Sous Vide Whole Chicken

By JimMac

A beautifully presented meal, this sous vide chicken is surrounded by vegetables. Serve the onion purée on the side to suit individual tastes.

Ingredients

• 1.2kg free-range chicken
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 400g of baby onions, peeled
• 250g of new potatoes, washed
• 2 garlic cloves
• 180g of carrots, peeled
• 100g of dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and drained, reserve liquid
• 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 50ml of cream
• salt
• pepper
• chives

Preparation

Step 1

1
Start by preparing the sous vide (water bath): add water to it and set the temperature, in this case 85°C, cook the vegetables first

2
While waiting for the water to reach the desired temperature, prepare the chicken and vegetables

3
Add whole trussed chicken (tied up so it holds together in the pouch while poaching), the chicken stock, half of the baby onions, mushroom and its stock, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, mustard, salt and pepper, seal the pouch. Reserve

4
In a separate pouch add the carrots, potatoes and the rest of baby onions, salt and pepper and seal

5
By now the sous vide should be ready at 85°C, if not wait and when ready place the carrot and potatoes pouch into the sous vide for 1 hour. Reserve

6
Lower the sous vide temperature to 62°C, when it reaches the desired temperature, place the chicken pouch in to the machine for 7 hours. In the last 20 minutes add the vegetable pouch to finish off cooking and re-heating

7
Preheat the grill to 250°C, remove the vegetable pouch, set aside. Remove the chicken pouch from bath and sieve the contents. Reserve the mushroom and onions. Place the broth in to a pan and simmer it by half

8
Untie the chicken and place it in a heat proof dish and under the grill for 5 minutes

9
By now the broth should be ready, add a knob of butter to achieve a shiny gravy

10
For the onion purée: add the onions (sous vide with the chicken) 2 tablespoons of chicken broth and cream into a blender, mix well, check for salt and pepper

11
Serve: vegetables around the sous vide whole chicken, place the onion purée in a separate dish. Enjoy