Sebastian Frank · Berlin, Germany
Zucchini with Chicken Fat and Roasted Vegetables (Horváth, Berlin)
A Michelin-inspired dish featuring tender zucchini, a robust roasted vegetable reduction, and creamy chicken fat, garnished with aromatic herbs and edible flowers.
Why should this dish be on your table? This recipe isn’t just food—it’s an experience, a masterpiece of culinary artistry. Inspired by Michelin-starred techniques, this dish celebrates the simple yet exquisite marriage of fresh, high-quality ingredients with bold, rich flavors. The zucchini, tender and buttery, contrasts beautifully with the deep umami of the roasted vegetable reduction and the silky chicken fat.
In this recipe, the brilliance lies in its simplicity and adaptability. While the techniques reflect fine-dining sophistication, the ingredients are accessible to any home cook. It’s a perfect balance of earthy vegetables and luxurious chicken fat, elevated by the caramelized complexity of a long-cooked reduction.
Ingredients
Method
- Rinse the chicken skin and put it in the large pot with the carrot, celery root, leek, juniper, bay leaves and the 1.2 litres of water.
- Bring to a boil, skim off the foam and simmer very gently, uncovered, for 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, heat the oven to 150°C (300°F) for the vegetable reduction.
- Heat the oil in the cast-iron pan until smoking.
- Sear the vegetables and mushrooms cut side down, in batches, for 4–5 minutes, until almost black on the cut sides.
- Put the seared vegetables in the ovenproof pot with the herbs, juniper, bay leaves and the 2 litres of water.
- Bake uncovered for 4 hours.
- Strain the chicken stock into a bowl and leave it for 10 minutes, until the fat rises.
- Spoon off the fat into a cup and keep 2 tablespoons of it.
- Boil the stock in a clean pan for 20–30 minutes, until reduced to about 150 ml.
- Soak the gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes (sprinkle powder over 1 tbsp cold water).
- Take the stock off the heat, stir in the squeezed gelatine until dissolved, add the 2 tablespoons of chicken fat and blend with the stick blender until creamy and pale.
- Pour it into the lined container about 1.5 cm deep and refrigerate for 4 hours, until firm.
- Strain the vegetable stock, pressing lightly on the vegetables.
- Boil it in a wide pan for 30–40 minutes, until reduced to about 100 ml and syrupy, then season with salt to taste.
- Cut the chicken fat into 1.5 cm cubes and keep them in the fridge until serving.
- Cut each zucchini lengthwise into quarters, then into lengths of about 7–8 cm.
- Melt the butter in the small saucepan over medium heat and cook for 3–4 minutes, until it smells nutty and has brown flecks.
- Bring the 1 litre of water to a boil with the kosher salt and blanch the zucchini for 30 seconds, then drain.
- Toss the zucchini in the brown butter with a pinch of flaky salt.
- Arrange the zucchini on white plates with the chicken fat cubes beside them.
- Drizzle with the warm reduction and garnish with the flowers and herbs.
- Zucchini:
- Slice the zucchini into quarters, about 3 inches long.
- Blanch in boiling salted water for 30 seconds, then drain.
- Toss the zucchini with browned butter and a pinch of salt.
- Chicken Fat:
- Wash the chicken skin thoroughly.
- In a pot, combine chicken skin, carrots, celery root, leek, water, juniper berries, and bay leaves. Simmer for 2 hours.
- Strain the mixture, reserving both the fat and the reduced stock. Skim off the chicken fat and refrigerate it.
- Reduce the stock to approximately 7 oz, mix in softened gelatin, and blend until smooth. Refrigerate for 4 hours until firm, then cut into cubes.
- Vegetable Reduction:
- Heat oil in a heavy iron pan until smoking.
- Sear all vegetables until nearly blackened.
- Combine seared vegetables, herbs, juniper berries, bay leaves, water, and salt in a pot. Bake uncovered at 300°F for 4 hours.
- Strain and reduce the stock to a syrupy consistency.
- Assembly:
- On a white plate, arrange the zucchini, chicken fat cubes, and drizzle the vegetable reduction.
- Garnish with edible flowers and herbs such as anise hyssop blossoms.
What we changed for home
- Batches cut down: 500 g of chicken skin instead of 900 g, and 2 litres of water for the vegetable stock instead of 2.8 Four small plates need a few cubes and a few spoonfuls of reduction, and a smaller pot fits a home oven.
- Salt in the vegetable reduction added only at the end, to taste A tablespoon of salt in nearly 3 litres of water that is boiled down to a syrup would leave the reduction far too salty.
- Some of the skimmed chicken fat blended back into the reduced stock with the gelatine The introduction describes 'creamy chicken fat', but the method skims the fat and never uses it again; blending it in gives creamy cubes.
- Zucchini raised from one small one to two One 85 g zucchini makes a single spear per plate.
- Chicken skin can be replaced with chicken wings Butchers sell skin only on request; wings give plenty of fat and gelatine.
- Lovage can be celery leaves, and anise hyssop any small edible flowers or basil flowers Lovage and anise hyssop are garden herbs rarely sold in shops.
The dish in the photograph was cooked by the restaurant for this story. Photo: Oleksandr Slyadnyev.
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