Sage and onion stuffing is the old-fashioned filling for a stuffed chicken and has been cooked and served in the British tradition since the early Victoria era. Eliza Acton published a recipe for it in 1845, although she may turn in her grave at the thought of a chicken stuffed with it being cooked in an air fryer, whatever that is.

There’s something about the combination of sage and onion in a stuffing that makes a roast chicken positively dreamy in its flavour. Famous dishes stay with us for good reasons, and if you know this taste and its texture you’ll most likely understand why it is so famed and ever popular. It’s rare that anyone seems to make it any more, and there really is no reason to dump a good tradition just because it’s not the latest fad on the block.

The crown of chicken is the entire rib cage and all its breast meat, intact but, in this instance, deboned. The treat is that you get to prepare this all by yourself. But don’t be daunted…

Here’s the conventional method if you don’t want to cook it in an air fryer.

(Serves 2 to 4)

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped 

3 Tbsp butter 

1 glass of dry white wine 

100 ml chicken stock

2 Tbsp chopped sage leaves 

1 cup breadcrumbs 

Salt to taste 

Black pepper to taste 

1 beaten egg (optional)

Olive oil 

Method

For the stuffing: melt the butter and sauté the onion until softened. Add the sage and wine and cook it away by half. Add chicken stock and reduce by half again. Stir in the breadcrumbs off the heat and season with salt and black pepper. Allow it to cool, then stir in a beaten egg.

For the chicken: Cut away the leg-and-thigh portions and wings and remove the parson’s nose. Put these aside for another meal. Snip out the “wishbone” too.

You’re left with the carcass and both breasts. That’s the crown. But it still has the rib cage and keel bone. Now comes the tricky part. Bear this in mind before you begin to debone it: your goal is for the crown to be intact, with the rib cage and keel bone gone but the breasts and their skin intact, in one piece, “hinged” in the middle. This is not as difficult to achieve as you might think if you’ve never tried to do it.

I use a paring knife, or a boning knife. It needs to be sharp. On the underside of the breasts, cut in right against the bone cage towards the middle, slowly and carefully. Once both breasts are loosened but still covered with their skin, work the knife in small push-and-pull movements to disconnect the remaining part of the bone while leaving the skin intact at the centre. 

Place it skin side down on a clean board, season the underside with salt and pepper, and spoon in some of the stuffing (not too much or it will spill out when you tie it). The remainder can go into a ramekin/s to be cooked separately.

Push strands of kitchen string under the chicken crown in four or five places and tie in the centre. Place another piece of string under it lengthwise and tie it up. You have a chicken parcel. 

Brush olive oil all over the skin and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the air fryer at 190℃ for 5 minutes.

Place the crown in, breast side up. Cook at 190℃ for 20 minutes.

Change the temperature to 160℃. Turn over and cook for another 15 minutes, at 160℃. Let it rest for 5 minutes before carving into slices with a very sharp knife. DM

Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Writer 2023, jointly with TGIFood columnist Anna Trapido.

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.