I don’t suppose it really matters if these chicken patties look appetizing, because they were delicious. Deeply savory, with just the right amount of salt from bits of crisply fried bacon– who knew that something so blase as ordinary minced chicken, could truly be so sublime?
It all started out with a pound of bacon, bought on the weekend. Some of it was fried and crumbled in a salad, a few slices used as an accoutrement to a soft-boiled egg, but what to do with the remainder? While flipping through the pages of my newest, favorite cookbook, I found a recipe for Chicken Patties with Rosemary and Pancetta, and I knew that would be it. I know, I know, pork products are not all interchangeable, but I have been on a “use up everything in your fridge” kick lately, and so I substituted the pancetta for the bacon. A quick trip outside to pluck a few sprigs of woodsy, herbaceous rosemary, and a stroll to the market to buy minced chicken, and I was halfway there.
Clean and simple, yet immensely flavorful, these gems were calling out to be nestled upon a pillow of coarsely mashed potatoes. Boiled with the skin on, the potatoes had that extra hominess, that can only come from hand-mashed potatoes, lumps and all. Laying in the shallow dish before me, with splashes of reduced chicken broth from the cooking process, this meal was the bourgie meatball. A meatball +, if you will, and I ate up my meatballs with abandon.
Chicken Patties with Rosemary and Pancetta
from The Kitchen Diaries
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1-2 tablespoons butter
1/4 pound cubed pancetta, or bacon
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 pound minced chicken
a bit of olive oil for frying
1 cup chicken stock
Peel and chop the onion and garlic finely, then let them soften in the butter, in a large pan over medium heat, until lightly browned. Stir in the small cubes of pancetta. Strip rosemary leaves from the stalk, and chop finely. Add the herb to the pan and continue cooking until pancetta is golden brown. Set aside to cool a bit.
Add the onion mixture to the chicken, season generously with pepper and a bit of salt, and mix until well incorporated. Divide the chicken into 6 portions, and make a simple patty, slightly more plump than a homemade hamburger. Let patties settle for about half an hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet, pour just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan, and turn heat to high. Brown patties, until a caramel brown color is reached on both sides, about 3 minutes. Place browned patties in an ovenproof dish, pour in the stock, and bake for 25-30 minutes. Patties are ready when stock is bubbling and reduced. Serve hot, over mashed potatoes, with reduced stock as a gravy.
