This recipe is from the cookbook Matt Moran (Lantern) by Matt Moran.
This is a rustic dinner that tastes superb, which just goes to show that simple ingredients, cooked properly, can be sublime! It pays to prepare the chicken the day before and refrigerate it – that way, all you have to do when you’re ready to eat is sauté the chicken in a pan until crisp, then heat it through in the oven. Duck or goose fat can be stored in the refrigerator and used over and over.
Ingredients
Confit chicken
Method
Main
1.For the chicken confit, cut skin around the bone end of each drumstick (see note) and place the chicken in a large bowl. Mix together the salt, garlic, thyme and bay leaves, then rub salt mixture all over the chicken and leave to stand for 1 hour in the fridge.
2.Preheat oven to 120C. Rinse chicken and pat dry with kitchen paper, then place in a single layer in a roasting tin. Cover with melted duck fat and cook for 3 hours.
3.Place kipflers in a large saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until tender, then drain. When cool enough to handle, peel the skins off the potatoes, then slice lengthways. Blanch leeks in boiling salted water for 1-2 minutes, then refresh under cold running water.
4.Preheat oven to 180C. Place a little olive oil in a large frying pan and cook bacon for 1-2 minutes, then add kipflers and sauté until golden brown. Add confit chicken to pan skin-side down and cook for 5 minutes, or until skin is crisp and golden. Finish in oven for a further 2-3 minutes to heat through.
5.Divide potatoes among 6 plates, scatter with capers and chervil, then top with endive and leeks. Place small spoonfuls of mayonnaise around each plate, then arrange a piece of crisp confit chicken on top of the potatoes and drizzle with olive oil.
Note If desired, with a cleaver, remove bottom joint of drumstick.
Drink Suggestion: A rich, full-bodied chardonnay from the Hunter Valley or Riverina with flavours of vanilla, peaches and cashews. Drink suggestion by Peter Sullivan
Notes