Welcome, my friends, to one of the best cussing chicken recipes you’ve ever eaten. What the cuss am I talking about, you wonder? Let me start over. My food blogger friends in Fandom Foodies host monthly themed recipe link-ups. This month Katharina of Pretty Cake Machine is hosting #FFDahlicious, a recipe link-up inspired by the works of Roald Dahl. I decided to contribute by making a Chicken Victory Feast inspired by The Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Click here to skip to the recipe for Foxy’s Victory Chicken.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
So I chose to use both the book and Wes Anderson’s film as my points of reference for this recipe. Both the book and movie criticize greed for greed’s sake, as well as the measures one will take to preserve that greed. The three farmers, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, not only hoard their wealth, they engorge on it. Boggis eats three boiled chickens every meal, Bunce eats foie-gras-stuffed donuts, while Bunce subsists on nothing but hard cider. And ultimately in trying to keep Mr. Fox from having any of the excesses to feed his family, they decimate the entire local ecosystem trying to kill him.
Mr. Fox, of course, suffers from a case of pride that almost destroys his family and friends. In the film, he longs for the days when he was the best of the best in chicken thieving. He ignores his seemingly mediocre son, disregards his family’s safety so he can live in a beautiful tree near the three most dangerous farmers in the region. In both the film and the book he is so blinded by his notion of cleverness, he doesn’t think the farmers would retaliate.
It’s when he looks beyond himself to realize his role is not to steal for pride’s sake. He then brings together the other woodland creatures into his family so that they may work as a unit to steal from the farmers while remaining safely hidden. The feast in the book and film is symbolic of this union and that no creature can thrive alone. Cooperation is essential to survival.
One Fat, One Short, One Lean.
So for this recipe, I wanted to make something Mrs. Fox might cook up from the spoils of Mr. Fox’s foray into Boggis, Bunce, and Bean’s farms. A chicken dinner seemed obvious, so that’s where I chose to start. I’ve meant to use my new enameled cast iron dutch oven for a while and this looked like the perfect application. While I got mine on sale at Target from Chrissy Teigen’s Cravings line, it normally goes for under $50 — which is nice if you don’t have a Le Creuset kind of budget. Honestly though, as long as your dutch oven is oven-safe and at least 5 quarts, you’re golden.
I then chose to make a spice blend of dried dill, sage, mint, and garlic powder to coat the bird before doing a dry braise in my dutch oven with some apples and onions. The beauty of this recipe is that the dutch oven keeps all the steam in so that the bird braises entirely in its juices as it cooks low and slow in the oven. The result is super tender with a powerful jus that I then simmered with some hard cider a la Farmer Bean to make a velvety gravy.
So how does farmer Bunce figure into this feast, you wonder? Well, any chicken as glorious as this needs a flavorful dressing to pair with it. Bunce is also known for his smokehouse with ham and sausage, so I chose to make an oat and sausage dressing mixed with apples, onions, and more cider.
Does it sound conceited to say this is one of the cussin’ best chicken recipes you will ever eat? Yeah, I suppose I am feeling a little bit like Mr. Fox after his big victory against Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. My pride is not important here, though. The people, or creatures you share this meal with, are.
And as Mr. Fox would say, “we’ll eat tonight, and we’ll eat together (…) So let’s raise our boxes – to our survival.”
Want to see what other recipes our friends with Fandom Foodies came up with inspired by the works of Roald Dahl? Check out the #FFDahlicious link-up hosted by Pretty Cake Machine here.
Sing For Your Supper!
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Foxy's Victory Chicken
Equipment: Stovetop, 5-quart oven-safe dutch oven, wooden spoon, oven, 9″x12″ baking dish, strainer, wire whisk, cooking spray.
Ingredients:
- 1, 4-5 lb chicken
- 1 yellow or sweet onion, diced
- 2 gala apples
- 1 lb mild ground pork sausage
- 12 oz. loaf french bread, sliced in 1-inch cubes
- 3.5 oz roasted chestnuts (optional)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cups hard cider
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
- 1/4 teaspoon dill weed
- 1/2 teaspoon dried mint leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 teaspoons of cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions:
Cook the Chicken
- Turn the oven on to low broil. Spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast 2 minutes. Flip the cubes over and toast another two minutes. Transfer the bread to a mixing bowl with the roasted chestnuts. Move the oven rack to the lowest level then preheat the oven to 250° F.
- Prep your other ingredients by core-ing then dicing one and a half apples, carve the remaining half into 1/2″ slices. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Then mix the salt, sage, dill, dried mint, and garlic powder in a small dish. Tuck the wings behind the bird’s back and coat the whole chicken with the spice blend.
- Begin heating up the dutch oven on the stove top over medium heat until just smoking. Place the chicken in, breast side down, and scatter the apple slices and 1/2 cup of diced onion around the chicken. Cook 5 minutes to brown, then flip the chicken breast-side-up, using a wooden spoon inserted into the cavity to steady it. Cook another 6-7 minutes.
- Line the lid of the dutch oven with tinfoil then cover the pot, pushing the edges of the foil downward to prevent any steam from escaping. Move the pot to the oven and cook for an hour and 30 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the breast registers 160°F. Start making the dressing.
- When the chicken is done, remove from the pot and place on the carving board. Tent with foil, then let rest for 20 minutes.
Make the Dressing
- Start making the dressing by heating the skillet over a medium-hot flame on the stove top and toast the oats in the dry skillet for about a minute. Pour in a drizzle of olive oil then add the sausage, breaking it apart with a spatula. Cook and turn the meat with the oats until browned. Scrape the sausage into the bowl of bread and stir to mix.
- Pour another drizzle of olive oil into the pan and add the remaining apples and onions. Saute for up to 10 minutes, then deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of hard cider reduce for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat then stir in the stock. Pour the contents of the pan into the mixing bowl and stir until all the bread is soaked.
- Coat the inside of the baking dish with cooking spray. Then scrape the contents of the mixing bowl into the dish and spread it evenly with a spatula.
- After the chicken is out of the oven, raise the temperature of the oven to 350° F. Bake the dressing 30-35 minutes until the top crisps and slightly browns.
Make the Gravy
- While the dressing bakes, strain the solids out of the jus and discard. Pour the jus back into the dutch oven and heat over the stove top on a medium flame.
- Whisk the cornstarch into the remaining apple cider, then whisk into the jus. Let simmer for 20 minutes then pour into a gravy boat for serving.
- Place the rested chicken on top of the stuffing, then pour a healthy portion of gravy over the top before serving.
