Stuffed Chicken Leg And Thigh Ballotine Food

STUFFED CHICKEN THIGHS

Steps:

• Wash and pat dry chicken thighs; lay them flat, inside up.
• Slice mushrooms and sauté with salt and pepper until they are brown; remove from heat.
• Wash and stem spinach.
• Chop spinach and add to mushrooms, tossing to wilt.
• Place about 2 tablespoons of this filling on each chicken thigh, evenly dispersing the remaining filling among the thighs as needed.
• Divide cheese among chicken thighs.
• Close the thighs with toothpicks (I used three per thigh) and place in a pie dish.
• Sprinkle paprika, crushed tarragon, and garlic salt over the thighs.
• Drizzle honey over all.
• Add water to the pie pan, cover with foil, and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes.
• Sprinkle remaining cheese over chicken and bake until the cheese is melted.
• Serve with steamed veggies, rice, and a fruit salad.

CHICKEN BALLOTTINES WITH SAGE & PANCETTA

Steps:

• Firstly neaten the ends of the drumsticks. Using a small sharp knife, make a cut all around each chicken leg, about 4cm up from the knuckle end. Holding the leg like a gun, squeeze it tight to pull the skin taut, then scrape down to the bottom of the bone to remove the tendons and clean the bone, turning the leg as you go (scissors are good for cutting the tendons). Now position your knife across the bottom of the exposed bone and bash the knife with a rolling pin or meat mallet - the bone will break smoothly.
• Lay the chicken legs skin-side down, pull the flaps of skin back and cut the flesh with a very sharp small knife on either side of the thigh bone using a shaving action. Once the bone is exposed, prise it out, then twist and snap it with your fingers to free it from the drumstick. If it doesn't snap clean you may have to cut it. You now have a part-boned chicken leg.
• Lightly sauté the mushrooms in a little hot olive oil for about 5 minutes until lightly browned, season well and leave to cool. Open out the boned chicken legs and spoon in the mushrooms. Cut the end off each chipolata and squeeze the sausagemeat over the mushrooms, using the chipolata skin as a piping bag. Push sausagemeat with your fingers right to the top of the thigh, then close the flaps and pull the skin across to secure. Now roll the legs over to make the parcels as neat as possible, then hold the exposed bone and straighten out each leg.
• Cut 4 sheets of foil (enough to wrap each chicken leg comfortably). Lay 6-7 rashers of pancetta down the centre of each sheet, overlapping slightly, then put the chicken legs crossways over the pancetta and top each leg with 2 sage leaves. Lift up the edge of the foil that is furthest away from you, bring it over the chicken and press down on the chicken, so that the pancetta comes away from the foil and sticks to the chicken. Repeat with the other side of the foil so the chicken legs are all wrapped in pancetta.
• Roll each leg in the foil, tucking it in and pressing it tight to the chicken to form a neat cylinder. Lift the cylinder up by the bone at one end and roll the foil at both ends, twisting to make a cracker shape.
• Preheat oven to fan 200C/conventional 220C/gas 7. Put the chicken parcels on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes, turning them twice. Turning them like this ensures they will be evenly coloured. Turn the oven down to fan 160C/conventional 180C/gas 4 and roast for a further 30 minutes, turning once. Remove and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Unwrap, tipping the juices on to a plate.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil and a knob of butter in a non-stick sauté pan until hot and foaming. Put the chicken legs in the pan and brown over a high heat on all sides, basting frequently and turning with a pair of tongs. As they start to brown, add a few small knobs of butter one at a time to the fat in the pan (adding the butter a little at a time keeps it fresh and prevents scorching). Lift the chicken legs from the pan and roll them around in the juices on the plate so they pick up a nice glaze.
• Cut the stuffed thigh meat of each chicken leg on the diagonal into 3 slices each. Don't slice the meat too thin or it will get cold. Spoon the polenta on to the plates, stand the drumsticks in the middle and lay 3 slices of stuffed chicken in front. Drizzle with a little vinaigrette and serve immediately, with roasted tomatoes on the side.