Roasted Poussin
Now, we can’t really claim too much credit for this. We saw it on a programme called ‘Saturday Kitchen’ and it was billed as a favourite of the wonderful and brilliant chef, Angela Hartnett. It didn’t get cooked on the programme but we got the recipe from the show’s website. We have altered it slightly because, although billed as a two person meal, we found it too much to eat, so we’ve scaled back on some ingredients. It isn’t a complicated dish (particularly as we’ve cheated a bit) and it really is delicious to eat! We don’t make the aioli … one of us is highly lactose intolerant so we use vegan mayonnaise (try it, you’ll never know the difference!) and just grate some garlic into it with a microplane. We also used shop bought French fries and cooked them in the air fryer, but it was a fabulous meal. Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients, it really isn’t a complicated dish! Give it a try, it’s worth it.
Roasted Poussin
Ingredients
For the Poussin
- 1 Poussin
- 50 g Butter
- 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley
- ½ Lemon plus ¼ lemon wedge
- Few sprigs Thyme
- 2 cloves Garlic peeled but whole
- 3 Sage Leaves fresh
- 1 Bay Leaf
- ½ Chicken Stock Cube
For the Stuffing
- 15 g Butter
- 2 Shallots diced
- 1 clove Garlic chopped
- 1 tsp Fresh Thyme chopped
- 100 g Fresh Breadcrumbs
- 3 Sage Leaves fresh, chopped
- 1 tbsp Fresh Parsley chopped
- 2 Free Range Eggs 1 whole, 1 yolk only
- Salt and Pepper for seasoning
For the Aioli
- 2 tbsp Mayonnaise we use vegan, it's good!
- 1½ cloves Garlic grated with a microplane
For the Fries
- 2 handfuls French Fries from the supermarket, life's too short!
- 40 g Butter
- 2 cloves Garlic grated with the microplane
- 1 sprig Rosemary leaves finely chopped
Instructions
Make the Stuffing first
- Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat and then add the shallots and thyme. Sweat until they start to soften and add the garlic for the last couple of minutes. This will take a good 5-8 minutes
- Stir in the breadcrumbs, sage and parsley. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Spread the stuffing into an oven proof dish and allow to cool
Next prepare the Poussin
- Put the butter, butter and lemon juice into a food processor and blend. Carefully separate the skin from the flesh on the breast and squeeze the mixture under the skin. You can use a piping bag for this, or just put the mixture in a bit at a time and massage it along the breast
- Put the thyme, lemon wedge, garlic, sage, bay leaf and stock cube into the cavity. Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat and cook the poussin until it is golden on all sides
- Place the poussin on top of the stuffing and put into a pre-heated oven at gas mark 6, 200℃, 180℃ fan. Roast for 30-40 minutes
For the Aioli
- Mix the mayonnaise with the garlic and it's ready!
For the Fries
- Cook the fries as per the instructions, either in the oven or the air fryer, or even in a deep fat fryer, depending on your preference
- Meanwhile melt the butter gently in a pan along with the garlic and rosemary. Once the fries are cooked, spoon the buttery mix over the fries and serve
