AN-COOKED YOUNG CHICKENS
with Cornbread-Chorizo Stuffing and Port-Ginger Sauce
Young chickens, known in France as poussin, are specially raised, meaty little birds relatively new on the American scene. Like Cornish game hens they are served one to a person for a dinner entree, and they make a nice presentation served whole. The sweet sugars in the jelly in this recipe help to caramelize the chicken for a juicy, moist interior and a very crisp skin. Chorizo can be obtained from Spanish meat markets, or you can make your own from the recipe in this book.
Serves 4
SAUCE
2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced 2 jalapenos, seeds and stems removed,
cup nonvintage port wine (Sandeman is a good and relatively inexpensive choice)
cups currant jelly, or a homemade jelly
such as Madeira
teaspoon cayenne
3-inch piece peeled fresh gingerroot,
cut into small matchstick strips
teaspoons sugar
cup water
thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
IV2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice 1 small bay leaf
% cup Spanish sherry wine vinegar
One
1Ч2 cups strong Chicken Stock (page 240)
STUFFING
Ч2 pound chorizo or kielbasa sausage, cut into small pieces Olive oil
1 Spanish onion, diced small Ч2 red pepper, diced small
yellow pepper, diced small
stalks celery, diced small
fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped
cups homemade Cornbread (page 210)
cup Chicken Stock (page 240)
Salt and pepper
4 poussin, cleaned and ready for stuffing Ч4 cup (¥2 stick) butter
2 tablespoons light oil for sauteing Orange zest, for garnish Lime zest, for garnish
1. Prepare the sauce: In a deep saucepan, sweat the shallots and jalapenos in the butter; do not brown. Towel off any excess butter. Add orange juice and bay leaf and reduce by half. Add the sherry vinegar and stock and reduce by two-thirds. Now add the port wine and reduce down to Vi to % cup.
2. Add the jelly and cayenne. Gently bring to a boil. (Keep an eye on this, for if it boils over it can be messy.) Once boiled, strain the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer and set aside.
3. Put the ginger, sugar, and water in a saucepan and reduce until all the liquid has evaporated. Reserve ginger for sauce.
4. Make the stuffing: Prick the chorizo skin several times to prevent it from bursting. Then cook the sausage in a 425-degree oven until done, approximately 10 minutes. Save the fat that is released to cook your vegetables. Reserve sausage and cool.
5. Heat a skillet until quite hot and carefully add the reserved sausage fat and enough olive oil to equal Vi cup total. Add the vegetables and sage leaves and saute until just cooked.
6. Break up the cornbread in a large bowl and add the cooked vegetables and sage. Cut up the sausage into bite-sized pieces and add. Mix all together. Now add just enough stock to moisten the stuffing.
7. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rub salt and pepper inside the cavities and all over the birds. Now, stuff the birds and tie their legs together. Rub the butter over the breast area of each bird. Add the oil to a hot skillet large enough to comfortably hold the birds and carefully sear the birds on all sides. Discard the excess oil, and with the breast sides down, put pan into the oven for about 15 minutes. Then remove the pan from the oven and ladle some sauce over the birds. Add the ginger and return to the oven for 5 or 6 minutes, or long enough to crisp the skins. Baste chickens with the sauce 2 or 3 times.
8. Serve birds garnished with orange and lime zests, with side dishes of extra sauce.
This dish calls for an aggressive young red, such as a Moulin-a-Vent from a good producer, or
perhaps a Nebbiolo d'Alba or Red Rioja.