Day 5: After a Long Hiatus- Henrietta III

If  we must explain why the entries are so late in coming perhaps it was because of a secret, underground, hidden from the world of urbanites, cooking seminar in the wilds of Borneo.  Without television, internet, or cell phone service we were at the mercy of our guides and focused on the intense honing on one’s cooking skills concerning the ‘boar of Borneo’- Sus Verrucosus.  You try hanging from a gigantic tree in a tiny hammock and shooting wildly at raging sow.  But, that's as much as we can say.  We are bound to delicious secrecy.

We return to our endeavors.  Life simply intervened, and we put our dreams on hold, begrudgingly.  But tonight, we have returned to the kitchen for another exciting foray into the world of Carnal Food as inspired by Chef Nordo.  Our menu is coming together, and soon we should be able to describe it in its entirety.  The future seems bright.  We have solicited yet another sister, Henrietta #3, for the evening.

By the way, as an aside, a note for the converted, there is rumor afoot, in the undercurrents, and among the niches of the ether, that insinuates that Chef Nordo himself may be presenting a dinner locally, here, in Seattle.  My guess, he will land in Fremont.  It suits him.  With any luck we will hear of it in time to get a seat at the table.  Perhaps it will be a mere evening of food in which only the privileged partake.  But, if we are lucky, Nordo will settle in for a bit, appreciate the flavors of Seattle, get to know us, and we can get to know him.

 Tonight, we try new innards.  Cherries are in the works, and we have the stones to go for habeneros.  No more pansying about with serranos.

The brining is only 8 hrs this time.  Our first mistake:  do not brine frozen bird.  The pomegranate molasses simmers for 50 min.  Red peppers are broiling before.  Red onions will be browned slowly with thyme and sausage (still an inferior small link breakfast sausage soon to be replaced by a quality, skinny German sausage) to be added after carmelization occurs.  We need the angel hair of sausage.  Meanwhile, cherries will be infused w/ the habeneros.  At the moment is it wine based or balsamic?  Balsamic is so strong but maybe the secret.  Or, could it be chicken stock?  TBD.  All the bits will be mixed w/ brie cheese for that gooey innard consistency, and Henrietta will be stuffed.

The process begins again.  This is good.  We feel happy to be back.

One habanero is the answer for tonight.  We want little cherry fireballs on the tongue.  12 oz. dried cherries.  2 cups balsamic.  1 cup water.  1 little blistering pepper.  On simmer until reduced to just cherries.  Balsamic it is.  That is the decision.

 Henrietta #3 is a very organic chicken complete with innards and a few straggly feathers.  She is a pleasant mauve rather than a lavender having more tones of the greys.  And it is time to debone once again.

And we are definitely making progress.  The wishbone has been extracted in one piece for the first time.  Unable to remember the process exactly and without instructions we proceed pulling the meat from the bones bit by bit.  Everyone on the internet opens the bird down the middle.  We call this weak.  Henrietta is in her squat phase.  As Yvette proceeds there is the loud pop of ligaments snapping.  She is becoming an expert at chicken deboning.

“I’m getting good at this now.”  Chuckles of glee.  “Come here lady.”  It's all a bit sadistic.

Mid-deboning the peppers are removed and placed in a bag to steam.  As well, the cherries seem done.  With caution they are popped in the mouth.  Good and not quite enough bite.  Maybe 2 peppers next time.  Another cherry.  And another.  And there’s the heat.  Habeneros do win the flavor contest for peppers.

Success.  Yvette lords over Henrietta triumphant.  Time for the stuffing.  After 45 min of browning the onions, the sausages were added on medium to low heat- nestled in a nest of onions.  The diced roasted red peppers and spicy cherries are mixed.  A cubed ½ lb. of brie thrown in for good measure. 

“That does what I wanted it to do.  A little burny and sweet.”  She’s excited.  It’s the first good stuffing.

 

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. 

St. Lawrence- Our Patron Saint

Patron Saint of Librarians and Cooks

This man had it.  He deserves the praise of all cooks for keeping his head under extreme duress.  Early Carnal Devotee.

try this link:

"This side's done, turn me over and have a bite."

Day 3: Beyond the Feather Experiment

#3 was not all a bust. Also that day...

Another try at the pomegranate sauce- the vehicle for the feathers to stick to Henrietta's skin as well as the sweetness to her peck. 1/2 lemon. A bit of sugar. And yet another unknown amount of juice. Did we ever make a sauce before with the molasses? Yes, we did, and we burned it. (See Experiment #2 - The Distressed Chicken.)
The molasses is quite good. Successfully sweet. Following the heating instructions seemed to work. Do not overheat while drunk. This time, only moderately drunk, we did not overheat. Excellent combination with the chicken meat encapsulating the best flavors of Thanksgiving. The salty bird and the sweet berry.

And now: the sauce. Browning shallots and garlic in pan drippings. Deglaze pan w/ 1/2 cup of port. Add 2 tbls of molasses. Beef stock is on. The first tastings are phenomenal- an original sweet and sour sauce. Good and gelatinous. Maybe stretch it w/ a bit more stock or port? And when a piece of the chicken is dipped in the sauce it is perfect in deep blood hues and a huge success!

The next nest experiment- 1 egg, 1/2 cup of buttermilk, 1 cup parmesan. Far more batter like. Involving much more active soaking process. The nests go in.

And the nests- 25 min- very nesty. Photo worthy. Another success. The key is more parmesan than buttermilk.
An Egg filling theory. Goat cheese and milk (should be cream) w/ truffle oil and truffles and pepper. Rich. Creamy. White. Maybe too silty and too much on top of each other but otherwise farmy and country. Looks good in the egg. And if there’s a hole in the bottom, which there was this time, the creamy cheese slowly effuses and soaks into the nest. And when the nest is lifted the shell opens way to a diluge of sauce that overspills the egg and drips sinously downs the sides and onto the plate. Needs something to cut through the richness. Adding zest? Good Choice. A very good morning, wave out the window at the sun, country breakfast kind of feel.

The plate of the nest needs a good line of cilantro pesto across the plate as a seat.

So, to summarize #3. A triple disaster with the feather experiment. Three weak attempts at art. No heart to try w/ fourth piece of chicken at this point. But we end with a triple whammy of nests and chicken sauce and egg cream. The nest is under control. Chicken needs work. Feathers are at zero.