Cock-a-leekie roast chicken sous vide
Often good free range chickens can be rather tough but this method is guaranteed to produce a succulent result with an interesting familiar flavour, especially for the lovers of cock-a-leekie soup.
Ingredients:
- 1 medium organic free range chicken (1400 gr)
- 2 large leeks
- 8 ready-to-eat semi dried prunes
- Salt and peper
Preparation method
- Carefully remove the outer leaves of the leeks retaining as much green as possible. Wash thoroughly.
- Blanch the leaves to soften enough to be pliable and immediately immerse in ice water.
- Layout a bed of clingfilm on the work surface about 45 X 70 cm. (you may have to use overlapping lengths to get the necessary width).
- Thoroughly drain the leak leaves and lay these overlapping on the clingfilm. We are later going to fold these over the chicken so that the bird is completely wrapped in the leaves.
- Place the prepared bird onto the leaves and season.
- Push four semi dried prunes between the leg and the breast on either side of the bird.
- Now fold over the leek leaves so that the bird is completely wrapped.
- Tightly wrap the clingfilm around the bird.
- Place into a vacuum bag and seal.
- Set the Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 150°F (65°C).
- Set the timer for 6 hours.
- Place the bird in the water bath and ensure it stays submerged. (it will have the tendency to float and will require weighting down.)
- Cover the water bath to avoid evaporation I find the Anova precision cooker lid works perfectly.
- When the timer goes off, remove the bag from the water bath. Carefully remove the chicken from the bag. Reserve cooking liquid and leek leaves to use in a sauce. Preheat a hot air oven to 220°C.
- Pat the chicken dry and place on rack in a roasting tin to allow maximum air circulation. roast for about 15 to 20 minutes until the skin is golden brown. Possibly using a kamado bbq to brown of the bird would also work exceptionally well.
- Let it rest for 10 minutes, slice, and serve.