Knife Skills Put to Use: Hacking up a Chicken

A couple of weeks ago, I took a Knife Skills class at The Brooklyn Kitchen. It was fantastic. I learned how to make plateaux, juliennes, and something else I can't remember the French word for where you make teeny tiny little cubes. I also learned how to hack up a whole chicken into individual pieces so I don't have to waste so much money buying those damn chicken breasts! I also hate chicken breasts: so lifeless and tasteless and dull dull dull.

So last night, I thought it would be brilliant to use my new skills and make chicken--not a whole roast chicken, which takes much too long, but some sort of pan-fried chicken. I had to use those mushrooms up, and I had a tiny bit of citrus on hand. Having been gone for a while, refrigerator replenishment was necessary, but I got some good stuff and used it all up...

2/24/10

The Creation:

Citrus-glazed chicken with hazelnuts, mushrooms and roasted fennel

What's in the fridge?
mushrooms
1 slice guanciale
small hunk of Stilton
1/2 white onion
1/3 red onion
1/2 lemon
1/2 lime
chicken stock
rabbit stock

frozen peas

Key ingredients consumed:

mushrooms

guanciale

onion

lemon

Ingredients purchased:

1 whole chicken from The Meat Hook  

hazlenuts

fennel

blood orange

red-skin potatoes

The creative process:

To be perfectly honest, this was about drinking a bottle of 2003 Jadot Meursault Genevrieres that was past its prime. I wanted something to go with this, and the combination of fruit and nuttiness in the wine seemed to beg for a creation like the following...

I hadn't the time or patience for a recipe, so after hacking up the chicken (it turned out beautifully! Thanks, Knife Skills class!) I chucked some olive oil into a frying pan, salt-and-peppered the chicken pieces, and dumped them into the pan over high heat so the skin got all yummy brown. Then I threw in the mushrooms and hazlenuts and squeezed a whole bunch of blood orange over it. Cook cook cook for maybe 20-25 minutes, until I thought it was done, then took out the chicken and let it rest while I deglazed the pan with a splash of wine and some more citrus juice (lemon this time). Reduced a bit, then served over the chicken with a side of mashed potes and roasted fennel. Josiah takes all the credit for the fennel, which I could have eaten on its own for days on end, it was so amazing.

The verdict:

Quite remarkable! The pairing was spot-on, even if the wine was a little dead (lacking acid and fruit expression, mostly just flattish slightly oxidized nut notes). The complexity of the dish was delightful, and there's enough leftover for TWO more meals. I even ate the damn chicken breasts, and they were succulent and flavorful and fantastic--totally unlike the crappy skinless/boneless/tasteless variety you find Saran-wrapped in the grocery store. Plus I made stock out of the carcass and discarded fennel stalks! Like.