Hannah Gruen's Stuffed Roast Chicken

There are SO FEW pictures of Nancy's dear housekeeper Hannah Gruen!  I always pictured Hannah looking something like Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffith Show (though she is, thankfully, more sensible than that mother figure).


I did find one drawing of Hannah and it portrays her a bit differently, however. 


Hmm.  A good deal younger and trimmer than I had imagined. 
One of the fun aspects of the Nancy Drew series is the presence of Nancy's devoted friends and family, and Hannah Gruen is one of Nancy's biggest supporters and confidants.  And Oh! the descriptions of her cooking nearly always had me drooling for a good home-cooked meal.  When thinking of a Nancy Drew themed meal this past week my mind kept traveling back to the sumptuous Sunday dinners Hannah would make for the Drews after church each week  I created this menu with Hannah in mind:

Spinach and Leek Chicken Galantine 

 

Creamed Cauliflower and Potatoes

Rich Mushroom Gravy

Green Salad with Homemade Vinaigrette

Fresh Apple Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream

I really am terrible at taking pictures so I do not have a picture of the entire meal, but I do have a good picture of the main attraction:

 So, get ready to be impressed (and think I'm silly for attempting this).  Using a youtube video of Jacque Pepin deboning an entire chicken, I removed all the bones from this beautiful free range chicken I had in my freezer.  Then I stuffed it with sauteed spinach and leeks, shredded emmentaler cheese and cubes of fresh homemade bread.  I tied it up with kitchen string and roasted it with salt, pepper, olive oil and a quartered onion.  

Wow!  It was so good my husband and I spent the entire meal dreaming up all the different things we could stuff a chicken with!  He's a HUGE turkey fan and wants me to do a traditional thanksgiving style boneless stuffed turkey sometime.  Sounds like a pretty big job, but I'm willing to attempt it.  

I had fun channeling my inner Hannah Gruen with this decadent homestyle Sunday dinner!