among individual plates. Drain the chicken, then slice and place on the plate. Drizzle with the buttermilk dressing, scatter with the almonds, and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
