Roast Poussin Paprikash
Yield
4
RECIPE Ingredients
- 4 whole poussin
- Coarse salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 bunch + 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 4 sprigs rosemary
- ½lb egg noodles
- 1 tablespoon duck fat or vegetable oil
- 4 ounces ventrèche
- ½ lb onions, cut into rings
- 3 oz sweet Hungarian paprika
- 1 oz hot Hungarian paprika
- Water, as needed
- 1 bay leaf
- 12 oz chicken stock
- 6 oz crème fraȋche
- 2 oz flat leaf parsley, chopped
Recipe notes
This saucy poussin recipe is full of flavor and well balanced with sweet & hot paprikas. Air-drying the poussins overnight ensures a golden, crispy skin.
RECIPE Preparation
- The day before you'd like to serve them, lightly salt the poussins. Divide the garlic, bunch of thyme, and two sprigs rosemary into four portions and stuff into the cavity of each poussin. Place uncovered in the refrigerator overnight.
- When ready to cook, bring a large stockpot filled with water to a boil and season the water with salt. Cook the egg noodles, drain, and reserve.
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Pat poussins dry, place in a roasting pan and rub lightly with duck fat. Roast for 4 minutes, then decrease the temperature to 300 degrees F, for approximately 5 more minutes. The poussins should be done when the cartilage on the drumette releases from the bone, or when internal temp is 165 degrees F. Remove from the oven and place in a warm area to rest.
- In a sauté pan on medium heat add the ventrèche. Render the meat crispy then remove i with a slotted spoon. Add the onions and cook over high heat until golden brown.
- In a mixing bowl combine the two paprikas with a little water to form a slurry. Add the slurry to the caramelized onions and cook until the slurry resembles a paste.
- Using string, tie the rosemary, thyme, and bay together. Add the chicken stock and the herb bundle to the onion mixture and reduce by half.
- Add the egg noodles and crème fraiche to the pan. Once the crème fraiche is added do not cook for an extended amount of time or it will break or curdle. Finish the sauce with chopped parsley and salt and pepper, to taste.
- Put half of the sauce with noodles on four warm plates. Cut the poussins in half along the breast bone and cut out and discard the backbone. Separate the legs from the breasts. Place the poussin parts on top of the sauce. Put the remaining sauce on top of the poussins and serve.
