In Scott’s Kitchen

In Scott’s Kitchen
I promised myself last month that I’d take on the harder challenge this month. I could have changed my mind, but that’s not usual for me. I make a plan and stick with it. So, I read and re-read the Chicken Galantine recipe in the book and forged ahead.
This the the point where things went a little bit south. The skin didn’t completely cover. So, I took out some of the forcemeat. I was using butter muslin instead of cheesecloth. It’s much the same except it has much smaller holes, like using the double layer of cheesecloth the recipe called for. It ended up being bulging and weird looking.
The crockpot was already up to the right cooking temperature filled with stock and I had set my controller to keep it at 165°F. In the galantine went. It poached for quite a while to come up to temperature. I checked it in several places and it had gone past the 160°F to 164°F.
It tastes delicious, but I can say it’s not the most visually appealing dish. After the first day that pinkness turned to grey. I suppose that’s why it’s always served with a sauce. I choose my homemade plum chutney and my homemade Indian spiced tomato jam. Both were good, but the chutney went especially well with the galantine.
I’ve learned a lot this year, but something I didn’t anticipate getting into my noggin is how different people have very different tastes. Every month reading tweets and blog posts you get opinions from all over the map. Janis declared the galantine her favorite so far. Cathy raved about the hot dogs and mortadella. For me pancetta still is top of the heap. Merguez is close behind with duck proscuitto, pork pie, and mousseline rounding out my top five. But, I’m so glad to have all of the years’ challenges in my cooking arsenal.
Recipes in: Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing
By Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn.
Stretching, #CharcutePalooza month 10
Saturday, October 15, 2011