Here we are back with our favourite section! And now, during this festive month, Oscar Manresa will show how some of the most traditional Catalan Christmas dishes are prepared. Today he's going to treat us to spring chicken with dried apricots and prunes.
A spring chicken, sometimes known by the French terms poussin or coquelet, is a young, small chicken - between 8 and 10 weeks of age, and a little bigger than a quail. The size makes it suitable to serve a whole bird for each diner, and the weight is not much more than a pound. This gives the meat a tender and delicate taste, so that when cooked the right way, that is, with great patience and on a low, slow oven, results in an excellent dish. In this case we're going to stuff the bird with prunes, dried apricots and a touch of rosemary, a traditional seasoning for Mediterranean cuisine.
Prunes - dried plums - are a traditional product in the Catalan-speaking lands, while dried apricots are part of the historical cuisine throughout the Mediterranean, from Turkey to Morocco.
See how Oscar does it in the video - with ingredients and recipe in English below!
Spring chicken with dried apricots and prunes (for 1 person)
Ingredients:
200g/7oz dried apricots
200g/7oz prunes
2 spring chickens
Red wine - preferably vi ranci - an oxidised red wine
Rosemary
Recipe:
1. In advance: leave prunes and apricots soaking in the wine until they soften and absorb the flavour.
2. Lightly flour the birds.
3. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and fry the chickens only to lightly brown the skin.
4. When browned, stuff the birds with the rosemary, apricots and prunes.
5. Roast in the oven for two hours at 140-150 degrees F (60-65 degrees Celsius).
6. Watching closely, turn the oven temperature up to full for the last 10 minutes.
7. Can be served whole, or cut into pieces and decorated with the rosemary, apricots, prunes and juices.