' CHICKEN & CAMEMBERT SAUSAGE .'

Free range Chicken , camembert & saute onion sausage , Ragout of Legumes , Apple cider jus , sauteed onions and Lemon thyme sprigs.

                 This plate was put together from all kinds of ingredient foraging once again, and I guess began with the borlotti beans I planted in spring and left to become a dried bean crop for autumn and winter meals, they've just been harvested over the last couple of weeks and now will be left some where dark and with a draft to dry. The sausage I used for this dish I can't claim any credit for other than discovering this fine cuisine while shopping. Both the accompaniments, the saute onion and the lemon thyme are also from my garden, in fact the thyme grows like a living carpet in my patch but every common thyme plant I try to grow fails.                                                                                          
                This was a very easy dish to put together and began with washing some dried mixed legumes ( red kidney, butter bean, chickpea & cannellini ) under cold water before placing into water to cover in a saucepan and brought to the boil. I then reduced the heat to a simmer adding a bay leaf, two halves of a caramelised onion, chopped carrot, parsley bunch tied up and pepper and salt. This was left to simmer until the legumes were cooked and soft in the centre, of which I then removed the pot from the stove and strained the liquid through a sieve. The onion halves, carrots and parsley were removed and the legumes were set aside. I then peeled and sliced some homegrown baby onions and sauteed them in a little butter in a medium hot pan until soft and translucent, these were then removed from the heat and set aside. Heating a little olive oil in the same pan and bringing the pan to  medium hot, I cooked the sausages rolling them around to prevent burning but also to give a good colour all over. Once these were cooked I set them aside on a plate to rest before slicing for plating. Working quickly I deglazed the pan with some three oaks apple cider lifting the caramelised bits from the pan. Stirring in a little arrowroot flour I reduced the jus to a thick honey consistency.                                                                                                  
                For the plating I spooned rounds of the jus on to the plate, slicing the chicken, camembert and saute onion sausage into various sizes and arranging them just offset of the sauce. I then placed the ragout of legumes along side of the pieces of sausage and the borlotti beans were left fresh as is washed and straight from the pod to the plate to give a contrasting crunch to the dish also to showcase the harvest. I then finished the plate by drizzling some jus over the sausage and and topping with sauteed onions and sprigs of fresh lemon thyme.