Les skills pour une Ballotine de Poulet

Did you watch that de-boning video? Skills yo indeed! I had to try it for myself and trust me, it is not as easy as it looks.

In it Jaques Pépin demonstrates how to debone a chicken for use in a Ballotine or Galantine. Yes those words are French and both mean ?meat rolled into a circular shape and stuffed to enhance the flavour?. From what I gather, the difference is a Galantine is wrapped in cheese cloth, poached in a broth and then served cold while a Ballotine is served hot.

The de-boning process I had (go on, get it out of your system now) was easy enough but in no way did I finish as quickly. And I think I would have massacred that bird had it not been for the video. An interested note, the tenderloins did not come off in one piece as demonstrated. They broke apart even with the little force I used.

Before getting my hand covered in slim and chicken guts I made a mushroom, zucchini and spinach stuffing. Spreading it all over and stuffing the legs was child?s play, but without a doubt the worst part was tying up that damned stuffed chicken. I thought I was going to pop a gasket. Ask Terra, she helped keep the chicken, and me, together. No matter how hard I tried the stuffing kept coming out the front! Way too many analogies so I?ll spare you. I was swearing, sweating and getting more and more aggravated. But we had a good time right Terra? In the end it wasn?t as pretty but we finally got it tied, in a pan and roasted the thing. The end product was gorgeous and tasted fantastic! Totally worth the effort. We served the chicken with some pan roasted broccoli.

The experience made me appreciate JP?s skills even more. I watched the video again after the bird went into oven and could only shake my head. It was good to review, I picked out little steps I missed and will apply next time. The important thing is Terra and I had a relaxing afternoon in the kitchen together. I?m sure she?s looking forward to the next time.