Fun with Poultry

The first thing I think of when I hear ‘poultry’ is chicken. Followed by ’boring’, ‘generic’, ‘unadventurous’, ’safe’,  ’yaaaawwwn’. I know, I’m terrible.   With all the chicken breast/white meat propaganda out there, it’s easy to forget the many other cousins in the poultry category. There is turkey of course, duck, goose, quail, and squab. Squab? The French call it pigeon. But don’t worry, it’s farm raised!

On the menue: Perfectly roasted chicken
                               Chicken roulade stuffed with roasted bell pepper
                               Leg of chicken – poached – with ‘sauce supreme’ (veloute)
                               Braised stuffed boneless quail
                               Roasted squab

Chicken parts

Cutting a whole chicken into pieces is not as hard as you’d think. I was a little intimidated since the last time I can remember doing this is well, never.  Damn you convenience! So easy though, and kind of fun too.  Grab your chicken, turn it on the side for easier handling. Make incision on the top of the leg, cut skin, then just kind of maneuver your way all the way down to the bone, cutting through.  To cut the breast remove the skin first, it’s easier to see what you’re doing this way. Find the wishbone and make two slits on both sides. Now just cut out the breast by following the natural curve of the chicken’s body. Nice and neat. Remove fat, cartilage and other nasty little bits and ta-da! You now have your $7.99 a pound chicken breast for a dollar or so.  

What to do with the chicken parts you just cut up? The legs are removed of skin, deboned (it doesn’t have to be pretty for what they’ll be turned into) and ground up for a mousse. The breast will be pounded thinly for easy rolling (roulade=roll) that will be stuffed with the aforementioned mousse, roasted bell peppers and spinach. The caracass? Cut up for jus for your roulade or stock.

Dark meat is your friend

Since  a chicken only has two legs, grab another chicken and practice cutting it up so you have two legs to poach.  Submerge legs in cold stock so it cooks slowly.   Add thyme, celery, grilled onions, bay leaves - whatever you want to season with – and cook for about 20-25 minutes.  Chicken breasts don’t have enough fat for poaching so stick to legs/thighs/drumsticks. Once legs are done cooking remove skin.  In hot stock add cold roux and whisk, adding cream, salt and pepper and if something doesn’t taste right – a little butter always helps.  You have your veloute. Throw your legs back in let the flavors meld together, then serve over riz pilaf.

 

Mousse

And not the dessert kind. I always get weirded out a little when I think of mousse made out of chicken or veal, or any animal period. Especially when it looks so pretty and pink thanks to lots and lots of cream.   The ‘traditional’ i.e. excrutiantingly painful long process of making a mousse involves lots of arm action and passing it through a gadget called a ‘tieme’ (no idea on spelling, try saying it in a French accent and decipher the spelling that way) that is large and looks like a sieve used for panning gold.  The other more modern option is a food processor. Whatever method you choose keeping it cold cold cold is crucial so when you finally add your cream (after salt, pepper, truffle oil, porcini dust or whatever you choose to season with) the protein and cream can emulsify. Add cream slowly and just how much depends on the temperature of your mixture. If it’s too warm it will be soft and runny and will not withstand too much liquid so add just enough so that your mousse ends up firm. 

After pounding breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap (with the flat part of the meat tenderizer, you’re not tenderizing the breast, just creating more surface area), season with salt and pepper and spread a layer of mousse first so it binds whatever else you decide to put on top. Last night we went with roasted red bell pepper and sauteed spinach (cooled).  Use your imagination, get creative with how you want it to look when you cut up your roulade.  Roll tightly in plastic wrap.   You can go crazy with the plastic wrap to make it as tight as possible so it ends up looking like a little sausage.  Tie at the ends and submerge in simmering water for about 20 minutes. You know it’s done when it’s firm and you can see the butter seperating from the cream.

To serve with your roulade make a simple jus from the carcass. Chop it up first, sear bones in some fat and caramelize your pan.  Add a drop of water, scrub your pan with a wooden spoon to get some more of that burnt deliciousness and re-caramelize.  Deglaze with white wine, throw in your mire poix, a little tomato paste, stock. Cook and strain and pour over roulade. Delicious, I promise.

Let’s roast a chicken

Season the inside of the chicken with lots of salt, pepper, and stuff  in as many things as possible including: garlic, thyme, celery, rosemary, onions, shallots, carrots.  If that won’t flavor your chicken nothing will.  Tie the chicken up because it actually does make a difference in the way it cooks. It forces the breasts upward retaining moisture and flavor.  I suggest googling the process because it is a little difficult to explain without a proper demonstration.  Sear your chicken in a hot pan, first on each side then the back.  Salt the outside and pop in a 400 degree oven for 5-10 minutes depending on the size of your chicken.  Start turning down the heat basting along the way and finishing at around 325.  No need to mutilate your chicken with a thermometer to see if it’s done – just stab it instead, right under the wing where you are less likely to do any cosmetic damage and hold over a plate and see if the juices run clear.  You’ve got yourself a roasted chicken.   Was it good? Yes. Was it missing anything? Butter.

Quail is so good, so delicate and has barely any bones to deal with. It is very little, and pretty cute so you might feel a little weird about handling quail.  We stuffed ours with a duck pate that was conveniently prepared for us (just like on t.v.), seasoned it and seared it the same way as the chicken.  Stuck it in the oven for about 12 minutes and it was done.  Next time I might stuff it with something other than duck pate because at 10 pm it was a little heavy.  My quail looked like it got stuck doing some kind of cheerleading move but was still very good.

The other birds

We call it squab, the French call it what it is - pigeon.   You can treat it like duck and since it has no salmonella it should be served medium rare to medium.  Unlike chicken and quail squab comes with all its insides and feet, so get ready to clean and mutilate.  Remove all organs, cut its neck, wash the inside and cut the foot so only the middle ‘toe’ is left, making for a nice presentation.  Season, sear like the other birds and pop in the oven. Check for doneness, but this time the liquid should look like cooked blood. Make a jus and serve.  Am I fan of squab? No.  It wasn’t gamy necessarily but it just looked so gamy.  A cross between duck and beef. 

Well?

Our team cooked everything but the squab.  We were so busy having fun with poultry that come 10:30 we were still at school eating and complimenting ourselves on a job well done. 

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