DIRECTIONS:
Make sure leg and thigh meat is thoroughly chilled. Place in food processor bowl and process until uniformly ground. Add egg and cream and process until mixed. Season and add 6 sage leaves, process. Take a spoonful and drop into boiling water to cook. Taste for seasoning.
Lay whole chicken, skin side down, on work surface. Lay the pancetta onto the chicken to line the interior. Mound forcemeat evenly on top of the pancetta lined chicken and stuff into legs. Pull chicken up around stuffing and form into shape of whole chicken. Pull together and truss to keep shape. Place 3-4 sage leaves in trussing string on top of chicken. Place stuffed chicken in roasting pan and roast in 350° oven basting often for approximately 1 hour or until internal temperature is 160°. Let rest for 10 minutes and then slice into 3/4 - 1 " slices. Nape with essence of gold sauce (below).BONING A CHICKEN
1. Locate the wish bone, slice down either side and remove.
2. Cut the skin down the center of the back, neck to tail.
3. Begin separating the skin and meat from the carcass using small cuts, beginning at the neck. Remove the "funny bone", which is a saber-like bone near wing.4. Cut through the wing joint.
5. Work down to the oyster, cut through and separate the thigh joint from the carcass. Cut meat away to the keel bone or center of the breast. (Do the other side)
6. Pull the whole carcass free of meat.
7. Holding the thigh joint scrape the meat to the knee.
8. Cut around the cartilage and locate the top of the leg bone.
9. Scrape to the end of the drumstick.
10. Cut the end of the drumstick with poultry shears. Turn leg right side out. (Do the other side)
11. Holding the top of the wing joint, scrape the meat to the first joint.
12. Snap the bone out of its joint. (Do the other side)
Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add meat and brown well on all sides. It is important not to crowd the pan or the meat will steam, not brown and caramelize. Do this step in two batches if you have a small pan and combine the batches before adding the stock.
Pour off the excess fat and add 1/2 cup of the stock. Deglaze the pan and bring the liquid to a boil. Gently boil or simmer the stock to reduce it to a glaze. Repeat another 6 times using 1/2 cup of stock each time and reducing it to a glaze before adding the next. Add the final 1/2 cup stock and reduce the liquid until the sauce coats the back of a spoon and has the texture of heavy cream. Strain the essence into a clean saucepan, bring to a boil, and whisk in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. If using heavy cream, slowly pour in a steady stream, whisking to incorporate.
Other useful web resources
Eleda.com homepage
Gourmet Magazine
Cooks Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen
Epicurious: Recipes from Gourmet and Bon Appetit Magazines
Self-Employed and Small Business Health Insurance