Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

Sauce:
• 4 18-ounce poussins
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 12 black peppercorns
• 3 thyme leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 Tablespoons peanut oil
• ¼ cup white wine
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup chestnuts, roasted and peeled
• Salt and pepper, to taste
  
  Brussels Sprouts:
• 2 pounds Brussels sprouts
• 6 Tablespoons butter
• Salt, to taste
  
  Sweet Potatoes:
• 8 Fingerling sweet potatoes
• Salt, to taste
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• ½ cup chicken stock
• 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon minced shallots
  
  Hen Leg Sous Vide:
• 8 reserved hen legs
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 Tablespoons peanut oil
• ½ cup chicken stock, chilled

Method:

For the Sauce:
Remove the breasts, giblets and legs from the birds, season with salt and pepper, and reserve. Chop the carcasses into large chunks and sauté in a rondeau until golden brown. Add the onion, carrots, and giblets, and sauté. Deglaze the roasting pan with white wine and place the whole in small stockpot. Cover with water, add peppercorns, bay leaf and thyme, bring to a simmer and cook for an hour. Strain and reduce the broth down to 1 cup. Put the cream and chopped chestnuts into a pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt and puree in a blender until smooth. Stir in 4 tablespoons of the chestnut puree into the reduced broth and reserve.

For the Brussels Sprouts:
Peel the sprouts, separating the leaves. Blanch the leaves in rapidly boiling salted water, shock in ice water, and reserve. Melt the butter in a pan, add the sprouts, adjust the seasoning, and reserve.

For the Sweet Potatoes:
Place Potatoes in cold water with salt and bring to simmer. Cook until potatoes are just cooked through. Drain and cool uncovers in refrigerator. Slice potato in half lengthwise. Melt butter in pan, add potatoes cut side down and cook over medium heat until they are golden brown. Add shallots, cook 1 minute then add chicken stock. Reduce stock till it glazes the potatoes, add parsley, adjust seasoning and reserve.

For the Hen Leg Sous Vide:
Season legs with salt and pepper and caramelize both sides in peanut oil over medium high heat then chill. When legs are cold place in sous vide bag in a single layer. Add cold stock and seal. Set water bath to 149.3°F and cook for two hours. Plunge bag into ice water and chill.

To Assemble and Serve:
Preheat oven to 400°F. When ready to plate sauté the legs in a pan to crisp and finish heating through in the oven. Arrange Brussels sprouts and fingerlings in the center of the plate. Arrange cooked hen over the top and drizzle with sauce.

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