chicken upside down cake

While enjoying a pineapple upside down cake made by my friend Kelly, the idea of a chicken upside down cake came up. While this started as a joke, I quickly decided I needed to make it a reality. This is what I came up with... great fall flavors, like roasted chicken with cornbread stuffing, almost. I was actually surprised that it worked! Fun and yummy!

Chicken Upside Down Cake

Chicken bottom/top:

2 Tablespoons olive oil

-1 medium onion, chopped

-3 cloves garlic, minced

-1 shallot, finely chopped

-2 stalks celery, chopped

-3 small carrots, chopped

-1 medium parsnip, chopped

-2 Tablespoons flour

-2 cups chicken stock

-4-5 leaves fresh sage, chopped fine

-1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped

-1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped fine

-pinch of fresh-ground nutmeg

-1/2 a roasted chicken, chopped, bones & skin removed

-salt and pepper

Cornbread "cake":

-1/4 cup butter

-2/3 cups sugar

-2 eggs

-1 cup buttermilk

-1/2 teaspoon baking powder

-1 1/2 cups cornmeal

-1 1/2 cups flour

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1/2 can creamed corn

-2 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped

Cook onion, garlic and shallot in oil until soft and starting to brown. Add carrots, celery and parsnips. Season with salt and cook until just soft. Sprinkle flower over vegetables and cook, stirring to coat, for 2 minutes. add Chicken stock, making sure to scrape he brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Let come to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Add herbs and chicken, let simmer while you prepare the corn bread batter.

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Melt butter. Whisk sugar into melted butter. Whisk in eggs until well-blended. Combine buttermilk and baking powder and stir into butter mixture. Stir in cornmeal, flour and salt until well blended. Stir in creamed corn and sage.

Spray a 9"x 13" glass baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour chicken mixture into dish and spread out evenly. Pour Corn bread batter over chicken mixture and gently spread out evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes until middle of cornbread is firm and springs back to the touch. Let rest for 10-15 minutes. To turn upside down, cover baking dish with parchment paper then a cookie sheet that is larger than the baking dish. Carefully flip cake over. Cut and serve.