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Yorkshire Chicken Leg stuffed with Bacon and Prune Recipe
by Drew Snaith
6
3 hours
Ingredients

Chicken sauce

  • 2kg chicken wings
  • 2kg chicken carcass
  • 1 pig's trotter
  • 1 carrot
  • 3 celery sticks
  • 2 white onions
  • 10g of fresh thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1l white wine

Stuffing

  • 50g of cold-pressed rapeseed oil
  • 2 large white onions, finely diced
  • 15g of garlic cloves, crushed
  • 5g of fine salt
  • 80g of pitted prunes, rough brunoise
  • 50ml of bourbon whiskey
  • 300g of smoked bacon, minced
  • 200g of sausage meat
  • 5g of thyme, picked and chopped

Apple ketchup

  • 6 apples, something fairly sharp like an Evita or Russet
  • 3g of fennel seeds
  • 2g of coriander seeds
  • 110g of caster sugar
  • 150g of cider vinegar
  • 8g of chicken bouillon

Chicken

  • 6 chicken legs

Garnish

  • 4 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 20g of chervil, finely chopped
Method
1

Preheat the oven to 160°C

2

Roast the chicken wings and carcass, spreading them out on a suitable tray (you may need to use more than one), for 1 hour. Stir the bones every 20 minutes until they are fully golden and caramelised

  • 2kg chicken wings
  • 2kg chicken carcass
3

Carefully pour off the chicken fat from the trays into a stock pot

4

Put the stock pot onto a medium heat, add in the vegetables and aromatics and cook until the vegetables are golden brown

  • 1 carrot
  • 3 celery sticks
  • 2 white onions
  • 10g of fresh thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
5

Deglaze the roasting trays with the white wine and then scrape all the bones and fond into the stock pot 

  • 1l white wine
6

Cover with water and simmer for at least 6 hours, ideally 10, skimming the scum and fat often. You know the stock is done when the room smells of chicken.

7

When the stock is cooked, strain through a colander and reduce until it coats the back of a spoon. Reserve until required

8

In a large saucepan, over a low heat, add the oil then sweat the onions and garlic with the salt until tender

  • 50g of cold-pressed rapeseed oil
  • 2 large white onions, finely diced
  • 15g of garlic cloves, crushed
  • 5g of fine salt
9

Add in the prunes and bourbon and cook for a further 2 minutes

  • 80g of pitted prunes, rough brunoise
  • 50ml of bourbon whiskey
10

Remove from the heat and allow to fully cool, then mix with all the remaining ingredients together and set aside

  • 300g of smoked bacon, minced
  • 200g of sausage meat
  • 5g of thyme, picked and chopped
  • 50g of cold-pressed rapeseed oil
11

Preheat the oven to 140°C

12

Leaving the apples whole, remove their cores with a sharp knife. Place in an oven tray and roast in the oven for about 1 hour or until soft

13

Toast and finely grind the spices for the apple ketchup

  • 3g of fennel seeds
  • 2g of coriander seeds
14

Make a dry caramel with the sugar in a high-sided pan. Heat it up until it melts, swirling the pan to make sure all the sugar is dissolved

  • 110g of caster sugar
15

Very carefully add the vinegar a little bit at a time – it will bubble up aggressively and is extremely hot

  • 150g of cider vinegar
16

Bring the mixture back to a boil, whisking until smooth

17

Add in the remaining ingredients and the cooked apples (without the skins) and cook over a medium heat until the liquid is fully reduced. Stir often to prevent catching

  • 6 apples, pick something with good acidity like an Evita or Russet
  • 8g of chicken bouillon
18

Blend until smooth

19

Next, debone the chicken leg so that it can be stuffed. First place the chicken leg on a chopping board skin side down. Carefully cut on either side of the thigh bone to open out the leg and then whilst lifting the bone cut the bone away from the thigh meat, cut through the cartilage at the joint to fully remove the thigh bone

  • 6 chicken legs
20

Now, holding the leg, push back the thigh meat over the drumstick to create tension. Carefully using a very sharp knife cut around the top of the drum stick, cutting all the way to the bone and through all tendons. Peel Back the drumstick flesh from the bone (it should strip away cleanly) and using a heavy sharp knife,  chop through the bone, leaving just the knuckle attached

21

Turn the leg back out and you should be left with just the deboned meat. Stuff the cavity you have created with the stuffing mix and tie the leg with butchers twine in three places so the stuffing holds and is even throughout

22

To cook, you can either use a barbecue or oven. If barbecuing, lightly oil and season the legs, then slowly grill above a BBQ until the core temperature reaches 65°C. Finish with a blast of heat to get a good crispy skin

23

If using the oven, first preheat the oven to 220°C, then roast in the oven for 6-8 minutes until the skin caramelises. Drop the oven temperature to 140°C and roast until the chicken is cooked through. This will take around 10-15 minutes

24

Warm the chicken sauce

25

Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes, then remove the string from the chicken leg and carve it into thick slices

26

Arrange the chicken on a hot plate with the apple ketchup alongside, then pour over the hot sauce and serve, garnished with the spring onion and chervil

  • 4 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 20g of chervil, finely chopped