Ingredients:
Stuffing:
1 cup Dried Prunes, reconstituted in Armagnac and Water (50-50)
1 Spanish Onion (small dice)
2 Shallots (minced)
2 oz Grade A Foie Gras (small cubes)
2 cups dried Brioche (small dice)
1 bu Chives (tiny rings)
1 cup Chicken Stock (hot)
2 tablespoons Butter
Salt, to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil to coat pan
Anna’s Potatoes:
4 large Yukon Gold Potatoes (peeled)
3 oz Duck Fat or Clarified Butter (melted)
Salt, to taste
Natural Jus:
1 large Carrot
2 Celery Stalks
1 large Spanish Onion
2 Shallots
2 Whole Chicken Carcasses
12 oz Dry White Wine
24 oz Chicken Stock
1/2 bu Thyme
Method:
Stuffing:
Sweat the onions and shallots in extra virgin olive oil until tender. Add butter, chicken stock, brioche, prunes, chives, and foie gras. Season with salt and cool.
Anna’s Potatoes:
Heat a non-stick sauté pan to medium heat and add one half (1/2) oz of melted duck fat. Cover the bottom of the pan with potatoes that have been sliced on a mandolin, allow the potatoes to overlap slightly. Season this layer with salt and drizzle more of the duck fat over the top.
Repeat this process until the pan is about one and one half inches deep with sliced potatoes. Invert the “potato cake” and return to the pan. The top should be light golden brown. Place the sauté pan in a 350* convection oven and cook for 20-30 minutes until done. Remove from the pan and slice into wedges.
Natural Jus:
Roast chicken bones to golden and set aside Add mirepoix to stainless steel pot and caramelize lightly in a small amount of oil. Add the wine and chicken bones. Gently reduce the wine au sec (almost dry). Add the chicken stock and gently reduce by half
Strain through a chinois, and then discard the bones and return strained jus to heat. Reduce by ¾ and strain. Steep the ½ bunch of thyme in hot liquid for one minute; then strain. Mount cold cubed butter into hot liquid while whisking. Season to taste.
Chicken:
Split the Poussin or very young chicken (10-14 weeks) in half and remove the rib cage, wing and thigh leaving the skin on. Lay flat, skin side down. Season and stuff the cavity created by the thighbone. Wrap the breast around the leg to create a tight stuffed parcel
Wrap this with caul fat. Season the outside and roast (bone up) in 400 degree F oven until golden brown outside and internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Let rest for 3 minutes – carryover cooking will allow the internal temperature to reach 165 degrees.
Set on a plate or shallow bowl against a slice of Anna’s Potatoes. Sauce the plate and garnish with baby vegetables.