
Chicken Normandy
3h 55m
This recipe involves a deboned whole chicken for an impressive and very indulgent eating experience. The chicken is stuffed with a pork and prune stuffing, tied back together and then roasted. It is served with a rich, creamy sauce that's seasoned with cider and calvados.
This recipe is inspired by a classic French dish, Chicken a la Normandy. It is made with ingredients that are native to the region such as apples and brandy.
Peel 3 braeburn apples
Cut each apple into 8 wedges and remove the core
Add ½ cup of apple juice to a pan on medium heat
Add ⅓ cup of muscovado sugar. Heat until the bubbles become larger and the temperature reaches 140 ºC
Add 1 tsp of butter and melt
Add the apples. Stir to coat them in the caramel. Reduce the heat to low
Cook the apples for 4m, until slightly soft. The Apples in Apple Caramel are ready
Cut 3 tbsp of prunes into ½ cm pieces. Reserve in a bowl
Cover with 2 tbsp of calvados. Leave to soak for 30m until the prunes hydrate
Trim, peel and halve 1 onion
Dice the onion into very small pieces
Trim and peel 1 garlic clove
Small dice the garlic clove
Remove the casing of 300 g of pork sausage and put it in a large bowl
Drizzle 15 ml of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat
Add the diced onion and garlic and sweat them until the onion is translucent. Remove from heat before the garlic turns brown
Transfer to a bowl and let it cool slightly
Add the chilled onion and garlic to the bowl with the pork sausage
Add the soaked prunes
Grate ½ lemon and add the zest
Grate ¼ of 1 nutmeg
Season with salt and black pepper to taste
Combine with hands until fully incorporated. The Pork Sausage & Prune Stuffing is ready
Preheat an oven to 100 °C
Remove the wings of 1 whole chicken
Make a small incision against the breast to reveal the wishbone. Run you knife closely against both sides of the bone. Release it with your fingers by holding both sides and pulling it out towards you
Cut along the spine of the chicken
Remove the breast by carefully cutting alone the chest bone. Make sure not to knick the breast meat while separating
Continue to separate the breast by rotating the chicken to get a better angle. Repeat the process on the other side of the chicken
Remove the backbone by carefully cutting along the area connected to the meat. Be careful to cut as little meat as possible
Debone the thighs by making and incision along the bone. Detach the bottom part of the bone from the meat. Scrape the meat away and cut along the ball joint
Place 1½ cups of pork sausage & prune stuffing in the center of the deboned chicken between the two breasts
Secure the skin in place by threading a wooden skewer through the two sides of skin, starting on the leg side and finishing at the neck cavity
Turn the chicken over and pull the elastic food tie over the breast so that it sits on top of the wings and legs but under the breast. Twist to create a loop and pull over the each side of the wooden skewer to secure
Place the chicken in a roasting tray and cook in a preheated oven at 100 °C in the oven for 1h until the core temperature reaches 58 °C. Remove the chicken from the oven
Trim, halve, and peel 1 onion
Dice the onion into small pieces
Trim and peel 1 clove of garlic
Mince the garlic
Add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil to a pan on medium heat
Add the onion and garlic. Sweat until translucent. Stir frequently
Add ¾ cup of dry cider to the pan. Simmer and reduce until there is almost no liquid
Add 1 cup of chicken stock
Add ¾ cup of heavy cream. Mix and simmer until reduced by ½
Strain the sauce. Transfer it to a clean saucepan on medium heat
Add 1 tsp of dijon mustard and 2 tbsp of calvados
Add flaky salt to taste. Stir to combine ingredients. The chicken sauce with cider & calvados is ready
Let the chicken rest and preheat your oven to 250 °C
Brush the chicken with vegetable oil. Season generously with salt and pepper
Return the chicken to the oven and roast 10m until the skin gets brown and crispy. Remove it from the oven
Remove the wooden skewer and the twine. Let it rest 10m to settle the juices
Add the drained juices from the roasted chicken into the sauce and mix until thoroughly combined
Slice the breast of the roasted chicken and separate the legs
Garnish a plate with fresh leaves and place the roasted chicken over them
Serve some caramelized apples and pour the chicken sauce with cider & clavados over the plate
The chicken normandy is ready. Enjoy!
Yield 6 people
Apples in Apple Caramel
Braeburn Apple
3Muscovado Sugar
⅓ cupApple Juice
½ cupButter
1 tsp
Pork Sausage & Prune Stuffing
Pork Sausage
300 gPrune
3 tbspNutmeg
1Lemon
1Calvados
2 tbspOnion
1Garlic
1 cloveVegetable Oil
1 tbspBlack Pepper
To tasteSalt
To taste
Roasted Chicken with Pork & Prune Stuffing
Deboned Whole Chicken
1Vegetable Oil
as neededBlack Pepper
To tasteSalt
To taste
Chicken Sauce with Cider & Calvados
Chicken Stock
1 cupCalvados
2 tbspDry Cider
¾ cupHeavy Cream
¾ cupDijon Mustard
1 tspOnion
1Garlic
1 cloveFlaky Salt
to tasteVegetable Oil
1 tbsp
Equipment
Probe Thermometer
Probe Thermometer
Butcher's Twine
Wooden Skewer
Fine Mesh Sieve