Farm-Raised Chicken with Curry Leaves, Plantain Mousseline and Butternut Squash and Curry Emulsion

I am sort of on the fence about this one. I gave it 3/5 stars. Maybe because, in the end, it tasted sort of autumn-y and given the warm weather around here, it wasn't what I wanted to eat. Also, I slightly overcooked the chicken.

I mean, the flavors were good. I think it could have benefited from a little more spice or something, because it came out tasting sort of sweet. This wasn't at all unpleasant, just kind of one-dimensional. I might have to toy around with this one next time.

CHICKEN
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
200 ml skim milk
4 large, corn-fed chicken breasts (breast halves), skin on
½ teaspoon GARAM MASALA
12 small fresh curry leaves
a pinch of ground ginger
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground white pepper

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND CURRY EMULSION
2 tablespoons olive oil
150 g butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and diced •
25 g onion, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
½ tablespoon Madras curry powder
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1.5 liters chicken stock
100 g butter, cut into small cubes

PLANTAIN MOUSSELINE
400 g half-ripe plantains, peeled
150 g ripe plantains, peeled
200 g potatoes, peeled
200 ml full-cream milk
90 g butter, cut into small cubes and kept ice cold

VEGETABLES
300 g runner beans, trimmed
20 g butter
200 g butternut squash, peeled and cut Into very small dice
3 ½ tablespoons chicken stock

Blanch the garlic cloves 3 times in boiling water, changing the water each time. Put them in a saucepan, cover with the skimmed milk and cook for about 20-30 minutes, until the garlic is mellow and tender. Leave to cool, then peel the garlic and puree in a blender. Pass through a fine sieve.

CHICKEN
Lift the skin away from the chicken breasts, rub the garlic puree and garam masala over the flesh and insert 3 small curry leaves under the skin of each breast. Make sure you do not rip the skin. Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with the ground ginger and some salt and pepper. Pack the breasts 2 at a time in zip-lock bags, or wrap them in cling film (plastic wrap). Remove as much air from the bags as possible, then seal. Heat a large saucepan or deep roasting tin (pan) of water to 80°C/178°F, place the sealed chicken breasts in the pan and leave for 15-18 minutes, using a thermometer to check that the temperature of the water remains constant. (Poaching the wrapped-up chicken like this captures all the flavours and keeps the flesh fantastically moist.) Cool the chicken breasts down rapidly in a large bowl filled with ice cubes and water. Place this in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

EMULSION
For the emulsion, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the squash, onion and ginger and cook for 7-8 minutes, until lightly caramelized. Add the curry powder and turmeric and sweat for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Mix with a handheld blender until smooth. Add the butter and mix vigorously, then check the seasoning and pass through a fine sieve. Keep warm.

MOUSSELINE
To make the plantain mousseline, put the plantains and potatoes in a pan and cover with cold salted water. Bring to the boil, cook over a medium heat for about 25 minutes, until tender, then drain. In a separate pan, heat the milk to boiling point, then remove from the heat. Pass the potatoes and plantains through a vegetable mill or a sieve into a heavy-based saucepan. Put the pan on a low heat to steam the vegetables dry, then gradually incorporate three-quarters of the milk, mixing vigorously. Now mix in the butter in small amounts to give a smooth mixture. Season with salt to taste. Only add the remaining milk if the mousseline is too dry. Keep warm and covered till needed.

VEGETABLES
For the vegetables, blanch the runner beans in a large pan of boiling salted water, then drain and cool down rapidly in iced water. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the diced butternut squash and cook for 3-4 minutes, until very lightly caramelized. Add the blanched beans and the chicken stock and leave to simmer until nicely glazed. Keep warm.

FINISH
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based non-stick frying pan (skillet) over a medium heat. Unwrap the chicken breasts, put them in the pan skin-side down and cook over a low heat for 8-10 minutes, until the skin is golden brown and crisp, basting it every minute with the olive oil to prevent it drying out. Drain on kitchen paper towels and cut each breast into 5 slices. Arrange a 'nest' of the runner beans in the centre of 4 serving plates and fill up with the plantain mousseline. Sprinkle the butternut squash dice on top of the beans. Mix the emulsion with the handheld blender until frothy and spoon it around the runner beans. Place the crispy chicken on top and serve.