Rick Stein's : Stuffed Chicken Legs with Mushrooms and Cheese

This recipe suggestion is a little piece of 'Secret France' from one of my favourite chefs Rick Stein. I always enjoy his excellent cookery series and in fact the BBC have been showing a new one, 'Secret France', where Rick gets off the beaten track and takes to the backroads of France – a less discovered France that still cherishes the best of its past and is creating modern exciting dishes that are still unmistakably French. This recipe was inspired by Ricks visit to Malbuisson in the Haut-Jura region of France, and it's another winner! 
Cheers Rick - here's to good food and wine!

Here is the recipe:-

Ingredients 
Serves Six

30g/1oz butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
200g/7oz Portobello mushrooms, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
75g/2¾oz cream cheese or mascarpone, beaten until soft
75g/2¾oz Comté or other Alpine cheese, finely grated
small handful fresh flatleaf parsley, chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
6 chicken legs (thigh and leg together), bone in and skin on
250ml/9fl oz. chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper

mashed swede or potatoes* and cooked green beans, to serve

Method
1. Heat 20g/¾oz of the butter and 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the mushrooms and garlic and fry for about 10 minutes until the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.
2. Mix the cream cheese, Comté, parsley and thyme in a bowl. Stir in the cooled mushrooms and season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Place a chicken leg skin-side down. Feel for the thigh bone with your fingers then, with a sharp knife, carefully cut down through the flesh either side of the bone. With the tip of the knife, cut around the bone and scrape away the flesh, leaving the bone as clean as possible. Twist the bone at the joint with the drumstick and, with scissors or a knife, cut out the thigh bone, leaving the drumstick bone in place.
4. Fill the cavity left by the bone with a sixth of the mushroom stuffing. Secure the chicken flesh around the stuffing using a few cocktail sticks, . Brush the skin with the remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Repeat with the rest of the chicken legs.
5. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Heat the remaining butter in a frying pan and brown the chicken legs. Transfer to a roasting tin and roast for 25–30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. The chicken is cooked when the juices run clear with no trace of pink when the thickest part of the leg is pierced with a skewer.
6. Remove the chicken from the pan and add the chicken stock into the pan to deglaze. Scrape the pan to get all the flavour into the gravy.

7. Remove the cocktail sticks and serve with the gravy, mashed swede or potatoes* and cooked green beans. 

From an original idea here

* I would serve with buttery mashed swede/rutabaga, as it doesn't spike blood sugar numbers like potato may, most important if you are diabetic.

More to read about swede/rutabaga here

Related Posts - more recipes from Rick Stein: 

Lamb Casserole with Aubergine / Eggplant here

Simple Cod Gratin with Béarnaise Sauce Topping here

Greek Style Moussaka here

Dear reader, you will find a variety of recipe suggestions and articles within this blog. Please note, not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter. 

All the best Jan