Recipe(tried): Denmark Stegt Kylling Roast Chicken

Denmark Stegt Kylling --Roast Chicken

source..Country Cooking, Regional and traditional recipes of Europe and North America.

This is an old Danish recipe dating from the time when chicken was a delicacy. The birds were stuffed with parsley, pot roasted and served with a delicious cream sauce.

Serves 4

2 chickens, each weighing about 2 lb.
about 2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 bunches parsley
1/3 to 1/2 cup butter
1 cup cream (half light, half heavy)
flour (optional)

Rub the chicken with salt and pepper. Wash and dry the parsley, removing stalks. Mix half the butter with half the parsley tops and put inside the birds. Make a stock by simmering the parsley stalks and chicken giblets in a little water.

Melt the rest of the butter in a large heavy pot or casserole until it foams, add the chickens and brown them on all sides. Add about 1/2 cup stock, cover and let the chickens cook, breasts up, for about 45 minutes. Remove the chickens and keep them warm in the oven.

Make the sauce by adding the cream and a little more water or stock to the pot. If necessary thicken the sauce with a little flour mixed to a thin paste with cold water, cook till sauce thickens. Taste and season as required.

Finally cut the chicken in half with a pair of poultry shears. Arrange the birds on a heated platter with a spoonful of sauce on each portion. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with boiled new potatoes and the remainder of the sauce in a sauce boat, sprinkled with more chopped parsley. Cucumber salad or a green salad with cream and lemon dressing go well with this dish.