Chicken roulade or ballotine

This time a super classic technique, but definitely not a boring old school dish. We’re going to debone a whole chicken and turn it into a roulade or ballotine. I’m serving it with a creme de volaille, a mushroom cream and a parsley oil.

How to debone the chicken

First take a sharp knife and cut of the wings. All the trimmings you can keep for later. Then cut of the tail, this is the only part that you need to throw away because the flavor is really bad. Now turn the chicken around, give it a little push and start by making an incision along the spine. Then just continue cutting down all along the carcass. Every time you come across a joint you just cut it off. Once the carcass is completely removed you gently pull the legs from the skin. Use your knife if it’s still attached on some places. Then separate the wings from the breasts and cut away the bones. Now remove the meat from the wings. Then gently remove the breasts from the skin. Then lay some plastic foil on your worktop and put the chicken with the thin part towards each other on the plastic. Put another layer of plastic foil on top and use a small saucepan to flatten the chicken into a sheet that’s the same size as the chicken skin. Now use a dough scraper to tightly up the edges. Then put another sheet of plastic foil on your worktop and transfer the chicken skin on there. Make sure it’s nice and tight and then lay the chicken breast on the skin.

The cepes farce

250 grams	cepes mushrooms
	The chicken legs
	The chicken wings
5 grams	salt
1	egg
50 grams	butter
70 grams	cream

For this first clean the cepes mushrooms. Now add a generous amount of salt to some lukewarm water and mix this. Add your cepes and wash them until there completely clean. The salt in the water will help with remove any small bugs. Once they’re clean transfer them on a kitchen paper and let them air dry for 15 minutes. Then cut them in big chucks. Now heat up a frying pan, add a splash of oil and fry the cut cepes. Add some salt for seasoning and once the cepes start to color you can add a knot of butter and continue frying them for another minute. Then transfer them on a kitchen paper. Now take the chicken legs and use the tip of your knife to cut away the bones and any other membranes. Once they’re clean add the meat from the wings and chop it roughly. Now transfer the meat into a food processor and add the salt, the egg and the butter. Now blender this till it’s a smooth paste. Once that’s done add the cream and when the cream is incorporated directly stop mixing to prevent it from splitting. Also make sure all the ingredients are cold for this, otherwise you have a higher change of splitting the farce as well. Now transfer it into a bowl and add the fried cepes. Mix this. Now take the chicken and season the top with some salt. Then take the farce and divide it in a long line on the beginning of the chicken. When necessary make it even with a pallet knife. Now use the foil to cover your farce with the chicken and make a nice roll. Then lay some plastic wrap on your work top and transfer the chicken roll on there. Now wrap it as tight as possible. Then close one end with a knot and use the other end to roll the roll even more tight. Also make a knot on that side. Now trim the edges and let the roll set in your fridge for around 3 hours. Once that’s done lay a around 8 pieces of tying rope vertically on your worktop and 1 horizontal. Then tie everything together and make sure that it’s tight, but not so tight that you press away any filling. Now cut away any excess rope and tie one more horizontal string on the chicken. Then heat up a big frying pan and add a splash of oil. Be sure that the oil is hot before you put the chicken in otherwise the skin will stick to pan. Now fry it all around till golden and crispy. Once that’s done transfer it onto an oven rack and bake it for another 10 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius. Then let it rest for at least 10 minutes. After that use a sharp knife to cut the chicken and then remove the strings.

The chicken sauce

	The chicken bones & carcass
500 grams	mushrooms
2	big onions
400 grams	white wine
80 grams	dark rhum
4 springs	thyme
half a bulb	garlic cut in half
400 grams	cream

First chop the bones and carcass into smaller pieces. Then take the mushrooms and chop them. After that clean the onions and chop them as well. Now heat up a big frying pan, add a splash of oil and fry the chopped chicken until it has a nice light brown color. Then deglaze it with the white wine and let this reduce completely. Once it’s reduced transfer it into a big pot. Then add some more oil into a frying pan and start frying your vegetables. When they have a nice light brown color deglaze the pan with the dark rhum and carefully flambe it with a blowtorch. Let it reduce and then add it to the chicken bones. Now add half a liter of water to the frying pan and bring it to a boil. Then add it to the big pot and also another half a liter of water, the thyme, the garlic that’s cut in half and the cream. Now let this simmer for a couple of hours. After that put it through a fine sieve. Then use a hand blender to emulsify the sauce and give it a taste for seasoning. When necessary, reduce it some more or season it with salt.

The mushroom cream

700 grams	mushrooms
40 grams	white wine vinegar
300 grams	cream

First chop the mushrooms. Now heat up a big pot, add a splash of oil and fry the mushrooms until golden. Directly add a generous amount of salt for seasoning. Once golden deglaze the pan with the white wine vinegar and then also add the cream. Reduce this and then transfer it into a big blender. Now blender it till it’s a smooth cream and then check for seasoning.