We were taken to a beautiful store filled with the local fat of the land, where we acquired some sausage and a whole chicken, head and all. We decided to debone and stuff the chicken, a trick I learned much like I’ve learned nearly everything in my life, via internet searches and practice.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/kAekQ5fzfGM?rel=0]

PSA: I’ve deboned half a dozen chickens, and this was my first time doing so with a dull knife. It wasn’t fun. With $20 (a steel and a stone), a little technique, and some elbow grease, you can sharpen all your non-serrated knives easily at home. Once you’re used to using sharp knives you’ll never go back!

Poulet Ballotine de la Dordogne (Chicken stuffed with figs and pork sausage) Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 1 hour

raw chicken, sausage, figs, shallots, and garlic.

  • The Fat of the Land* Ingredients

    One whole chicken with giblets
One pound of bulk sausage
Ten fresh figs
Three shallots
Three cloves of garlic
Salt and Pepper

Deboning the chicken

  • Deboning the chicken with a very dull knife.*

    Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C. Roughly chop the figs. Cook the figs in a small pot over medium high heat until sticky and reduced. Add diced shallots, garlic, and chicken liver to the fig mixture, stir, and turn off the heat to cool. Debone the chicken. Reserve the bones for stock. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Spread the cooled fig mixture all over the inside of the chicken. Place the bulk sausage in the middle of the chicken and wrap the chicken around it. Flip it over, bake in a baking dish for one hour.

cooked chicken

This chicken was really delicious. The taste of the terroir really came out in the locally farmed ingredients and in the figs from the garden. Don’t be afraid to try your hand at deboning a chicken, and let your imagination run wild with the fillings!

Our tablescape.

  • Our tablescape.*