Poularde de Noel (Capon stuffed with chestnuts and truffles)

Name: Poularde de Noel (Capon stuffed with chestnuts and truffles)
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: Four servings
Cuisine: french
Ingredients: 2 shallots; 1 tablespoon butter; 1/4 pound sausage meat; 1/4 pound small sausages (see note); 1/4 pound bread crumbs, soaked in milk to cover for 10 minutes; 1/4 cup Cognac; 2 fresh mushroom caps, sliced; 1 large black truffle (see note); Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste; 1/4 teaspoon thyme; 1 pound chestnuts (see note); 1 three-pound chicken; 1 carrot, chopped; 1 small onion, minced; 1 celery stalk, chopped; 1 sprig fresh thyme; 1 bay leaf; 2 sprigs parsley; 1 cup chicken broth; 1 cup Port

By Moira Hodgson

Total Time: About 2 hours 30 minutes
Rating: 4(8)
Notes: Read community notes

Featured in: RESTAURATEUR'S HOLIDAY

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Ingredients

Yield:Four servings

2shallots
1tablespoon butter
¼pound sausage meat
¼pound small sausages (see note)
¼pound bread crumbs, soaked in milk to cover for 10 minutes
¼cup Cognac
2fresh mushroom caps, sliced
1large black truffle (see note)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
¼teaspoon thyme
1pound chestnuts (see note)
1three-pound chicken
1carrot, chopped
1small onion, minced
1celery stalk, chopped
1sprig fresh thyme
1bay leaf
2sprigs parsley
1cup chicken broth
1cup Port

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2
Chop the shallots and cook them for a few minutes in the butter. Add the sausage meat and sausages and cook, stirring with a fork, until the meat is lightly browned.
Step 3
Add the bread crumbs, soaked in milk and well drained, the Cognac, the mushrooms and the truffle, cut into small sticks. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the thyme and set aside.
Step 4
Peel and cook the chestnuts and cool them. Break into pieces, reserving about eight whole ones. Add the pieces to the stuffing mixture. Blend well. Add the remaining whole chestnuts.
Step 5
Fill the chicken cavity with the stuffing and close the opening by sewing with kitchen thread. Rub the chicken with salt and pepper and roast for about one and one-half hour.
Step 6
After half an hour add the carrot, onion, celery, thyme, bay leaf and parsley to the pan in which the chicken is cooking.
Step 7
Transfer the chicken to a serving dish. Keep it warm, covered with aluminum foil.
Step 8
Skim the fat and vegetables from the pan. Add the chicken broth and bring it to a slow boil. Reduce, add Port, correct seasonings and drain in a sieve. Pour the sauce over the chicken.

Tip

This dish has more truffle aroma if slices of truffle are put under the skin of the chicken the night before. In this recipe, Mrs. Masson uses Jones-brand sausages. Chestnuts are peeled by first being dropped into boiling water for a couple of minutes and their skins slipped off carefully while the chestnuts are still hot.

Ratings

4 out of 5

8 user ratings

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Darlene P Bordeaux2 years ago

A Capon is a Chapon in French not a Poulard

Shelley6 years ago

Pretty good. Indeed makes a great deal of stuffing; we cooked the surplus in its own buttered cocotte. Added the port WITH the broth and reduced them together for the sauce—I don’t understand why you’d add the port to the reduction and serve up as is, per the recipe. Don’t use a canned or bottled truffle: aucun saveur.

Yvette6 years ago

Too much stuffing. Longer cooking time required.

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