Roasted Poussins With Green Wheat Stuffing Food

ROAST CHICKEN WITH GREEN HERB STUFFING

Steps:

• Wash the chicken under cool running water and pat it dry with paper towels. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 12 hours and as long as 2 days.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Oil a roasting or baking pan with canola oil.
• Make the stuffing: Put the breadcrumbs in a medium bowl. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the liver and gizzard with salt and pepper. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to the skillet and when it melts, add the giblets and cook quickly until browned on both sides, about 3 minutes. Transfer them to a cutting board, chop finely and add to the breadcrumbs. Off of the heat, add the wine and scrape the bottom of the skillet to dislodge the brown bits; pour the liquid onto the breadcrumbs and mix.
• Add the pork to the skillet and cook until browned, about 5 minutes; scrape the pork into the bowl with the bread mixture. Add 3 tablespoons of the butter, the onions and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper to the skillet and cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the sage and garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add the Swiss chard and cook until wilted. Scrape the mixture and all the buttery juices onto the breadcrumbs and mix to combine. Add the chives and lemon zest and taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if needed.
• Loosen the skin over the chicken breasts. Insert the remaining 4 tablespoons cold butter under the skin of the chicken breasts, pushing down to disperse them. Rub the chicken all over with a thin film of canola oil. Sprinkle the chicken heavily on all sides with 3/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the bread mixture, and stuff the neck skin with any remaining stuffing. Set the bird in the oiled roasting pan.
• Roast the chicken until the skin dries and the butter melts, about 15 minutes. Turn the heat down to 375 degrees F and continue to roast, basting the chicken once or twice with the fat that accumulates in the corners of the pan, until the thickest part of the thigh registers 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, 45 to 55 minutes.
• Transfer the chicken to a large platter to rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Strain the pan juices into a bowl and skim off the fat. Pour 1/4 cup water into the roasting pan, set it on a burner on high heat and scrape up any stuck-on bits on the bottom with a rubber spatula. Return the defatted juices to the pan and simmer together for 3 to 5 minutes to make a thin, natural gravy. Season with salt and pepper.
• Carve the chicken on the platter. Slice the wings at the joint, twist to remove them and set them above the chicken. Cut the thighs at the joint, twist to remove them, slice them diagonally at the leg joint to separate them into thigh and drumstick and lay them on the platter. Carve thin slices from the breast meat and let them lay as they fall; pour a little gravy over the white meat, avoiding wetting the crispy skin of the thighs. Cut the stuffed neck in slices, and serve with the rest of the gravy in a small pitcher on the side.

POUSSINS WITH APPLE STUFFING

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet, add pancetta and cook over medium heat until pancetta starts to color. Add shallots and celery and sauté until soft. Add panko, increase heat, and cook, stirring, until panko is golden. Add 1/2 cup stock. Remove from heat, stir in apple and sage and season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Dry poussins inside and out. Stuff each with panko mixture and tie legs together to enclose stuffing. Rub birds with remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Arrange celery stalks crosswise in a roasting pan large enough to hold poussins. Place poussins in pan on celery. Add 1 cup remaining stock to pan. Place in oven and roast 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove poussins from pan and remove trussing.
• Use back of a fork to press any juices from celery stalks, then remove celery from pan and discard. Add remaining cup stock, place pan over medium heat and stir to loosen particles in pan. Bring to a simmer. Strain sauce into a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
• Use a large, sharp knife to halve each poussin lengthwise. Arrange on a platter and serve with sauce alongside.

ROASTED POUSSINS WITH GREEN-WHEAT STUFFING

Steps:

• Make green-wheat stuffing:
• Soak wheat in a bowl of cold water, skimming off any debris that floats to the surface and changing water twice, 20 minutes total. Drain well in a sieve.
• Cook wheat, uncovered, in a 3- to 4-quart pot of salted boiling water , stirring and skimming occasionally, until just tender, 12 to 15 minutes; drain well in a sieve and transfer to a bowl.
• While wheat is boiling, cook onion in oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add coriander, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and pepper; cook, stirring, 1 minute more; stir into drained wheat with currants and pine nuts. Cool stuffing completely, about 20 minutes.
• Stuff and roast poussins:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F. Rinse poussins inside and out and pat dry. Cut out necks if attached and discard. Sprinkle salt and pepper inside and outside of birds, then stuff each body cavity with 1/2 cup stuffing. Spoon remaining stuffing into a small baking dish and cover with foil, then set aside. Tie legs together with string and arrange poussins, without crowding, on rack in pan. Brush melted butter generously over poussins, reserving remainder for basting.
• Roast poussins, basting occasionally, until deep golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and roast until a thermometer inserted into a thigh (avoiding bone) registers 180°F, and into the stuffing, 165°F, about 10 to 20 minutes more. Transfer poussins to a platter, reserving pan, and loosely cover with foil. Reheat reserved stuffing in oven while making jus.
• Make jus:
• Remove rack from pan and tilt pan so fat and juices accumulate in one corner. Carefully spoon off almost all of fat. Straddle pan across 2 burners; add broth and water and deglaze pan by boiling over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute. Transfer to a 1- to 2-quart saucepan and simmer until reduced to about 1/2 cup, 3 minutes. Stir cornstarch mixture; stir into sauce and simmer 1 minute. Add lemon juice; season with salt and pepper to taste, then pour jus through a fine-mesh sieve into a gravy boat. Cut off string and serve poussins with jus and additional stuffing.
• *Available at kalustyans.com.

LEMON ROAST POUSSIN WITH SPRING VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/ gas 7. Season the inside of the poussins generously with salt and pepper, then stuff each with a garlic clove, half a bunch of thyme and a lemon half.
• Sit the birds in a shallow roasting dish. Smother generously with butter, then season the skin with sea salt and black pepper. Roast in the oven for about 40 mins.
• While the birds are roasting, prepare the accompaniments. For the braised peas and lettuce, heat a frying pan and add a drizzle of oil. Sizzle the bacon for 2 mins until starting to crisp. Turn down the heat a little, toss in the onions, then continue to cook for 6-7 mins until they are golden.
• Pour the chicken stock into the pan, simmer for 2 mins, then scatter in the peas and cook for 2 mins more. Lastly, stir in the lettuce and cook for 1 min until just wilted, then set aside.
• For the spring vegetables, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and have a bowl of iced water at the ready. In batches, boil all the veg (except the radishes), then transfer to the iced water. The courgettes will take 3 mins, the carrots and leeks 2 mins. Drain the vegetables, then lay them on kitchen paper to dry.
• Heat a drizzle of olive oil in another frying pan, then stir-fry the vegetables until just starting to colour. Add the vinegar, lemon zest and a little seasoning. Turn off the heat, toss through the radishes, then drizzle with a little more oil.
• Check if the poussins are cooked by inserting a skewer or small knife between the leg and the breast; if the juices are pink, give the bird an extra 5-10 minutes in the oven. Once ready, remove the poussins from the dish and leave to rest, upside down, for 10 mins (this keeps the breasts from drying out). To make a simple gravy, remove the lemon halves from the poussins, squeeze into the juices in the roasting dish, then whisk together.
• Strain the lemony juices into a jug. You are now ready to carve the birds and plate up.
• Using a sharp knife, cut through the thigh joint and remove the leg. Cut each leg through the joint to separate the drumstick from the thigh. Carefully carve the breasts away from the bone, cutting through the joint to leave the wing attached. Carve each breast into 2 pieces so each portion has 2 pieces of leg and 2 pieces of breast.
• Spoon a mound of the braised peas and lettuce into the centre of 4 large, shallow, bowls. Neatly assemble a 'nest' of vegetables around the lettuce. Pile the carved poussin on top of the lettuce, giving each serving the same amount of meat. Pour over the lemony sauce and serve straight away.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH RICE AND WHEAT BREAD STUFFING

Steps:

• In medium sauce pan bring 2 cups of chicken broth and 1/4 cup butter to boil. Add 1 cup uncooked rice. Cover and reduce to simmer, stirring occasionally.
• Finely dice onion and carrots. In medium skillet heat 3 tbs olive oil over medium low heat. Add carrots and onion with a dash of salt. Sweat vegetables till onions are soft and opaque.
• Remove crusts from 12 oz whole wheat bread. Cut bread up into small squares. Lay on cookie sheet and toast in oven at 200 degrees F.
• Remove bread from oven when well toasted but not burnt. In Large mixing bowel, roughly crumble bread. (Doesn't have to be fine bread crumbs.) Combine with cooked rice, salt, paprika, pepper, sage, tarragon, carrots, onions and walnuts. Add 1 cup chicken broth to soften stuffing.
• Stuff your 5lb roasting hen with stuffing. Tie legs together with kitchen string. Put in a large enough roasting pan so grease won't spill out as bird cooks.
• Sprinkle outside of bird with a little salt, pepper, sage, paprika and tarragon.
• Cover with foil and roast in oven at 350 degrees F for 2 1/2 to 3 hrs or until juices run clear at leg, thigh joint. Uncover in the last 30 to 40 minutes of roasting to allow skin to get crispy.
• Allow bird to rest 15 minutes before carving.