De-boning the bird

One good thing about having a blog, (especially a food blog), is that in the pursuit of an interesting post, I get to try something I've wanted to do for a while. In this case, I got to be all Julia Child-esque and deboned a bird. Knowing that a chicken would be far too ambitious to start, I tried with a Cornish Game Hen, a very small one. 

First, I had to defrost it, which I did in the microwave, leaving it slightly under thawed, thinking that slightly frozen flesh may be easier to cut. (Once it was finished, I made sure it was perfectly thawed), and set about browsing all my various options for instruction. I have books and magazines that explain the process in detail, but it was the Internet yet again that aided me most successfully. The following video was found on youtube. This guy makes it look so easy, I couldn't wait to rush to the kitchen and try it.

The first cuts. The bird loses a leg bone or two.

It actually wasn't too bad. I think I pretty much butchered the breast meat trying to get the carcass and rib cage out, but I managed not to pierce the skin so that the finished bird looked like it should. The two leg bones are quite easy to remove, ensuring you are careful to try to scrape the flesh away and not waste any. Overall, I feel confident enough to attempt something bigger. Thanksgiving is on Monday in Canada and I usually cook a turkey.....

I stuffed the little blighter with this concoction:

Recipe : Stuffing 

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 pepper, chopped

handful of dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes (Don't throw the liquid away!)

1 big slug of dry Marsala

1 tsp truffle and pecorino paste (one of those jars that sits at the back of a cupboard)

Fry the onion, garlic and pepper in 1 tsp butter and 2 tsps of olive oil until soft.

Add the mushrooms, along with their liquid and the Marsala and increase heat.

Reduce until dry and add the paste. Stir well, take off heat and let cool.

Stuff this into the bird's legs and body, (reserving 2 tbsp) and either sew up to maintain the bird shape or attach with toothpicks like I did.

Drizzle oil over bird, season well with salt, pepper and paprika and roast at 375oC for about 30 minutes or until the juice is clear. I gave the hen a blast under the grill (broiler) to crisp up the skin.

Sauce

2 tbsp reserved stuffing mix

2 tbsp butter

the remains of a pack of Hollandaise sauce (optional)

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp chicken stock paste

juice from finished bird

I melted the butter with the stuffing mix and added the Hollandaise sauce mix and 1/8 cup of water and stirred until slightly thickened. Then I added the stock and remaining water and cooked gently until syrupy. The roasting juices were added at the end and warmed through.

The hen crisped up nicely and sliced straight through, which is the highlight of de-boning for me, it cuts like a joint of meat. The taste was really good, the crispiness of the skin contrasting well with the flesh and rich stuffing. I served it with asparagus and cauliflower boiled then grilled with blue cheese, Parmesan and cheddar on top. If I wasn't on some stupid low carb diet, I would have had roast potatoes or mash. I can taste them now.