Stuffing chicken thighs with ? (no cheese)

jimdgreat1

I'm marinating skinless and boneless chicken thighs in Tony Chacheres creole style butter. Wondering what to stuff them with. I'm not eating cheese so that's out. Anyone ever try cabbage? Trying to cut out carbs so no bread stuffing.  What is your favorite?

gdenby

Personally, I dislike the flavor of most cabbage when its cooked. Most leafy greens would probably get too mushy. Perhaps not kale. Maybe mix in some capers and flat leaf parsley.

Might be sort of over kill, but maybe thin slices of ham, or hard sausage.

HendersonTRKing

I've stuffed just about everything . . . but not chicken thighs.  Curious about technique -- are you going to try to butterfly those things?  Slice open a pocket?  How much can you stuff into a thigh?  Looking forward to seeing the pix!

epcotisbest

Wrap the boneless thigh around a brat or some other kind of sausage of your choice, sprinkle with rub then wrap the whole thing in bacon. Toothpicks or string to hold it all together. Tons of flavor and no carbs in sight.

Sea2Ski

epcotisbest said:

Wrap the boneless thigh around a brat or some other kind of sausage of your choice, sprinkle with rub then wrap the whole thing in bacon. Toothpicks or string to hold it all together. Tons of flavor and no carbs in sight.

Now that sounds like a fantastic idea. 

jimdgreat1

HendersonTRKing said:

I've stuffed just about everything . . . but not chicken thighs.  Curious about technique -- are you going to try to butterfly those things?  Slice open a pocket?  How much can you stuff into a thigh?  Looking forward to seeing the pix!

They come out of the package butterflied. Guess it's the process when making them boneless.

Thought about some sausage but was thinking more along the lines of something that would absorb the chicken juices while cooking. Mushrooms?

jimdgreat1

This also leads to a possible shrimp inside a pork loin inside a chicken inside a duck inside a.....

No idea what you would call it.

epcotisbest

Sea2Ski said:

epcotisbest said:

Wrap the boneless thigh around a brat or some other kind of sausage of your choice, sprinkle with rub then wrap the whole thing in bacon. Toothpicks or string to hold it all together. Tons of flavor and no carbs in sight.

Now that sounds like a fantastic idea. 

I have cooked boneless thighs that way and it was delicious.

gdenby

Considering that you've already got them marinating, I don't know if a kind of chicken  saltimbocca would work. I've done those several times w. good results. There are variations w. include cheese, but I've done ones w. a single leaf of sage wrapped in a slice of prosciutto inserted into a split thigh, toothpicked together, and then cooked with pats of butter melting over the surface.

thetrim

How about a poblano pepper then wrap it all in bacon?  Man, that poblano could really use some cheese inside of it.

thetrim

What about sundried tomatoes and spinach?  Would be great with some buffalo mozzarella cheese too, but you can nix the cheese.

Sweet100s

Alton Brown has a stuffed chicken thigh recipe with some kind of an olive tapanade mixture.  It was fantastic. You just made me remember it.  The olive mixture took me some time to make, but with a food processor it would be really fast.

nolaegghead

Spinach and artichoke hearts

or

Kimchi

or

Prosciutto or ham

Sweet100s

here it is

https://www.lemoinefamilykitchen.com/2013/04/spanish-style-chicken/

https://www.yummly.com/recipe/Alton-Brown_s-Smoked-Paprika-Chicken-and-Potatoes-1932863

The main flavor ingredients are: 

pimento stuffed green olives (chopped)

lemon zest

garlic cloves

smoked paprika

yellow onion 

fishlessman

stuff it with pineapple and drizzle some sticky red thai chili sauce on top

jimdgreat1

Excellent ideas everyone. I'm going to look at the Alton Brown recipe. Thanks!

Mattman3969

fishlessman said:

stuff it with pineapple and drizzle some sticky red thai chili sauce on top

You just sent my tastebuds into overload!!!    Will definitely do this 

YukonRon

Country Ham. It is delicious.

jimdgreat1

Did the olive tamponade on most and a few plain for my daughter. The marinade ended up rather missing. I used an injectable that was on clearance. Only used half on the outside. Can you tell I'm German heritage? Married to a tighter more cheap German girl? Ha! Any who it turned out well. The right one loved it. Thought chicken thighs would be blah. Was surprised how good it was. Had a simple side of stuff(something she got) not sure besides wheat berries and? I made a couple tacos out of the extra after having  stuffed one. This is different than just smoking pig on a large smoker. I'm learning and liking it. Pics or few but I appreciate the olive idea.

gdenby

Glad to hear you had good results. Chicken thighs do tend to be the best part of the bird.

If the marinade was on special, its very likely it was too old. I've had Tony Chachere's blends before, and they were decent. But like most commercial products, rather bland. There are a fair amount of herbs in his stuff, which usually only have a shelf life of maybe 6 - 9 mo.s  Ground spices, about a year unless kept in a cool dark place.