Ingredients
1 small to medium sweet potato, unpeeled
Extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp sweet paprika
½ lemon, halved crossways
1 tbsp capers
30g unsalted butter
6 rainbow chard stalks
1 garlic clove, peeled and bruised
1 bay leaf
1 cup very fine, fresh breadcrumbs or panko
1 egg
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
6 free-range chicken tenderloins (about 400g)
3 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC (200ºC fan-forced). Cut the unpeeled sweet potato lengthways and then into wedges. Mix 1 tablespoon olive oil and the paprika on a plate and roll the wedges in it, then place on baking tray. Bake wedges for 30–40 minutes, turning once.
2. While wedges are cooking, prepare lemon half for final garnish. Carve away the skin and the white pith to expose the flesh, hold over a small bowl, and with a small sharp knife slice down the side of each membrane, releasing the lemon segments into the bowl. Squeeze lemon shell over segments to catch the juice.
3. Soak capers in warm water for a few minutes, then lift from water and place in bowl along with lemon pieces. Set aside alongside 30g of butter.
4. Slice rainbow chard leaves from stalks, wash well, then roll up and slice into ribbons. Cut stalks lengthways and then across into small pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a wide, heavy-based sauté pan over medium heat with the bruised garlic and the bay leaf, and sauté the diced stalks for 5 minutes. Remove to a plate. In the same pan with the remains of the garlic and the olive oil, add the sliced leaves. Cover dish and cook for 5 minutes until leave are tender and bright green. Remove from heat, and return stalks to the pan to keep warm.
5. For the ‘schnitzels’: If using panko crumbs, give them a quick run in the food processor. Crack an egg into a shallow bowl, add some salt and pepper and whisk with a fork. Prepare three plates: place the flour on one, the fine crumbs mixed with parsley on another, and have the remaining ready for the cooked tenderloins.
6. Place each tenderloin inside a heavy plastic bag or similar and flatten it gently with your hand. Dip each piece of chicken into the flour, shaking off excess, then into the beaten egg, allowing any excess to drip back into bowl. Then, dip into the crumbs, coating well before transferring coated tenderloins onto the last plate.
7. Turn off oven (the baked wedges will remain warm). Heat serving plates in still-warm oven along with a serving plate for the chicken and one for the wedges. Tip cooked chard into a shallow bowl and place in oven also.
8. Heat ghee or clarified butter over medium heat in a frying pan and fry the chicken once pan has stopped sizzling – about 3 minutes per side. Remove to the heated plate and keep warm in oven.
9. Quickly wipe out frying pan and add 30g butter, lemon pieces and capers. Melt butter over medium heat, then shake to mix and spoon over cooked chicken. Divide the chicken and sauce between the warm plates, with sweet potato and rainbow chard as sides for self-service.
Stephanie’s Note:
If you wish to serve 4, simply double the ingredients – but ideally use two pans so all the frying happens at the same time for best results.
Wine Match
Chardonnay