a per­fect chick­en dish (but it’s ugly)

So I have no pho­to­graph for this dish, which is a reflec­tion upon its inher­ent… ugli­ness. Any sug­ges­tions you have for mak­ing it pret­ty I will fall upon with grat­i­tude. But it is sub­lime, and your fam­i­ly will sit up and beg. Make it tonight, do. I’m giv­ing it a prop­er French title, but it’s real­ly roast chick­en stuffed with mushrooms.

Poulet Roti aux Dux­elles
(serves at least 4)

1 large organ­ic roast­ing chick­en
2 tbsp but­ter
6 closed-cap mush­rooms, chopped fair­ly fine
2 shal­lots, minced
3 cloves gar­lic, minced
good splash white wine
2 rash­ers bacon, diced (with­out fat)
sprin­kle dried thyme, or 1 stalk fresh thyme leaves
100 grams goats cheese
extra slab but­ter
1 tbsp creme fraiche
tiny splash Marsala

Place your chick­en in a large roast­ing dish lined with foil (MUCH eas­i­er cleanup). Now, in a medi­um skil­let melt the but­ter and sweat the mush­rooms, shal­lots and gar­lic until thor­ough­ly soft and cooked through. Add the white wine and cook until wine is near­ly absorbed. Remove to a bowl. In the same skil­let, fry the bacon dice until cooked thor­ough­ly, sprin­kling with thyme as it cooks. Throw the bacon in the bowl with the mush­room mix­ture and sprin­kle with the goats cheese, crum­bled as best you can. Stir well. Now comes the slight­ly tricky part.

With­out tear­ing the breast skin, lift it off the breast and spoon the mush­room-bacon mix­ture into the space between skin and breast. Shove it down as well as you can with­out break­ing the skin, tak­ing care not to sep­a­rate the two breasts. Poke the mix­ture down on each side of the breast. Once you’ve exhaust­ed the mix­ture, press down the mix­ture from the OUT­SIDE of the skin, mak­ing sure it spreads as far as it can onto the breast.

Place a fair-ish slab of but­ter on top of the chick­en breast and roast for 2 hours at 350 F, 180 C.

When the chick­en is roast­ed, pour off the juices into a gravy sep­a­ra­tor and then cov­er the chick­en with foil to rest. Pour the good bits of the gravy into a skil­let and add the creme fraiche and Marsala. Just leave until you’re JUST ready to eat. 

Mean­while mash your pota­toes or what­ev­er your side dish is, saute your side veg­eta­bles (we had a mix of red pep­pers and off-sea­son aspara­gus, sor­ry). Then carve the chick­en onto a warm plate, and sim­mer the gravy, whisk­ing in the Marsala and creme fraiche. Pour the gravy over the slices of roast chick­en. I promise you, this is divine.

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What I want to know is this: how can I make this pret­ty? The carved chick­en was not espe­cial­ly pret­ty, sliced up. But can I tell you? My fam­i­ly devoured it, sneak­ing bites of the stuff­ing off each oth­er’s plates, act­ing like it was rationed. THAT is what you want when you’re feed­ing peo­ple. But I’d wel­come any sug­ges­tions on presentation.