Feature Recipe: Chef Al's Chicken
Sautéed chicken breast with braised thigh stuffed with chicken sausage, chicken jus reduction sauce
By: Chef Al

In addition to being an all-around delicious main course, this dish invites at-home chefs to practice a variety of techniques: butchering, making stock and sauce from scratch, braising, de-glazing and sautéing.

Chicken Stock
1. Break down the whole chicken into the 2 breasts, 2 thighs and 2 drumsticks.

2. Reserve neck bone, carcass, liver and gizzards.

3. Bone out thigh meat and drumstick meat. Reserve thigh and drumstick bones.

4. Over medium to high heat, add 5-6 tablespoons olive oil into a large stockpot. Add onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves, peppercorns, tomato, mushrooms, tomato paste, garlic, parsley, tarragon, thyme, all the reserved bones, gizzards and 1 teaspoon salt.

5. Sauté all together until vegetables begin to become tender and some caramelization begins to form on the bottom of the stockpot.

6. Fill with cold water just to cover bones and vegetables. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 3 hours. Strain and reserve the chicken stock.

Chicken Sausage-Stuffed Thigh
1. Remove the tenders (small piece of meat attached to each breast) from the breasts.

2. In a food processor, puree the tenders, liver and drumstick meat until smooth. You may have to add a few drops of the chicken stock. Make sure it is cold prior to adding to raw ingredients.

3. Mince the reserved garlic clove and chop the leaves of the reserved thyme sprigs; add to ground chicken. Season the ground chicken with salt, pepper, garlic and thyme.

4. Pound the thigh meat until it is 1/4” to
1/8” thick.

5. Spread the chicken sausage onto the thigh meat. Roll up and secure with butcher’s twine. Season with salt and pepper.

6. In medium saucepan, add 2-3 tablespoons olive oil and heat over medium temperature. Brown thighs all around and deglaze with chicken stock. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 12-15 minutes covered over low heat.

Chicken Breast Au Jus
1. Season chicken breast with salt and pepper.

2. In a medium sauté pan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil.

3. Sauté chicken breast 6-7 minutes on medium heat until golden brown on both sides and cooked nearly all the way through.

4. Deglaze the sauté pan with the reduced chicken stock from the braised thighs, and simmer breast for 1 minute to finish cooking.

5. Arrange breasts and thighs on a plate. Slice the thighs if you desire.

6. Reduce the chicken sauce in the sauté pan from the chicken breasts to a rich consistency. Stir in the butter and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Finally, spoon sauce around the chicken.
Serve with your favorite vegetable and enjoy!