Chicken Normandy

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!