Crispy chicken stuffed with toasted pumpkin seed bacon jam

original blog post: https://greedygirlcooks.blogspot.com/2017/10/crispy-chicken-stuffed-with-toasted.html

Ingredients

4 leg quarters

1 tablespoon Salt

½ teaspoon Black pepper

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

For the pumpkin seed bacon jam

1 tablespoon butter

¼ cup toasted pumpkin seeds

8 strips bacon

½ cup onion

1 tablespoon fresh sage chopped

¼ cup vinegar

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoon oil

For the sauce

1 cup Chicken broth

1 ½ cup Sweet white wine

5 Sage leaves whole

2 Garlic cloves shredded

1 tablespoon shredded Ginger

½ teaspoon Sugar

2 pinch salt or to taste

4 Fresh Thyme sprigs

½ scotch bonnet pepper

Instructions

• Wash and pat dry the chicken, four drumsticks and four thighs
• Season with salt, black pepper and cinnamon
• Allow this to marinate for 45 minutes up to overnight in the refrigerator

For the jam

• In a hot dry pan toast the pumpkin seeds until they begin to turn golden
• Stir continuously to prevent burning
• Remove them from the hot pan as soon as some of them begin to get too dark and set aside to cool
• Add butter and rough chopped bacon to the pan fry until almost crispy
• Add onions and sage cook until the onions have softened
• Add the toasted pumpkin seeds, vinegar and sugar
• Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until the sauce just it slightly thickened
• Remove from heat Allow the mixture to cool for 5 minutes stir in the honey
• blend in a food processor until it becomes a thick paste/jam
• If the mixture is too thick when blending add vinegar 1 teaspoon at a time to help the texture.
• Completely cool before stuffing the chicken

For the chicken

• Lift the skin of the chicken and put a heaping tablespoon of jam under spread around to coat
• Repeat for all drumsticks and thighs
• Add oil to a pan and place the thighs skin side down into a searing hot pan allow it to brown
• Brown all sides of the drumsticks
• Remove from the pan and set aside once brown
• In the same pan add all the ingredients for the sauce and allow it to simmer and reduce by half
• Add the chicken (and any juices that ran from it) back to this pan skin side up, the liquid should come up about ¼ inch of the chicken
• Add some more fresh thyme leaves to the top of the chicken
• cook uncovered to a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes
• Once cooked remove the chicken from the sauce and place the sauce on the stove top and allow it to reduce.
• Serve chicken with gravy