Sunday, August 20, 2006
Gordon Ramsay's Bacon-Wrapped Chicken
I must admit I am a great admirer of Gordon Ramsay. I know he swears much more than is necessary to make himself heard and the way he treats people at times leaves a lot to be desired.
His food, however, is simply divine, as I had the privilege to find out first hand in January on a visit to the newly re-opened restaurant at Royal Hospital road. His critics have pointed to his excessive reliance on truffle oil and my mum complained about the lack of proper burgundy glasses, but to me all this is a sad attempt to find some fault, any fault, to bitch about. The food I had there was the best I have ever eaten. What amazed me the most about it was the fact that chef Ramsay did not simply source posh ingredients, combine them in outrageous ways and give the concoction some trendy name. Instead he used many every-day items, such as chicken breast and cauliflower and made them into something special. This, to me, is the sign of a great cook - to be able to create something extraordinary from completely ordinary ingredients.Whatever the case may be, the new season of Gordon Ramsay's F-Word is on Channel 4 at the moment and I watch it religiously. I not only find it incredibly entertaining, but also appreciate the input I can derive from it. A while back I saw chef Ramsay cook a bacon-wrapped chicken legs stuffed with pork and pistachio served with pea and broad bean risotto and swore that I was going to make my own version of the dish. And tonight was the night. I changed the basic recipe very little. All I did was to substitute the pistachios with pine nuts and wrap the bacon only around the outside edges of the roulade in order to keep parts of the lovely chicken skin exposed. And the result was great. Thank you, Gordon Ramsay, for inspiring a divine dinner.
Christine at 10:53 pm
