This is one of my favorite dishes to make with wild mushrooms. It was inspired by a similar dish I had at Alain Ducasse’s restaurant at the Bastide de Moustiers in Provence. The mushrooms are combined with sturdy homemade croutons, which keep their shape during cooking and absorb the flavor of the mushrooms without overpowering them, while the sauce gives another chance to show off the bounty of mushrooms. Although there are several steps involved, this is not a complicated dish to make to celebrate the season.
Ingredients
- 3 or 4 (1-inch thick) slices baguette, cut into 1-inch cubes, crust removed
- ¾ pound mixed mushrooms such as chanterelles, cêpes, black trumpet, or substitute cultivated oyster, portabella and button mushrooms
- 4 to 4½ pounds chicken with giblets or substitute a chicken liver if giblets are not available
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons minced shallots
- 1½ teaspoons freshly ground juniper berries
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley
- 1 tablespoon brandy
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°F.
To make the croutons: Place the bread cubes on a baking sheet in a single layer and put them in the oven. Bake for about 15 minutes, turning once, or until toasted to a golden brown. Remove and set aside. Reduce oven to 350°.
To make the stuffing and chicken: Make the mushrooms interesting-looking by cutting some in half lengthwise, some in quarters, leaving some whole, depending upon size and shape. This is a dish that shows off the mushrooms so they should be in large pieces.
Finely chop the liver, heart and gizzard or simply a chicken liver. Set aside.
In a frying pan, heat the butter over medium heat. When it foams, add ⅔ of the mushrooms, reserving the rest for the final sauce. Add the shallots and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of the juniper and half the salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are cooked through and have begun to release their juices. Add ¼ cup of the chicken broth, then pour the contents of the frying pan into a bowl. Add the croutons, another ½ teaspoon juniper, the thyme, the parsley and the chopped giblets. Mix well and set aside.
Rub the chicken inside and out with the remaining salt and pepper. Pack the cavity snugly with the stuffing to nearly overflowing. Tie the drumsticks together and place the stuffed bird on a rack in a roasting pan and roast, basting several times with the pan juices, for about 1½ hours, or until the juice runs clear when a knife is inserted into the base of a thigh. Remove the chicken to a cutting board and loosely cover with aluminum foil while you make the sauce.
To make the sauce: Pour off from the roasting pan all but about 1 tablespoon of the pan juices.
Put the roasting pan over medium heat and add the reserved mushroom slices, cooking them for 2 to 3 minutes, just enough to soften them. Remove the mushrooms and add the brandy, 1 teaspoon of ground juniper and about ¼ cup of the chicken broth, scraping up the bits clinging to the roasting pan. Add the rest of the chicken broth and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes to reduce the liquid to about ½ cup and thicken the sauce. Return the mushrooms to the sauce and turn off the heat. Cover.
To serve, carve the chicken and arrange it on a serving platter. Scoop the stuffing from the cavity and arrange it alongside the chicken, spooning some of the sauce over all. Serve any remaining sauce alongside. Serves 4 to 6.
