Easy Chicken and Chips

STEP 1: COOK THE MUSHROOMS

Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook for 2 minutes until softening. Add the chestnut mushrooms and cook, stirring only occasionally, for 6–8 minutes until well browned and any liquid has cooked away. Stir in the garlic and dried thyme and cook for 1 minute more. Season with fine sea salt and white pepper. Tip half the mushrooms into a bowl to cool; leave the rest in the pan.

STEP 2: MAKE THE TRUFFLE BUTTER

Chop the cooled half of the mushrooms finely. Beat the softened butter with the black truffle paste until smooth, then fold through the chopped mushrooms. The mixture should be thick enough to spread.

STEP 3: STUFF AND WRAP THE CHICKEN

Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Butterfly each chicken breast: slice horizontally almost all the way through and open it out like a book. Season both sides. Spread a quarter of the truffle butter over one half of each breast, fold the other half back over, then roll each breast tightly in a sheet of kitchen foil, twisting the ends to seal it into a neat cylinder.

STEP 4: BAKE THE CHICKEN AND CHIPS

Sit the foil parcels on a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes. After the first 5 minutes, spread the frozen fries on a second tray and bake alongside for 20 minutes, turning once, until golden and crisp.

STEP 5: MAKE THE MADEIRA SAUCE

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, add the shallot and cook for 3 minutes until soft. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 1 minute. Add the bay leaf, pour in the Madeira wine and let it bubble and reduce by half. Add the chicken stock and simmer briskly for 12–15 minutes, until reduced to a sauce that coats the back of a spoon. Discard the bay leaf. Off the heat, swirl in the cold cubed butter; do not let it boil again. Season and keep warm.

STEP 6: BLITZ THE MUSHROOM PURÉE

Tip the mushrooms left in the frying pan into a blender, add the double cream and blitz to a smooth purée, loosening with a splash of warm water if it is too stiff. Season and return to a small pan to keep warm.

STEP 7: MAKE THE TARRAGON MAYONNAISE AND THYME SALT

Stir the mayonnaise, tarragon, Dijon mustard and lemon juice together in a small bowl and season to taste. For the thyme salt, crush the fleur de sel together with the dried thyme between your fingers or in a mortar.

STEP 8: SEAR, SLICE AND SERVE

Unwrap the chicken parcels, saving any juices to stir into the sauce. Heat the olive oil in the frying pan over high heat and sear the rolls for 1–2 minutes, turning, until golden all over. Rest for 5 minutes, then cut each into three thick rounds with a sharp knife. Spoon mushroom purée onto each warm plate, sit the chicken alongside and spoon the Madeira sauce over and around. Add a spoonful of tarragon mayonnaise. Tip the fries into a small pot, toss with the thyme salt and serve at once.