Chicken 7 Ways

    This week was the infamous Chicken Week.  After this week, you are guaranteed not to eat chicken again for a very long time.  Chicken is not my favorite meat.  I never order it when dining out.  I find the breast particularly boring.   I am hoping to learn some ways to jazz it up and appreciate it more.
   
     The goal this week is to expose us to the different cooking methods by using the popular and affordable chicken.  On Monday, we learned how to fabricate a chicken, which is to break it down into 6 usable parts: two each of breasts, thighs, and legs.  The chef's efficient and artful butchering skills were unmatched by any of us.  I for one cut off the tenderloin from the breast on my first attempt.   We then used the breasts that we "lopped" off and poached them which is the first cooking method.  The finished product was ok, but kinda dry.  The tarragon Veloute was excellent however.

Poached Chicken with Veloute

     On Tuesday, we learned how to truss a chicken and made roasted chicken thighs and legs with a tarragon sauce.  I think this was my favorite method to have chicken.  The skin was flavorfully crisped.  The tarragon sauce was a very good accompaniment.  The side dishes of spaghetti and butternut squash added a splash of color to the plate.  And the potatoes Anna was delicious as well as artful.

Roasted chicken with Jus lie d'estragon

     Next we learned to sauté chicken breasts and braise chicken legs.  Yes, we made both cutlets with mushrooms and coq au vin on the same day.  Regrettably, the way the program is set up at the school, one does not get to make all the menu items, but rather each person or team of two work on one part of the menu.  Otherwise, it would be a twelve hour day!  Everything was delicious.  Lucky for Don, he gets all the leftovers.

Coq auVin and Chicken Cutlets aux Champignons

    Thursday proved to be a production disaster.  What should have been a relatively easy day of spicy fried chicken fingers and pan fried chicken with pan gravy became a disaster of miscommunication and finger pointing.  I think the chef's compliments from the previous days deluded us into complacency.  We were quickly put in our place.  As we hung our heads in shame during our daily post meal critique, the chef expressed his disappointment with our efforts.  We vowed to do better tomorrow.

panko chicken strips and pan fried chicken

     On Friday, we came together and produced a delicious menu of apricot bourbon grilled chicken, deep fried potatoes, and tempura vegetables.  We concluded our hectic week with a relatively successful day.  The hardest part was cleaning out the deep fryer.