Chicken Legs Stuffed With Morels And Steamed Et Farci Aux Morilles Recipes

STUFFED CHICKEN LEG RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add zucchini and onion; cook and stir 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Remove from heat. Stir in water, stuffing mix and cheese until well blended. Cover and set aside.
• Insert your fingers carefully between the meat and skin of each chicken leg to form a pocket. Fill pockets evenly with the stuffing mixture. Place, filled sides up, in shallow baking pan.
• Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

CHICKEN LEGS STUFFED WITH MORELS AND STEAMED (ET FARCI AUX MORILLES)

Steps:

• Put dried mushrooms in small bowl and add warm water to cover. Let stand 30 minutes or longer until thoroughly softened. Drain. Squeeze mushrooms to extract excess liquid. Chop coarsely and set aside.
• Do not separate legs from thighs. Using paring or boning knife, carefully cut down to bone of each thigh. Do not cut through skin. Starting at top of each thigh, cut and scrape flesh from bone, working downward as neatly as possible; leave bone bare. Work down around leg bone, scraping almost to bottom of it. Leave leg bone tip - 1/2 inch or slightly more - intact. As legs and thighs are boned, set aside, skin side out.
• Cut chicken breast into thin slices. Stack slices and cut into very small, thin strips. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Heat one tablespoon of butter in small skillet and add shallots, stirring. Add chicken pieces and cook, stirring to separate pieces, about 2 minutes or until meat loses raw look. Add fresh and dried mushrooms. Stir.
• Add chicken broth and cook about 30 seconds, stirring. Scrape mixture into mixing bowl. Add beaten egg to filling and blend well. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, heat remaining one tablespoon of butter and add chicken livers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook over high heat, stirring, about 2 minutes or until the livers lose raw look. Add 1/2 cup of cream and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Set aside.
• Remove and chop 2 of chicken liver pieces. Add to filling and stir.
• Place boned chicken legs skin side down on flat surface. Sprinkle interior with salt and pepper. Use small amount of filling at a time and stuff chicken legs, pushing filling down compactly into boned legs. Fill legs compactly at center, folding boned thighs over to enclose filling.
• Lay out 4 large squares of plastic wrap, a square at a time. Wrap filled legs and thighs to enclose filling. As each piece is wrapped, fold wrapping tightly to keep stuffed pieces intact. Arrange bundles in one layer in top of steamer rack and set aside.
• Combine brown chicken base and remaining cup of cream and bring to boil. Cook down over high heat until reduced to about one cup of sauce.
• Pour into container of electric blender (food processor will not work as well). Add remaining chicken liver pieces plus cream in which they cooked. Blend on high speed to make smooth as possible.
• Pour sauce into small saucepan.
• Place stuffed chicken legs in their rack onto steamer filled half full with water. Cover steamer rack closely and let stuffed chicken legs stand over boiling water about 20 minutes or until done.
• Carefully remove stuffed legs, one at a time, from the plastic wrap.
• Spoon a little sauce onto center of each of 4 hot serving plates and place chicken leg in center. Or serve sauce spooned over chicken legs. Serve remaining sauce separately.

CHICKEN LEGS STEAMED WITH THYME

Steps:

• Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and chicken and cook until the mushrooms begin to give off their liquid and the chicken is no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and add the port. Return to the heat and cook until the port is reduced by 1/4. Be careful as the mixture may ignite. Add the chicken stock and cook for 2 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the chicken and mushroom mixture and place in a bowl. Return the pan to the heat and reduce the liquid down until it is a syrupy consistency, about 5 minutes. Add the reduced liquid to the chicken mixture. Add the parsley and mix well. Cool.
• Remove the bone from the thigh to the first joint of the leg. Reserve the bones and scraps for the steaming liquid. You can ask your butcher to do this for you. Season the legs, inside and out, with salt and pepper. Lay the legs down, skin-side down. Place 1/4 cup of the cooled filling inside each leg. Fold the meat over the filling and secure closed with a toothpick.
• In the bottom of a steamer, combine the chicken stock, reserved bones, thyme, and olive oil and bring to a boil.
• Place the steamer basket in the steamer. Add the chicken legs in 1 layer and cover. Steam until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove the chicken legs from the steamer and keep warm while you make the sauce. Place 1/2 cup of the steaming liquid in a blender. Add the watercress and blend well. With the blender running on low, add the butter, a little bit at a time. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
• Slice the boneless part of the chicken leg into 3 slices. Place some sauce on a plate and top with the chicken leg.