Chicken Thigh Ballotine
I love the browning on these
It’s about time I tried something a little different
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Difficulty: 2/5
Ingredient Availability: 4/5
This recipe from Joshua Weissman's latest cookbook is essentially a herb stuffed chicken thigh. I’ve never made anything quite like this, but I’m always open to learn something new. It includes one of my favorite herbs: sage. With that being said, I expect to like this recipe.
Key Ingredients and Omissions:
While everything in this recipe seems very simple and standard, there is one ingredient I’ve never seen in the store. That ingredient is ground fennel seed. Sure, you could grind it yourself, but I don’t have a mortar and pestle or a herb grinder. I just decided to use whole fennel seeds instead. I didn’t leave anything out of this recipe.
Tools:
Sharp Knife
Cast iron Pan (oven safe pan)
Cooking Review:
Debone Chicken: 9 minutes
I used 4 chicken thighs instead of 6, so this step may take you a little longer if you use more. This is why the recipe has a 2/5 in difficulty, as not everyone will find this step easy or straightforward.
Chop Herbs and Garlic: 9 minutes
Next, I chopped the garlic, parsley, and sage in preparation for filling the chicken thighs.
Filling and tying the chicken: 22 minutes
I made the filling by mixing the herbs and garlic with some salt, pepper, and other spices. Then, I added the filling to the underside of each chicken thigh. I rolled them up tightly and tied them shut with butcher’s twine and seasoned the outside with salt and pepper.
Sear Chicken: 12 minutes
After the vegetable oil had come to temperature in my cast iron pan, I added the chicken and seared each side until well browned. The total time I seared the chicken was 8 minutes, so about 4 minutes per side. During this, I added butter and thyme and basted the chicken In the butter for about 30 seconds before the next step.
Roast Chicken: 20 minutes
Finally, I transferred the pan to the oven to roast for 20 minutes until registering 165 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point, the chicken was done.
Analysis:
The flavor of this chicken is very interesting. The herbs contribute a lot of flavor along with the garlic and there is some spice that comes through. The chicken was tender and I think the browning from the sear really contributed a good amount of flavor, as well, despite not being very crispy. This is one of the most impressive chicken recipes I’ve tried recently. I haven’t had anything quite like it before and I wouldn’t mind making it again. I’m giving this recipe a 9/10. It really is nearly perfect in my eyes.
