Autumn Chicken Ballotine - Special Occasion Dinner

rf1170

This dinner takes a bit of time to prepare, but it's by no means difficult. It's also totally worth it! Please let me know if you have questions, and let me know if you've tried a variation that turned out well.

A ballotine is a boned piece of meat (in this case, a whole chicken) stuffed with a filling, tied, and roasted. They're served hot or cold, and are infinitely adaptable. I think I'm going to use this technique with my Thanksgiving turkey since it cooks a lot faster with the bones removed - and you have a lot more room for stuffing! So here's the recipe I used with my chicken, which was a bit heavier than four pounds.

Prepare the stuffing:
1 cup sprouted wheat berries
1/2 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 medium apple, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups chopped kale
5 1/2 ounces crumbled goat cheese
2 Tbs chopped chives
1 tsp fresh thyme
sea salt
black pepper
Boil 3/4 cup water and add wheat berries. Off the heat, cover and let soak for about ten minutes. Brown the pork in the coconut oil and mix together with the remaining ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper. I used about half this stuffing in my bird, but I included the rest in the calorie count for the dish. I'll either eat it on its own or use it to stuff something else. Just be aware if you decide to follow my recipe.


Bone the chicken (and resist the urge to make the obvious joke). I can't explain the technique as well as Jacques Pepin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAekQ5fzfGM (I don't believe I can embed video here, but let me know if I can and should.)

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and spread the stuffing over it, making sure to stuff some in the legs and wings.


Wrap the chicken up and tie with twine (see the video for more detailed instruction).


Season the skin with salt and pepper, and brush with melted butter. Roast in a 375º oven until the bird reaches temperature (170º in the thickest part of the meat, which will probably be the breast).


Let the bird rest before carving crosswise into slices about a half inch thick. I served mine with mashed potatoes/roasted butternut squash, roasted chioggia beets with goat cheese, and a salad of romaine, mizuna, carrot, and red bell pepper. I hope you like it! I entered the recipe in MFP, and with an estimated 10 servings, it's 536 calories a serving.

Nikkie_too

What a gorgeous bird! And beautiful dinner.

Jacques is my hero.

I discovered chioggia beets this year - they're divine!

fallenangelloves

Looks amazing!