Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 small chicken breasts skin on
- 2 tbsp Chinese five spice powder
- 1 x 385g tin apricots in syrup
- 2 tsp green peppercorns in brine
- juice from 1 large lemon
- salt
- freshly milled black pepper
- large red onions skin on
- 50g unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
- 200g frozen broad beans, defrosted
Method
- To roast the onions, take off any loose skins and place on a wire rack and place the wire rack into a baking sheet.
- Put the baking sheet in a moderate oven 200 C, gas 6 and bake them in their skins until you can push a skewer right through without any resistance, when cooked remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.
- When cool remove the outside skins until you end up with a soft onion with no dry skin. Cut the onion in half lengthways and place the cut halves onto kitchen paper to dry out, do not cut off the root.
- Rub the Five spice powder and pepper all over the chicken breasts.
- Next, place the apricots and syrup into a liquidiser along with a tsp of peppercorns and brine and blitz til smooth.
- Pour into a bowl and season well with a little pepper, salt, lemon juice and sugar.
- Warm a frying pan and add the oil and butter and heat ‘til foaming. Season the chicken breasts with and salt and cook skin side down for a couple of minutes.
- Pop in the oven or just turn over and gently cook over a medium heat, until cooked, probably 5-6 minutes.
- Take care not to overcook, the meat should be nice and juicy and not dry and tough.
- To serve, slice the chicken on a slight angle open up slightly and spoon over a little sauce and roasted onions see recipe below.
- Warm a little unsalted butter in a frying pan until it starts to brown, then re season the cut onions well with salt and pepper and a touch of sugar. Add the garlic.
- Brown in the butter nice and slowly they will caramelize and start to crisp up.
- At this point add the broad beans, chopped sage and warm through. Serve the chicken breast with the onions and broad beans, then spoon over the sauce.
