SOME good feast days back again. As I write it
is Midsummer Day, birthday of poor St John the Baptist; on 29 June it is SS Peter and Paul, a suitable day for eating the very delicious fish John Dory, other- wise known as St Peter's fish, with his finger marks left on each side. And we can toast St Paul with a new unit of wine for all our stomachs' sakes, though I'm sure he would have been faious, as usual, with a mere unit. We have just had SS John Fisher and Thomas More, so quite a few heads have been rolling. But enough of all that. The following receipt I nave adapted from one given to me by the indomitable, great and good Anne Oxford. It was rather vague as to quantities and measurements, so I have tried it out and adapted it and hope you approve. It is a good summer party dish and extremely rich, I'm glad to say.
Chicken Demidoff
1 chicken of 31/2-4Ibs 8 oz chicken livers 1/2 pint thick cream
1 packet gelatine, 1/4 oz
medium sherry or the like (vermouth, madeira) 2 carrots 2 onions parsley stalks, bay leaf, thyme, tarragon 1 clove garlic 3 oz unsalted butter lemon, salt and pepper
Rub the chicken all over with lemon and squeeze a few drops into the cavity, place in a snug-fitting saucepan, upside down and just barely cover with cold water. Add about two tablespoons of sherry, three teaspoons of Maldon salt, the carrots and onions roughly chopped, a bunch of bruised parsley stalks, a couple of bay leaves and a sprig of thyme. Bring to the boil and simmer very gently until cooked, about an hour. Remove the bird onto a dish. When cool enough take all the flesh off the bones and place in a nice serving dish. (Return all the skin and the bones to the stock and cook for a further hour; strain through a fine sieve and muslin; chill and then remove the fat.) Put the scraps and the leg meat in first, then good slices of the breast in an even layer on top. Moisten with four tablespoons of the stock. Cover the surface with foil and place weights on top. Leave overnight or for six hours. Meanwhile make a chicken liver pate. Remove the stringy bits and any bile ducts from the livers and fry in half the butter for about three or four minutes, turning them over. Place them in a blender with a good grinding of black pepper, salt, the rest of the butter and a pinch of dried thyme, tarragon, marjoram and the clove of garlic. Pour three tablespoons of sherry into the juices in the pan, heat to bubbling point, then add to the livers. Blend to a paste, reserve in a little pot in the refrigerator. All this can be done a day ahead. When the chicken is pressed and chilled turn it out onto the foil and coat the base with half the liver pâté (keep the rest to eat at will), which I think is sufficient. Return the chicken to its dish, pâté side down. Now a chaud froid for the top covering.
Take three quarters of a pint of the stock and the half pint of cream, bring to boiling point in a saucepan, then simmer with a sprig of tarragon for ten minutes to reduce a little. Put the gelatine to soak in three tablespoons of sherry, when spongy add to the cream and stock off the heat and stir until completely dissolved. Adjust the sea- soning, then allow to cool until the sauce has thickened and is starting to congeal. This can be hurried by cooling the pan over ice, but don't let it set. Spoon a layer of the sauce over the chicken and return to the refrigerator until set, repeat the process until all the sauce is used up. It sets very quickly on the chilled chicken. If you have had the dish in the chill for a long time, take it out a good half hour before eating, otherwise the flavours and texture are impaired, I think. Serve decorated with diamonds of cut tomato and perhaps a few choicely placed tarragon leaves. It should be accompanied by a rice and tomato salad. Simply boil the rice in plenty of salted water, drain and dress immediately
with good olive oil and a tiny dash of tarragon vinegar, salt, pepper and a gener- ous scraping of nutmeg. Have ready some skinned, sliced tomatoes already salted and peppered, slide them over the rice with their juices and leave until cold. Sprinkle with chopped chives, tarragon or parsley.
You could also have a salad of green beans, french or broad, dressed in olive oil
and lemon juice. A fine and exciting dish, I think. I cut it into wedges like a cake, getting a layer of everything.
Jennifer Paterson
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