Chargrilled chicken breast and little gem lettuce with Blacksticks Blue dressing
Ingredients
for the marinade
4 boneless chicken breasts, skinless
250ml buttermilk
1 lime, zest and juice
2 tsps garlic powder
2 tsps smoked paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp turmeric
2 tsps of hot sauce, tabasco or similar
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tbsp fresh coriander, roughly chopped
2 tsps salt
for cooking the chicken
2 tbsps vegetable oil
sea salt & black pepper
for the blue cheese dressing
120g Blacksticks Blue cheese, crumbled
180ml soured cream
50g mayonnaise
1 tsp English mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsps of cider vinegar
1 tsp Worcester sauce
sea salt & black pepper
for the croutons
1 uncut loaf of sourdough bread (a day old is best)
2 tbsps of light olive oil
½ tsp cracked black pepper
for the lettuce
4 Little Gem lettuces, cut in half, washed and dried
olive oil
1 tbsp chives, finely chopped
Method
To make the marinade, in a large bowl whisk together all the ingredients except the chicken. Pour the marinade into a large sealable plastic bag, add the chicken, seal the bag and refrigerate for 4 hours.
To cook the chicken, pre-heat a griddle pan on a medium heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Brush the chicken with oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste on both sides. Griddle for 12-15 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden brown and charred on both sides and the chicken has reached 75°C at the thickest point of the breast using your food meat thermometer. Place the chicken on a warm plate to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
To make the blue cheese dressing, whilst the chicken is resting place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor, reserving 50g of the cheese, and blend for a few seconds. Check the seasoning and adjust to your taste with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. The dressing can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
For the croutons, pre-heat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5. Remove the outer crust from the uncut sourdough loaf and pull into pieces (don’t worry if the pieces are different sizes, they’ll look more natural when plated). Sprinkle with olive oil, season lightly with pepper and bake until golden and crisp (around 10 minutes). These can be made up to a day in advance and kept in an airtight container.
To fry the lettuce, place a griddle pan on a high heat. Brush the cut side of the Little Gem lettuce with olive oil and place, cut side down, on the griddle pan and fry for a few seconds to colour – don’t grill for more than 1 minute.
To serve, arrange the sliced chicken over the lettuce, drizzle over some of the blue cheese dressing and sprinkle the remaining cheese and some of the croutons. Finish with the chives and serve immediately.