There are 120 people in the UK who hold the title “Master Chef of Great Britain”, and David Ryan is one of them. In fact he’s number six on the list, a few places down from Brian Turner!

David and his “sous-chef” wife Libby came to our first meeting of the season to demonstrate a one-pot cooking dish and give us all a taste!

To accompany his preparation and cooking he told us something of his life story, which included a number of humorous anecdotes about the various top London hotels where he has worked and the staff he worked with. These stories went down very well along with the Warm Chicken, Tomatoes & Lemon Cous-cous which he served up to us at the end! (Recipe below).

A very enjoyable and tasty evening; as one member put it:

“What a lovely night that was, such an interesting life & lovely food to top it off.  I hope everyone appreciated it as much as I did!”

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WARM CHICKEN & TOMATOES WITH LEMON COUS-COUS

INGREDIENTS
RECIPE FOR FOUR PORTIONS

Four Chicken Breasts – trimmed
One Peeled Onion – Finely Chopped
Two Cloves of Garlic – Chopped
Eight Spring Onions – Finely Chopped
One Stick of Celery – Chopped
Four Tomatoes – Peeled, De-Seeded and Diced
½ Glass of Wine
¼ pt. Tomato Passata
One Courgette – Finely Chopped
1 tbsp. of White Wine Vinegar
1 tbsp. Chopped Fresh Herbs
1 tbsp. Caster Sugar

METHOD

1. Seal & Season Chicken Breast in pan until well-sealed.
2. Place onto baking tray and cook for 20-20 minutes @ 120.
3. In a pan sweat garlic, red onion & spring onion until soft.
4. Add the celery and diced tomato puree & white wine
5. Add the tomato passata and the finely chopped courgette
6. Add tbsp. vinegar and caster sugar.
7. Cook for five mins, season and add chopped herbs
8. Slice the chicken and top with the sauce.

LEMON COUS-COUS

INGREDIENTS

Two Lemons, Zest & Juice
100 grams Couscous
1pt BOILING Vegetable Stock
1tsp Turmeric
2tbsp Chopped Chives

METHOD

1. Mix all ingredients and cling film.  Leave for three minutes and fork through.
2. Season & serve.