Coinneach MacLeod’s chicken Braemar with whisky sauce recipe

“This is my Braemar take on the much-loved Balmoral chicken,” says Coinneach MacLeod. “Instead of haggis, Stornoway black pudding pairs beautifully with the chicken and bacon. Wrapped, baked and finished with a simple whisky cream sauce, this dish is perfect when you want something that feels a bit special.”

Coinneach MacLeod’s chicken Braemar with whisky sauce recipe

Ingredients:
(Serves 6)

4 skinless chicken breasts
20 rashers of streaky bacon
300g Stornoway black pudding

For the whisky sauce:
Knob of butter
3-4tbsp whisky
1tsp Dijon mustard
50ml vegetable stock
100ml double cream
Sea salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Lay a chicken breast between two pieces of baking parchment. Using a rolling pin, gently flatten the chicken until it’s an even thickness of about 3cm. Repeat with the remaining breasts.

2. Lay five rashers of streaky bacon side by side on a piece of baking parchment. Place a flattened chicken breast on top, positioned across the bacon. Shape about 75g of the black pudding into a neat log and sit it along the centre of the chicken.

3. Using the parchment, roll the chicken up around the filling, keeping it tight, while letting the bacon wrap neatly around the outside. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts, then cover them all tightly in clingfilm before transferring them to the fridge to chill for at least an hour.

4. Heat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas mark 4. Unwrap the chicken parcels carefully, keeping the bacon in place, and sit them seam-side down. Wrap each one tightly in foil, place on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and let the chicken rest briefly in the foil. Turn the oven up to 180°C fan/200°C/gas mark 6. Carefully remove the foil, then return the chicken to the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes, until the surrounding bacon is crisp and golden. Take the chicken out of the oven and leave it to rest for five minutes.

5. To make the whisky sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Add the whisky and let it bubble gently for a minute or two, just to cook off the alcohol.

6. Stir in the Dijon mustard and vegetable stock and bring back to a gentle simmer.

7. Season with salt and black pepper, then pour in the cream and let it simmer until thickened to a spoonable sauce. Slice the chicken and spoon over the whisky sauce.

Extracted from Hebridean Baker, A Scottish Christmas by Coinneach MacLeod. Published in hardback by Bonnier Books, priced £26. Photography by Susie Lowe. Available now.