Poussin, Chorizo and Butter Bean Casserole

Don't be fooled by the title and the seemingly conflicted graphic I have included, a poussin is nothing more than a younger chicken. This in turn makes it smaller than regular chickens and therefore require less cooking time. 

On this day, I had intended to make a feta cheese and quinoa salad from the Ottolenghi Plenty cookbook, but I got a message from my boyfriend saying he wanted meat and must have meat! I was still craving a light dish, not a heavy stew that I have been making with the slow cooking meats as of late. I've also gone a little bean-crazy recently purchasing all the 'love life' products at Waitrose and adding different dried pulses to my dishes. 

So when I bought the little spatch-cock poussin at the supermarket, I headed straight for the cooking chorizo and the butter beans. I already had green lentils which I added to the wild rice and basmati mixture to serve with this dish. The whole thing took 40 minutes to cook and was delicious and hearty! 

I definitely made my life difficult by getting spatch-cock poussin. But I wanted the whole bird so I could pump extra flavour into the sauce by adding the bones. If you want an easier life, go with chicken thighs and cook for an extra ten minutes in the oven. Or if you're short of time, leave the poultry out all together and substitute with a chicken stock cube instead of plain water as the recipe is flavourful enough even without it. 


To spice this dish, I used smoked Paprika and dried Chipotle chillis from Seasoned Pioneers. 

Ingredients
1 Poussin, quartered (or 4 Chicken thighs)
2 links of cooking Chorizo, diced
2 Carrots, diced
1 large Onion, diced
1 stalk of Celery, diced
1 clove of Garlic, crushed
1 tsp crushed Chipotle Chillis
1 tsp smoked Paprika
1 tsp dried Cumin
1 can Butter Beans, draied
Water
Salt & Pepper
cooking Oil
1/4 cup of Basmati & Wild Rice
1/4 cup of green Lentils
pinch of Saffon (optional)
1 tbsp chopped Chives (optional)

Recipe
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees and get a large casserole dish on the stove to warm up. Add diced chorizo to the pot with a small dash of cooking oil. Fry on a medium heat until crispy. Remove from the pan then add the poussin or chicken thighs. Season the meat well with salt and pepper. Fry on each side until the skins have become a golden brown colour and start to crisp up. Remove the chicken and put to one side.

There should be a healthy amount of fat in the pan now from the chorizo and the chicken/poussin. Cook your onions, celery and carrots in this for 8 minutes or until the onions have become soft. Add the backbones from the poussin if using to give them a bit of colour. Stir well, then add the garlic, spices, chorizo and butter beans to the pan. Add about a cup of water (or stock) and using a wooden spoon, scrap all the lovely juices off the bottom of the pan. Bring to boiling point then add the poussin to the pot semi submerged in liquid. You want to cook the meat, but keep the skins crispy.

Put in the oven for 20 minutes. Grab a small saucepan and stir in the rice, lentils and saffron to combine. Add a cup of water and put on a high heat until boiling. Turn to the lowest setting and put the lid on, cook for 10-15 minutes until the rice and lentils have absorbed the liquid.

Add rice to bowls and serve with plenty of sauce, and garnish with chives.