I’m back after a bit of a blogging break courtesy of my gorgeous baby boy number three. My three little men aged 5, 3 and 9 months have been keeping me very busy, but finally (i am touching wood here and praying that i am not jinxing myself) everyone is sleeping through the night.  With that, the ‘new baby in the house’ exhausted fog is lifting and i can start getting back to doing a few things that i enjoy like blogging.

What better way to start back than with a great family recipe. Unusually for me, this is not one of my own recipes but one that Dublin Cookery School, www.dublincookeryschool.ie , kindly shared with me. I have tested it and it is delicious.

Dublin Cookery School are launching their summer Growing Gourmets courses for teens aged 12-16. This is particularly close to my heart , not only because i have done a couple of courses here myself (Modern Vegetarian Cooking and Eclairs Patisserie) so i know the quality of the tuition and facilities are great, but because i myself learned to cook at a summer cooking course when i was nine years old. It was that course and my mums encouragement that ignited this lifelong interest and passion that i have in cooking and good food.

I love to see courses like this for young people as i am a firm believer that knowing how to cook and education around nutrition are essential life skills that should not be underestimated and a love of good food and cooking is an amazing gift to give your children. And if nothing else, the more cooking your children are doing at home means the less you’ll be doing yourself 😉

Serves 6

6 chicken breasts, skin on

1 bunch thyme

10g butter

Oil for frying

200g bacon lardons

1⁄4 head iceberg lettuce, roughly chopped

400ml chicken stock

220g frozen peas

20g butter

500g baby potatoes

Salsa Verde

1 large bunch parsley, basil, mint, chives

1 clove garlic

Squeeze lemon juice

Black pepper

2-3 tablespoon capers, or to taste

Extra virgin olive oil, about 120ml or more as required

Method

Sauté the lardons in sunflower oil until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper to

remove the excess oil. Return to the saucepan. Add the chicken stock and reduce by

half. Add the peas, the lettuce and the butter. Check the seasoning.

With the skin on, boil the potatoes until just tender. Drain and slice the potatoes into

halves or quarters. Set aside until ready to use.

For the salsa verde

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend. Season with pepper and salt, if

necessary. Taste and add more lemon juice, if necessary and more olive oil, if the

salsa verde is too thick.

Season the chicken with salt and black pepper. Heat the oil in a pan and add the

chicken, skin side down. Brown the chicken on the pan for about 5 minutes, then add

the thyme and butter. Leave the chicken on the pan (or transfer to a baking tray or

ovenproof dish) and place in the oven for 6-8 minutes, depending on the thickness of

the chicken. Remove and leave to rest for about 3 minutes. Reheat the pea broth, add

a few tablespoons of salsa verde. Dress the baby potatoes also with some salsa verde

and season if necessary. Arrange the potatoes in the center of a wide soup bowl. Pour

the pea broth around and place the chicken on top of the potato.

Happy Cooking,

Dublin Mummy x

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