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Chicken balmoral

Published: 13 Jan 20
Updated: 18 Mar 24

This traditional chicken dish, stuffed with haggis and served with lashings of creamy whisky sauce, is a fitting main for a celebratory Burns Night supper – along with a dram of your favourite scotch, obviously.

Discover our collection of Scottish recipes, perfect for Burns Night feasting.

Easy
January 2020

Test kitchen approved

Serves 4
Hands-on time 20 min, oven time 15-18 min

Discover our collection of Scottish recipes, perfect for Burns Night feasting.

Nutrition: For 4

Calories: 464kcals
Fat: 27g (13.2g saturated)
Protein: 46.2g
Carbohydrates: 5.5g (0.5g sugars)
Fibre: 0.2g
Salt: 0.4g

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Ingredients

4 free-range chicken supremes or large skin-on chicken breasts (see Know-how)
100g haggis
1 tsp freshly picked thyme leaves
Knob of butter
Splash of oil
Neeps and tatties (mashed swede and mashed potato) and steamed seasonal greens to serv

For the whisky cream sauce

100ml chicken stock
Splash whisky to taste
200ml double cream

You’ll also need…

4-8 cocktail sticks; ovenproof frying pan

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Method

Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Cut each chicken breast almost in half horizontally to form a pocket. Mash the haggis and thyme together in a small bowl with a fork (no need to season). Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions, then use to stuff the breasts. Use 1 or 2 cocktail sticks to secure the filling inside (see Make Ahead).
Heat the butter and oil in the frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the chicken skin-side down and cook for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Turn the chicken breasts over and brown the other sides for 3 minutes. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 15-18 minutes or until just cooked through (the juices will run clear when the chicken breast is pierced with a skewer in the thickest part).
Remove the chicken and put on a plate to rest, loosely covered with foil to keep warm. Put the pan back on the hob, pour in the stock and use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the tasty browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in a splash of whisky and the cream, then season with salt and plenty of black pepper, adding a little more whisky to taste. Serve the chicken with neeps and tatties, steamed seasonal greens and a spoonful of whisky cream sauce.

Recipe from January 2020 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 464kcals
Fat: 27g (13.2g saturated)
Protein: 46.2g
Carbohydrates: 5.5g (0.5g sugars)
Fibre: 0.2g
Salt: 0.4g

delicious. tips

Prepare the chicken up to the end of step 1, cover and chill up to a day ahead.
Chicken supremes are chicken breasts with the fillet and upper wing bone still attached. They’re available from good butchers. If you can’t find them, use large skin-on chicken breasts instead
Of course a whisky or two is traditional on Burns Night, but I’d leave that until after the chicken balmoral. With it, choose a red burgundy, soft and smooth with plenty of strawberry fruit and a nutty hint.