# King Henry IV's chicken in the pot



## Ozzy (Sep 7, 2009)

Hi everyone this is my first post so I hope you don't mind me jumping straight in with questions here I have only just signed up, and I love cooking, anyway.. I have some family coming over on Sunday and I'm stuck on a recipe and would love it if you could help me.  I'll type out the recipe also while I'm at it.

The recipe wasn't invented by King Henry, but its renowned because of him. 

Serves 6
Preparation 30 minutes. 
Cooking: 2½ hours. 

1 Chicken about 1.5 kg/3lb Cleaned out with giblets reserved.

For the stuffing:
50g/2 oz day old farmhouse bread.
200ml/7fl oz milk.
1 small onion, finely chopped.
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped.
2 fresh parsley sprigs, finely chopped.
200g/7oz Bayonne (or Parma) ham, finely chopped.
1 egg.

For the stock
1 knuckle of veal (or pork) weighing about 400g/13 oz
8 Carrots, halved.
4 small turnips, halved.
2 leeks, washed and halved.
1 small celery stick, halved.
1 onion, with 3 cloves stuck in to it.
1 garlic clove, unpeeled.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

*First prepare the stuffing*. Put the bread in to a bowl, add the milk and leave to soak in. Drain off and discard any excess milk.

Put the onion, garlic, parsley and ham in a bowl. Finely chop the chicken liver (from the reserved giblets) And add to the bowl with the soaked bread. Mix well.

Break the egg in to the mixture, season with salt and pepper and mix together gently but thoroughly.

Season the inside of the chicken with salt and fill it with the stuffing mixture. Sew up the opening of the chicken with ovenproof thread.

*For the stock*, fill a large saucepan with cold water. Add the knuckle of veal and remaining chicken giblets. Bring to the boil, skim, then season with salt and pepper. Add the stuffed chicken bring back to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1½ hours.

Add the carrots, turnips, leeks and celery to the pan, together with the clove-studded onion and garlic. Cover and cook over a very gentle heat for a further 1 hour, or until the chicken is cooked and tender - it is essential that your chicken does not boil at this stage! Discard the giblets, if preferred.

Check and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Serve the chicken on a large dish, surrounded by the knuckle of veal, the vegetables and the sliced-up stuffing.

The only bit I'm confused with here is how much water do I fill the saucepan with?(I underlined it) Do I need enough to cover the whole chicken or just a bit I have never boiled chicken like this before so I'm not sure how to go about it. Any help would be appreciated.. Thanks.


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## msmofet (Sep 7, 2009)

Ozzy said:


> Hi everyone this is my first post so I hope you don't mind me jumping straight in with questions here I have only just signed up, and I love cooking, anyway.. I have some family coming over on Sunday and I'm stuck on a recipe and would love it if you could help me.  I'll type out the recipe also while I'm at it.
> 
> The recipe wasn't invented by King Henry, but its renowned because of him.
> 
> ...


 i would add all to pot and cover/fill pot 3/4's of the way to top. you want to have a nice amount of stock when done (well i would) to use in another dish or gravy.


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## chefkathleen (Sep 7, 2009)

I agree. Plus you don't want the liquid to overflow when it's cooking. 

One thing I am curious about is the stuffing. It sounds like it would be too runny. Please let me know how it turns out. *maybe I'm missing something*


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## Ozzy (Sep 8, 2009)

msmofet said:


> i would add all to pot and cover/fill pot 3/4's of the way to top. you want to have a nice amount of stock when done (well i would) to use in another dish or gravy.



Thanks I'll try that. 



chefkathleen said:


> I agree. Plus you don't want the liquid to overflow when it's cooking.
> 
> One thing I am curious about is the stuffing. It sounds like it would be too runny. Please let me know how it turns out. *maybe I'm missing something*



Yeah I was thinking the same when I seen that, I will let you know how it comes out.


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## Constance (Sep 8, 2009)

I would put a couple inches of stock in the pot and then add more as needed. Otherwise, the stuffing will get soupy and boil away. It won't go to waste.


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