Author Notes
As with any boiled dinner the sauce you choose to use to accompany the dish is important. For this I really like Pommery mustard and good cultured butter. I like the mustard for the dipping the chicken and the butter for any and all of the vegetables, but especially the cabbage. I will many times make sure I use a big pot and drop in an extra chicken to use for all kinds of things throughout the week and I always save the leftover broth for soup. —thirschfeld
Ingredients
- For the stuffing
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1 cup
oat groats
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1 cup
leeks, white part only, thinly sliced into half moons
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2 tablespoons
curly leaf parsley
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1/3 cup
pancetta, minced
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Kosher salt and pepper
- For the chicken
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1
chicken, 3 to 3 1/2 pounds
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2
yellow onions, peeled and quartered
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4
leeks, white part only, trimmed
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8
carrots
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8
yukon gold potatoes
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1
small head of green cabbage, cut into 6 wedges
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2
celery hearts, root end trimmed but left intact
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3
bay leaves
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8
thyme sprigs
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1 teaspoon
whole black peppercorns
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2
whole cloves
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kosher salt
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Dipping sauce of your choice, my two favorites are Pommery mustard for the chicken and butter for the veggies
Directions
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Place the oats into a sauce pan. Add a heavy pinch of salt then cover with water by 2 inches. Place the pot over high heat and bring it to a boil. Boil two minutes then turn off the heat and cover the pan. Let the oats sit for two hours.
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The oats should be tender but chewy. Add the sliced leeks to the liquid and turn the heat to medium. Bring the oats to a boil and cook them another 10 minutes. Drain them, add the pancetta and parsley a good grinding of black pepper then let them cool.
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Give the oats a taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.
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Rinse out, drain then stuff the cavity of the chicken with the oat stuffing. Depending on the size of you bird you may have a little extra stuffing but better the have too much than too little. Using a trussing needle, sew shut the cavity or you can pinch together the skin and run a toothpick through it much like a straight pin through a hem. Either way make sure you close the opening or the stuffing will wind up floating around in your broth.
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Truss the chicken legs and tuck the wing under the back. Place the chicken in a large pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Add cold water, make sure it is cold, to cover, and two teaspoons of salt. Place the pot over medium high heat. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer.
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Simmer the chicken till done, about an hour and a half. It takes longer than if you just poach a whole chicken because you have stuffed this bird.
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When the bird is done, fish it carefully from the liquid to a cutting board, remove the skin and carve the bird. Use a spoon to dig out the stuffing and place it on a platter surrounded by the veggies and then attractively plate the chicken on top of the veg. Serve with plenty of Pommery mustard and any other dipping sauce you may want.
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