As much as I like to cook and make things from scratch, I also love to have a few short cuts. These chicken rillettes were made with a new favorite of mine, D’Artagnan’s chicken leg confit.
Rillettes are great for entertaining and pretty quick to put together, especially with the short cut of the chicken already cooked. It’s a spreadable dish similar to pâté where the meat, usually pork or chicken is slowly cooked in fat with aromatics, wine, and spices until tender enough to shred. It is then mixed with more seasonings fresh herbs, and some of the fat until it is spreadable and paste-like.
Chicken Rillettes Recipe
For this chicken rillettes recipe, I reheated the D’Artagnan chicken leg confit in a little liquid and then shredded the meat. Added some of the cooking liquid, spices, shallots fresh parsley, and tarragon until well incorporated. Then, all you do is top it with a little melted butter and then serve with a nice baguette, pickles, and whole-grain mustard.
No worries if you do not have the chicken leg confit, you can either roast or boil chicken leg quarters until tender and then pull them apart. I recommend seasoning with a little salt and pepper, onions, and garlic, and then reserving some of the fat since they produce a good amount.
Ingredients:
- 2 packs D’artagnan Chicken Confit Legs
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon tarragon (minced)
- 1 teaspoon parsley (minced)
- 2 teaspoons shallots (minced)
- 2 tablespoons of butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- a pinch of cayenne pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
Instructions:
- In a pan, add the chicken legs, water, black peppercorns, and bay leaf, cover, and bring to a boil. Remove chicken legs but reserve the liquid. Shred meat and place in a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Over low speed, add the salt, white pepper, black pepper, tarragon, parsley, shallots, melted butter, Dijon mustard, and cayenne pepper. Taste for seasoning.
- Pack into glass jars or ramekins. Chill and then cover with melted butter or olive oil to seal. Serve with crusty bread, pickles, and mustard.