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