Morels and Pinot Noir — A love story.
Home Block Pinot Noir & Crispy skin chicken with morels
Ingredients
4 chicken thighs [skin on, bone out]
2 Leeks [cut in 1/4s lengthwise and then sliced into rough 1cm pieces]
200g Morels [cut in half]
150g Smoked bacon or pancetta [cut into lardon sized pieces]
2 Garlic cloves [mined finely]
1 tsp Rosemary [chopped]
1 tsp Thyme [chopped]
1 tbs Butter [unsalted]
½ bunch of Italian Parsley [roughly chopped]
Salt & Pepper
1 garlic clove-minced
Salt & pepper
Method
- Pre heat your grill or BBQ to a medium high heat
- In a heavy based pot over a low/medium heat add your bacon with a little cooking oil and gently allow the bacon to render and get a little crispy, this should take about 6-8 minutes.
- Add the cleaned morels and turn the heat up a bit and allow the mushrooms to sauté in the bacon fat, season with a pinch of salt and pepper
- Add the minced garlic, rosemary and thyme and allow the garlic to take on a golden brown colour.
- Add the leeks and cook for a few minutes more, turn the pan down a bit and cook everything together until the leeks have softened and have very little bite.
- While you are waiting for the leeks to soften season your chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, rub a tiny bit of oil on the chicken (it’s also a good idea to take a little oil onto a piece of kitchen towel and rub the bars of your grill with it-this will help the chicken not to stick) and place the chicken skin side down onto the grill and cook over a medium heat turning rotating it once or twice, only once it’s almost fully cooked should you then flip it and cook it on the flesh side for a few more minutes. At this point the skin should be nice and crispy. Set it aside to rest keeping the chicken skin side up
- Once the leeks have softened add the chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice, taste and season if needed.
- Put the leek, morel and bacon onto the plate and lay on the chicken. Serve with a dollop of aioli or some fresh grated horseradish and a crunchy green salad
Pair with a glass of Platinum Home Block Pinot Noir and congratulate yourself of a job well done.