Stuffed Boneless Chicken
(or Dr. Frankenstein's Chicken)*
Serves 8 to 10.
By Dennis W. Viau; my own creation.
Roast chicken is full of bones. Carving the bird at the table can be a challenge. What if you could slice a stuffed chicken as easily as you slice a loaf of bread or meat loaf? That’s a boneless chicken.
This recipe is adventurous. If you don’t know how to fillet raw chicken meat off the bones, you might want to watch the video for Boning a Chicken. Here is the link: CLICK HERE.
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, 5 to 6 pounds (about 2.5kg)
For the Stuffing:
4 large bagels, preferably stale
1 1-pound (450g) chub pork sausage meat
1 medium onion; chopped
3 cups (235ml) chicken stock (homemade or canned)
10 to 12 fresh sage leaves; finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon dry ground sage or poultry seasoning)
½ cup fresh Italian parsley; chopped (¼ cup dry parsley flakes from jar okay)
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Make the stuffing first, as you can work on the chicken while you’re waiting for stuffing stages. Slice the bagels into three slices and then cut them into cubes. Spread on a baking sheet and place in a 275°F (135°C) oven for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until dry. Place the sausage meat in a heated skillet over medium heat and sauté only until cooked, breaking up the meat with a spatula, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and add the chopped onion. Sauté the onion until tender and translucent, about 6 minutes. When the bagel cubes are dry, place them in a large bowl and add the chicken stock. Allow to sit, turning occasionally with a spoon, until the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Add all the stuffing ingredients to the bowl and combine. Cover and set aside.
Remove the two outer parts of the chicken wing, the wing tip and the mid-wing (wingette), leaving the drumette section attached to the bird. Cut through the skin along the back of the chicken, from neck to tail and carefully start removing the skin along the back with a sharp knife. This takes some practice. After it is loosened from the back it can be pulled back to expose the joint where the wings and the legs attach. Carefully cut through the wing joint and pull it out from the skin. The wing pieces can be set aside for making chicken stock later. Carefully cut through the leg joint where it attaches to the pelvis and pull the leg out, separating it from its skin. Finally, remove the skin, all in one piece, from the body of the bird and set aside.
Debone the chicken pieces to get the drumstick, thigh, and breast meat. Set the bones aside for stock. Spread the skin on a clean surface with the inside facing up. Lightly butter the skin (being careful not to cross-contaminate your butter dish with chicken juice) and lightly salt and pepper the skin. Push the deboned drumstick meat into the leg skin (turning the skin right-side-out if necessary). Place the thigh meat next to the drumstick. Place the two chicken breasts, rounded end toward the neck, inside the breast skin.
Place about half the stuffing mix in between the chicken meat, arranging it evenly along the center length of the chicken. Bring the back skin together again, enclosing the meat and stuffing, and stitch together with a skewer. Turn the chicken over, breast side up. Tie with kitchen twine in three places: Toward the back to hold the ends of the leg skin closed, toward the front to hold the wing skin closed, and in the middle. (The stuffing will expand while roasting and the string will help prevent the skin from tearing open.) Leave the neck and the tail ends open to allow stuffing to escape. Place the remaining stuffing mix in a covered casserole dish and roast with the chicken.
Place the chicken in a roasting pan and roast in a 350°F (175°C) oven for one hour, to an internal temperature of 160°F (70°C). Let rest 15 minutes. (The internal temperature should rise to about 170°F (77°C), which is considered a safe temperate for cooking chicken.)
Place the bird on a carving board and bring to the table. Slice it with a very sharp carving knife, into about ½-inch (1.25cm) thick slices—at the neck end for those who prefer light meat or at the tail end for those who like dark meat. As you slice it like a loaf of bread, each slice will contain some chicken meat and a portion of stuffing. Trust me, this really impresses your guests. Every slice is boneless. Serve extra stuffing from the casserole dish on the side.
*The Dr. Frankenstein name comes from disassembling the chicken and then assembling it again inside its skin.
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