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Roast Chicken Crown with Cauliflower Cheese
Roast Chicken Crown with Cauliflower Cheese, Smoked Chicken Fat Carrots, Pea Puree, Boulanger Potatoes and Chicken Truffle Gravy
Paul's main course is a sharing roast chicken crown using an older, larger chicken from Brampton, North Cumbria. He makes stock from the drumsticks and thighs, then confits and roasts the crown traditionally in brown butter and chicken fat, finishing with chicken fat, butter, truffle and thyme for crispy skin. Accompaniments include: cauliflower cheese (cauliflower dusted in curry salt for colour and seasoning, pan roasted, topped with a cheese fondue/custard and crispy chicken skin); carrots cooked in smoked chicken fat with garlic and sage; a pea puree brightened with lemon juice, intended to add freshness against the richness; boulanger potatoes; confit chicken thighs sealed for crispy skin; wilted pak choi and pea shoots; and chicken and truffle gravy served from small beer bottles. Paul remakes the cauliflower after the first batch overcooks while he is concentrating on something else, calling the second batch 'night and day to the other stuff.' He reflects that in hindsight he would have coated the cauliflower more thoroughly in the cheese fondue before finishing it. Paul self-scores an 8. Jack gives it 9, saying it needs a bit more relief from the intensity to be a 10. Daniel gives it 10 out of 10, saying if the goal was to create an elevated Sunday dinner, it achieved that perfectly.
Lisa Goodwin-Allen: She really loved the link to the brief. The chicken served on the crown was beautiful. However, it was a little bit dry on the outside. She really liked the cheese custard and the chicken skin on top of the cauliflower. The only note was to mix a little bit of that cheese custard around the cauliflower so it gets in and around it. Paul needs to make a few tweaks, but this dish could be a real contender and go far. Lisa scored Paul 8. || Aktar Islam: Paul was reaching for a gold statue with this dish, and he is really almost there. The crown is the star of the show, so it has to be crispy, juicy, perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned. A roast chicken sounds very simple, but Paul has to elevate it into something spectacular. Aktar scored Paul 9.
Fellow contestant scores: Jack scored it 9. Daniel scored it 10.
Total main course score: 17 (Lisa 8 + Aktar 9).
FINALS JUDGING -- Changes: Cooking chicken at slightly lower temperature (Lisa's suggestion) to avoid dryness. Changed garnish to confit carrots in smoked chicken fat ("cinema carrot") -- previously hidden in the cauliflower. Added truffle on top of cauliflower cheese. Added cheddar grating. Served chicken mayonnaise sauce in beer bottles.
Tom: "As far as roast chickens go, this looks great." "The sauce for me is the real triumph. The cauliflower cheese is wonderful. The boulangere potatoes are absolutely beautiful, deep, rich. The gravy is just so delicious. Carrots are beautiful. The peas, the sweetness, all of it is lovely. My only criticism, the chicken is just a touch overcooked for me."
"It's a very good roast chicken dish. But is that all it is? Is it just a roast chicken dish?"
Debbie: "No, it's much more than that. I've never had skin like that before, and all the other things around it complement it so well."
"The carrots are gorgeous." This was her favourite dish of the entire day.
Lorna: "What's really nice about the dish, it's got those rich points. Every element is really well cooked. But then you've got the sweetness and freshness of the peas and the carrots."
Phil: "A bit of tang in the gravy as well to cut through it all." "The confit thigh, although delicious and luxurious, felt a bit dry to me. The breast felt spot on."
Debbie (minor criticism): "Possibly the cauliflower cheese was one thing too many."
Tom (rebuttal): "If you're gonna have one thing too many, I'd like it to be cauliflower cheese covered in truffle."
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