Roast Stuffed Chicken

Transcription

1 Roast Stuffed Chicken Serves 6 to 8. By Dennis W. Viau; modified from a recipe in The Fine Art of Italian Cooking by Giuliano Bugialli. This chicken is supposedly made in the manner of suckling pig according to Bugialli. The comparison is a bird filled with a large quantity of herbs, spices, and pancetta. So are many other stuffed geese, turkeys, chickens, and ducks and, evidently, suckling pigs. I had been wanting to do a recipe for stuffed chicken; so this was where I started. Ingredients: For the Stuffing: 2 bagels, dried and cut into cubes 2 cups (473ml) chicken stock, preferably homemade 1 large (or 2 small) bay leaf 1/3 cup (2 ounces/57g) uncooked wild rice ½ pound (227g) pork sausage meat, regular or flavored with sage 2 ounces (57g) pancetta, coarsely chopped 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil for frying 2 ounces (57g) prosciutto, coarsely chopped 1 large (12 ounces/340g) yellow onion, coarsely chopped 8 to 10 large fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped 10 juniper berries, chopped fine 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves (needles), chopped fine Salt and freshly ground black pepper For the Chicken: 1 large chicken, 4½ to 5½ pounds (2 to 2.5kg) Salt and freshly ground black pepper Directions: Stale bagels work best, but fresh is okay. Slice each bagel into three slices and then cut into cubes. Arrange on a baking sheet and place in an oven heated to 275 F (135 F) for 45 minutes to 1 hour. When they start to brown they can be removed from the oven and set aside to cool. While the bagels are drying, heat the chicken stock in a medium saucepan and add the wild rice with the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover the pan, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer 35 to 40 minutes until tender. The bagels should be ready about the time the rice is done. Put the bagels in a heat-proof large bowl and pour the rice and stock into the pan. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Set aside, but stir the bagel cubes periodically until all the liquid is absorbed. Place the pork sausage and pancetta in a skillet over medium heat and sauté until the meat is cooked. Add the prosciutto and cook an additional minute. Transfer the meat to a bowl, reserving the oil in the pan. Sauté the chopped onion in the skillet until tender and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Assemble the stuffing by adding the meat and onion to the bowl of bagel pieces. Add the chopped sage, juniper berries, rosemary. Mix well and taste for salt. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. You will have extra stuffing. The stuffing can be made a day in advance and refrigerated until needed. Heat the oven to 375 F (191 C)

2 2 If preferred (some say not to), rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Loosely fill the chicken cavity with stuffing (it will expand, so leave a little room) and stitch the skin closed to encase the stuffing. Place the extra stuffing in a baking dish. Truss the chicken with kitchen string (see below). Season the bird all over with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in a large casserole or enameled dutch oven with the olive oil. Cover and bake 1 hour. Remove from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 425 F (218 C). Remove the cover and return the chicken to the oven with the baking dish of extra stuffing. Bake an additional 30 to 45 minutes until the skin is golden brown and the internal temperature of the stuffing reaches 155 F (68 C). Remove from the oven and let rest 10 to 15 minutes. Carve and serve with your favorite vegetables. 1 STEP-BY-STEP This is my mise en place for the stuffing. I prefer to use bagels for the bread because they make a denser stuffing. 2 To prepare the bagels, I cut each into three slices and arrange them on a rack to dry. If possible, do this the evening before.

3 3 3 Cut the bagels into small cubes. 4 For additional drying, if necessary, the cubes can be arranged on a baking sheet and baked in a 275 F (135 C) oven until dry and just starting to brown. The time in the oven will depend on how dry the bread is before it goes into the oven.

4 5 4 While the bagels are drying, heat the chicken stock to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the wild rice and bay leaf. Return to the boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer 35 to 40 minutes. Don t expect all the liquid to be absorbed. See the next step. 6 After the rice has cooked, add it and the stock to the dry bread cubes in a large bowl. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Set aside, but stir occasionally, until the bagel cubes have absorbed all the liquid.

5 7 5 Chop the pancetta and prosciutto. 8 Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the pork sausage meat with the pancetta until cooked. The meat does not need to be browned. Toward the end of the cooking time, add the chopped prosciutto and cook an additional minute.

6 9 6 While the meat is cooking, chop the onion. 10 To capture the oil for sautéing the onion, tilt the pan on the stove and let sit for a minute or two to drain the oil from the cooked meat. Transfer the meat to a bowl, retaining the fat in the pan.

7 11 7 Sauté the onion until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes. 12 While the onions are sautéing, chop the sage, juniper berries, and the rosemary.

8 13 8 Here are all my ingredients for the stuffing. This will make more stuffing than will fill the bird. The remaining stuffing will be baked in a casserole dish. Extra stuffing is always welcome at the table. 14 If present, remove the neck and giblets from inside the chicken. (Some people chop the giblets and fry them with the onions, then include them in the stuffing.) Some recipes say to rinse the chicken well, some say not to. Supposedly washing the chicken can spread bacteria around your sink and kitchen areas. I always rinse the chicken well and then use a little common sense by washing my sink and counter well afterwards.

9 15 9 Stuff the chicken loosely. The stuffing will expand while baking. This bird will be sewed shut; therefore, expanding stuffing could burst open the chicken. Using a trussing needle specifically designed for this purpose, thread the needle with kitchen twine and stitch the skin closed over the stuffing. 16 I have my own way of trussing a chicken. Some cooks use one really long piece of string and wrap and tie it here and there. I find it easier to work with shorter pieces. Tie the wings against the breast meat first.

10 17 10 Cross the leg bones and tie them together. 18 Using a long piece of string, wrap it around the length of the bird and arrange it between the crossed leg bones (see next photo). Now gently pull the string tight, forcing the legs up against the cavity and tie. Trussing the chicken, much like tieing a roast, ensures that the meat will cook more evenly.

11 19 11 Here is a closeup showing how the long string is arranged between the crossed leg bones. 20 Season the chicken with salt and pepper and it in a roasting pan that has a lid. If you don t have one, use a pan that you can cover with foil. I am using a rack beneath the chicken, but this isn t necessary. It will, however, make cleanup easier later because bits of the chicken won t be stuck to the bottom of the pan. If you have a good quality nonstick pan, a rack might not be necessary.

12 21 12 Cover and bake 1 hour. Remove from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 425 F (218 C). Remove the cover and return the chicken to the oven with the baking dish of extra stuffing. Bake an additional 30 to 45 minutes until the skin is golden brown and the internal temperature of the stuffing reaches 155 F (68 C). Check the stuffing in the casserole dish occasionally. If it starts to brown too much around the edges, remove it from the oven. It can be heated later. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. During the resting time the higher heat at the surface will migrate inward, raising the stuffing to a safe temperature. Remove the strings before serving. Conclusion There are three goals when roasting a stuffed chicken: 1. Cook the dark meat to the bone without drying out the breast meat. 2. Brown the skin until crisp and golden. 3. Bring the stuffing to a safe temperature of at least 165 F (74 C). Supposedly you can only achieve, at best, two of the three. Even Alton Brown says it is impossible to do all three. I ve been doing it for years, as the picture above shows. When carved, this chicken s breast meat was juicy and tender enough to be cut with a fork.