Day 4- Henrietta II

So today, we try our second bird.  We will not distract ourselves with any other part of the meal other than the chicken.  It is the essence of the meal- the coup de grace.  Other courses can wait their turn.

It seems we may have our shit together this time, in a relative sense, and after brining overnight, Henrietta II is ready to be turned inside out.    Here’s how the brining changed.

Blended the blueberries

Added 1 small orange habenero

Peppercorns

Also blended the brine a bit 

In the brine for 21 hours.  And like a dyed easter egg Henrietta is lavender.  On account of the blending of the blueberries, we guess.

Innards:

Roasted beets at 425 – timer first set for 30 minutes + 10  minutes, small ones should be ready after that while the bigger one will be kept a little undercooked.  One beat is diced and the other two are blended to a paste.

The shredded cabbage, the roasted pepper peeled, cup of corn, no pomegranate this time around, smaller sausages (the breakfast kind), habenero (how much? How far can it go ?)  ¾ of a pepper finely diced.  Done.

Does cooking the pepper increase the heat or decrease the heat?  We must research the Scottish bonnet.

The nerve is up to debone the little lady. 

This is going much better.  We have figured out which end is up and where the wish bone is and how the wings are detached from the breast bone.  We have learned something about anatomy, and Yvette seems too excited over the prospect of diving into the bird that she has forgotten about her wine.  The flesh is being peeled back to expose the screaming dead head of the chicken’s ribcage.  If you ever do this you’ll know what we mean.  Think of John Carpenter’s the Thing.  A few more bones were removed than required.  Henrietta 2 is a bit more ripped, a bit flatter, a bit sadder, but she'll pluck up.

For the best instructions we have found yet for boning a whole chicken w/o cuts or slices check out: (we cannot find the site now and will have to address this later. Sorry.)

The victim is ready to be stuffed and trussed.

Henrietta is resting after 40 min at 425.  She looks good.  It's a veriable murder scene as her red innards pop forth.  Chicken porn.  In the process of discovering Carnal Foods we have created Chicken Porn.

We have poured the sauce and cut into the bird.

On first taste.  The meat is moist, we have passed the first hurdle.  Could be too sweet.  An interesting combination.  But, sadly, after a few bites we find it underwhelming. 

The chicken is good.  The heat works.  The peppers, the cabbage, and beats serve the purpose.  For texture they are an excellent basis.  But, we have no unifying flavor.  It’s a bathtub of innards without any sensation and breakfast sausage, besides being underdone, is in every way terrible and does not deserve a place at the table.  We knew this already, but skinny and voluptuous german sausages are not easy to find. 

Henrietta needs more bite.  More thrust.  She’s trying but…

Till another day.  Thanks.