Friday Night 2016: Out with friends drinking and dancing until 4 a.m.
Friday Night 2026: Deboning an entire chicken so I can stuff and cook it.
What a difference 10 years makes!
For this month’s challenge, I decided to take on the very casual task of deboning an entire chicken. And you can thank me for not filming that portion for you. Hahaha.
I remember having a phenomenal fried chicken meal at Minton’s in Harlem years ago. It looked like half a chicken was on my plate, only for me to finish and find just one thigh bone. I thought it was magic and have wanted to try something like it ever since. So I earmarked Marcella Hazan’s Pan-Roasted Whole Boned Chicken with Beef and Parmesan Stuffing from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking as soon as I saw it. .
With a little patience, it was actually easier than expected. The key is cutting close to the bone, and the most interesting part was pulling out the leg bone while keeping everything intact.
I imagine Marcella saw a meatloaf one time, said “hold my drink,” and grabbed a deflated chicken to wrap around it. Her version of turducken.
The chicken is stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, Parmesan, parsley, garlic, panade, and eggs, then sewn up with twine and trussed. In case anyone was still wondering, I think my career as a cosmetic surgeon is officially a bust after this stitch job.
Then comes the hard part: browning the chicken on both sides. I HATE flipping a partially cooked bird. There never seems to be an easy way to do it. And because I didn’t read the recipe in advance, I had no clue this was braised on the stovetop, not in the oven. I skipped the second turn because I could fully picture the whole thing falling apart while I stood there holding tongs and questioning every life choice that led me here.
Once it’s cooked, you let it rest, slice, and serve.
Sadly, it was just okay. Not a dish I’d attempt again. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze, but I’m still happy I did it.
Book: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, page 352
Rating: 4/5
How Easy Is That – Skill Level: Difficult
How Easy Is That – Time Involved: depends on how good you are at deboning a chicken haha
Store-Bought Is Fine: dry white wine
Recipe not online.
