Ingredients
FOR THE STUFFED CHICKEN
Whole chickens: 3 (1.4 kg each)
Water: 6 kg
Sugar: 360 g
Chicken sausage: 166 g
Salt: 360 g
Activa RM transglutaminase
FOR THE MUSHROOM PURÉE
White button mushrooms: 1000 g (thinly sliced)
Heavy cream: 400 g
Sherry wine: 236 g
Canola oil: 15 g
Crème fraîche: 20 g
Butter: 25 g
Sherry vinegar: 10 g
Sugar: to taste
Salt: to taste
FOR THE FERMENTED WHITE ASPARAGUS
Salt: 3%
White asparagus peelings
FOR THE FERMENTED ASPARAGUS BARIGOULE
Water: 530 g
Fermented white asparagus liquid: 193 g
White wine: 193 g
Olive oil: 90 g
Thyme leaves: 6 g
White asparagus stalks: 10
Salt: 19 g
FOR THE FERMENTED WHITE ASPARAGUS JUS
House jus: 300 g
Fermented white asparagus juice: 15 g
Sweet vermouth: 10 g
Banyuls vinegar: 15 g
Sugar: to taste
Salt: to taste
FOR THE BRAISED ASPARAGUS
Asparagus stalks: 10
Asparagus juice: 300 g
Canola oil: 15 g
FOR THE MOREL MUSHROOMS
12
Thyme sprig: 1
Garlic clove: 1
Butter: 15 g
Canola oil: 15 g
Salt: to taste
FOR THE GARNISH
Butter: tempered
Brown butter
Dill oil
Miner's lettuce
Spring onion flowers
Sea salt
At Boka in Chicago, Michelin-starred chef Lee Wolen transforms a humble roast chicken into an elegant centerpiece. His version—stuffed with chicken sausage and served with morels, asparagus, and dill oil—captures the restaurant’s signature balance of precision, technique, and comfort.
How to make Stuffed Chicken with Morels and Asparagus
01.
Make the Stuffed Chicken
- Combine the water, salt, and sugar to make a brine.
- Break down the chickens by removing the legs, thighs, and backbones, leaving as much of the skin intact around the breasts as possible.
- Remove the wings at the second joint, leaving the drumette intact, then cover the chicken with the brine.
- After 24 hours, remove and dry the chickens with towels.
- Carefully insert one finger under the skin from the top of the breast to gently separate it from the flesh.
- Repeat this process from the bottom of the breast.
- Once the skin is released, carefully peel it toward the drumette.
- Transfer the chickens onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and a rack.
- Dry in a cooler with good air circulation for 24 hours.
- After one day of drying, dust the chicken breasts with Activa RM.
- Pipe 83 g of chicken sausage onto each breast, then mold the sausage evenly across the breast.
- Dust again with Activa RM. Carefully pull the skin up and over the sausage and reshape to ensure symmetry.
- Dry the chickens for another 24 hours.
02.
Make the Mushroom Purée
- In a medium rondeau over high heat, heat the canola oil until nearly smoking.
- Add the mushrooms, season with salt, and sauté for 10 minutes, until the liquid has evaporated.
- Continue cooking for another 15 minutes, until caramelized and almost crispy.
- Deglaze with the sherry wine and reduce to au sec.
- Add the heavy cream, cover with a cartouche, and cook for 10 minutes, until tender.
- Strain through a chinois, reserving the liquid.
- Blend the mushrooms with the crème fraîche, butter, and sherry vinegar on high speed until smooth.
- Season with salt and sugar, then pass through a chinois and cool over ice.
03.
Make the Fermented White Asparagus
- Peel and trim the white asparagus stalks, reserving the peelings for the fermented liquid and the cleaned stalks for the barigoule and jus.
- Weigh and calculate the salt percentage.
- Seal all components in a vacuum bag and leave at room temperature for 7 to 10 days.
- Strain through a chinois and discard the peelings.
- Reserve the fermented liquid for the barigoule and jus.
04.
Make the Fermented Asparagus Barigoule
- Combine the water, fermented liquid, white wine, olive oil, thyme, and salt in a rondeau with the cleaned white asparagus.
- Slowly bring to a simmer and cover with a cartouche.
- Simmer for 25 minutes, or until the asparagus is tender.
- Cool over an ice bath, then cut the asparagus on a bias into 1.5 cm (½ in) pieces.
05.
Make the Fermented White Asparagus Jus
- Heat the house jus in a small pot over medium-high heat.
- Add the remaining ingredients and season with salt and sugar.
06.
Make the Braised Asparagus
- Rinse the asparagus in cold water to remove any sand.
- Peel from the top down, starting where the scales space out under the tip.
- Trim the bottom and season with salt.
- In a hot sauté pan over medium-high heat, add the asparagus spears and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the asparagus juice and simmer until the spears are tender.
- Chill over an ice bath.
- Strain off the juice and cut into 5 cm (2 in) spears.
07.
Cook the Morel Mushrooms
- In a cast-iron pan over high heat, add the canola oil and mushrooms, then season with salt immediately.
- Roast for 2 minutes, then add the butter, thyme, and garlic.
- Cook for 3 more minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender.
- Strain from the butter and reserve.
08.
To Assemble and Serve
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Cover the chicken breasts with tempered butter, place on a roasting rack, and cook for 11 minutes, with the breasts facing the fan.
- Rotate the chicken and roast for another 11 to 18 minutes, depending on size.
- Rest for at least 25 minutes.
- Heat the mushroom purée and white asparagus jus separately.
- On a hot grill, char one side of the poached white asparagus.
- Roll the green asparagus in its own juice until warm.
- After resting, carve the chicken breasts and remove the tender and wishbone.
- Brush the skin with brown butter and season with salt.
- Slice the breast in half, offset the pieces on the plate, and arrange the green and white asparagus and mushrooms around the chicken.
- Break the jus with dill oil and sauce the center of the plate.
- Garnish with miner’s lettuce.
