Recipe for Chicken Ballotine with Bacon and Coconut Mousseline

Preparation of coconut mousseline: If you are using dry white beans, soak them for 12 hours in twice their volume of water. Peel the shallot and finely chop it. Peel the garlic, cut it in half, remove the germ, and crush it with the flat side of a knife blade. Sweat the shallot in a drizzle of oil without coloring it. When it becomes translucent, add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute. Add the rinsed and drained beans, the herb bouquet, and moisten with chicken stock. Cover and let cook over low heat for 1 hour. Once cooked, remove the herb bouquet and pass the beans through a food mill, using a slotted spoon to drain them slightly. Once pureed, use an immersion blender to make it even smoother. Adjust the seasoning and set aside.

Preparation of the ballottines: Cut the breast in half, dice one part into small pieces and the other into larger pieces. Brown them in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Set aside the larger pieces in the fridge and place the smaller ones in a food processor. Add the turkey cutlet, the whole egg, the minced shallot, and blend. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle and keep the cooking fat from the pan. Open the chicken fillets in half, cover them with a sheet of parchment paper, and flatten them with a mallet or rolling pin. Season the inside with salt and pepper, fill with the stuffing, and close them tightly with plastic wrap. If you have a vacuum sealer, vacuum pack the ballottines. Heat a large pot of water and cook the ballottines for 20 minutes. Once cooked, remove the plastic wrap and dry them on paper towels. Brown them in the pan used for the lardons to give them a nice color. Add the larger pieces to reheat them. Transfer the meat to an oven-safe dish. Place in a preheated oven at 150°C during the plating. Pour the veal stock into the cooking pan and deglaze the fond.

Preparation of the leaves for decoration: Preheat the oven to 150°C. Whisk the flour with the egg white. Add the other ingredients and the chosen coloring. Beat everything until you have a smooth batter. Distribute the batter on a silicone mat. Scrape it so that only the filled impressions remain. Place the mat on a rack and wait 8 minutes. After this time, the leaves will detach on their own. Remove them from the oven and place them on absorbent paper. They can be easily stored for 3 days in a cupboard.

Waste reduction: Since I had too much filling, I decided to make croquettes. Use a cookie cutter with a plunger. Place it on parchment paper and fill it with a little filling. Place a piece of paper on top and press down with the plunger. Unmold and set aside in the fridge until you are ready to cook them when browning the roulades.

To finish my plating: Place 2 to 3 spoonfuls of sauce in the center. Cut a ballotine into three different sizes at an angle. Arrange them on the sauce. Add 3 teaspoons of mousseline around it, forming drops. Place large pieces of bacon around (plus a croquette if you have made one). Decorate with leaves and a few fresh thyme leaves placed on the slices of ballotine. Serve immediately.