Crispy Poussin with Mushroom and Pepper Stir Fry Sauce

The main purpose of this post is to show you how to make crispy chicken that is soft, tasty and succulent on the inside.

The secret is to poach the chicken pieces in chicken stock first then grill or pan fry it to crisp up the skin.

You can use readymade chicken stock but in case you want the real thing I will also show you some do’s and don’ts about making a good chicken stock.

Then there’s the sauce, a tasty green pepper and celery stir fry using the stock leftover from poaching with a hint of chilli and garlic.

Crispy Poussin with Mushroom and Pepper Stir Fry Sauce

You will need

For the stock (if making your own)

2 ½ Ltrs – Cold Water

1 Kg – Uncooked Chicken Carcass and (or) Wings (blanched and refreshed)

200 Gm – Carrots (chopped)

2 – Leeks (whites only chopped)

1 – Celery Stalk (chopped)

1 – Onion (chopped)

¼ teaspoon – Cloves

150 Gm – Button Mushrooms

1 – Bouquet Garnet

Place the chicken in a pan and cover with the water, cover the pan and bring to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer gently for 1 ½ hours.

Don’t simmer for longer, more is not better in fact quite the reverse.

After 1 ½ hours take off the heat and cool as quickly as you can by plunging into iced water.

When cool pass through a sieve and set aside until you are ready to use it. You can freeze what you don’t use ready for another time.

For the crispy chicken

1 – Poussin Chicken

Sea Salt

I’ve used a poussin but you can use any chicken portion for this dish.

To cut the poussin in half, place breast side down and make a deep cut each side of the back bone.

Lift out the back bone and the cut right the way through the centre of the breast bone.

 

Place in a pan, cover with stock and bring to the boil then turn to a low heat and poach for 15 minutes.

Take the chicken out (don’t forget to save the stock for the sauce) and let it cool a little, rub with the sea salt and place under a hot grill for 10 minutes.

Make sure your chicken is cooked through.

For the Sauce

 

1 – Celery Stalk (cut into short strips)

1 – Green Pepper (cut into short strips)

2 – Cloves Garlic (finely chopped)

1 – Green Chilli (de seeded and finely chopped)

100 Ml – Stock left over from poaching

¾ desert spoon – Plain Flour

50 Gm – Button Mushrooms

Heat a little olive oil in a wok and fry the mushrooms for 5 minutes.

Add everything else except the flour and stock then cook down for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle over the four, mix well then add the stock and stir seasoning well with salt and pepper.

Simmer gently for 5 minutes then serve with the chicken on top.