Another quarter of culinary school is coming to a close. It is crazy how fast this quarter went by…and only two more to go until graduation!
Our Groups Goods
My Canapes: Cherry Tomato relish with feta cheese on baguette
For our final this quarter, we had to make 12 identical Canapes ( appetizers ), 4 identical dinner salads, breakfast sausage, and chicken galentines. Chicken galentines are probably one of the oddest things I have ever had to make, but when done right, they are also oddly delicious. This quarters final was probably one of the most relaxed finals I have ever done, but despite the relaxed atmosphere I still decided to be my usual high strung self and prepare a galentine at home the night before. Since I am currently doing the Whole30 ( day 14!!! ) I decided to make a paleo version.
So what is a Galentine? You may be wondering… well, in a way it is basically a sausage that is encased in chicken skin. First you have to skin a chicken….
If this creeps you out, you are completely normal.
After you skin the chicken, you want to reserve the chicken breasts. You will be pounding these out and wrapping them in the skin along with the rest of the meat. While you make the stuffing place the chicken skin on a sheet tray with parchment paper and chill it in the freezer. This makes it easier to handle when you are stuffing it. Remember to reserved the breasts, and take as much meat off the wings, thighs, etc and put them in a bowl. ( yes chicken livers too! ) You will be grinding this up in a food processor.
Paleo Galentine Ingredients:
Chicken Meat from 1 chicken Carcass
8 oz. ground beef
1/2 can coconut milk
2 Tbs. Penzy’s Arizona Dreaming spice mix or a mix of paprika, oregano, garlic, cumin, chili powder….
2 egg whites
Sauteed mushrooms
Salt to taste
For reduction:
1/2 cup Chick Stock
1 Shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Red wine vinegar
First, you want to get started on your sauteed mushrooms and reduction so that it has time to cool before adding it to your meat.
Sautee your shallots and garlic in a pan until the shallots are translucent. Then add your red wine vinegar to the pan. ( if you are not doing the whole 30 than you can use regular wine. )
Then, add your stock to the pan and let the mixture reduce to about 1/2 its original volume.
Remove from stove and let cool. It is quicker if you put it in a new container and place it in the freezer/fridge.
Now for the fun part:
Place the chicken meat, and ground beef in a food processor and pulse until it is semi smooth. Add your spice mix, and salt.
Next add the egg whites and coconut milk. Pulse in the food processor until it smooth. Add your shallot and garlic reduction and pulse again.
Remove the mixture from the food processor and place in a bowl. Fold in the sauteed mushrooms.
You are going to want to check the seasonings on your filling before you go to the next step. To do this, take a small amount of your meat mixture and form it into a patty. Cook it up in a small pan and test it to see if it is seasoned to your liking. Test and season until you are satisfied. Always taste your food as you go.
Once your filling is seasoned to your liking it is time to wrap it up in your chicken skin.
Place your pounded out chicken breast in the center of the chicken skin. Then place your stuffing on top of it. Do not over stuff your chicken skin. Then roll your chicken skin and truss it like a roast…
Don’t judge my horrible trussing job.
Traditionally, galentines are poached…but I hate the texture of poached chicken skin…pale and rubbery skin is not really appetizing to me. Chicken skin should be crispy and delicious so I roasted mine. After trussing the galentine I placed it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes or until it reached an internal temperature of 165.
It is actually starting to look edible
Chicken Galentine with salsa verde, salad with a pear vinaigrette, and roasted zucchini
After letting the galentine rest for a few minutes, I sliced it up and served it with some roasted tomatillo salsa, a salad, and roasted zucchini. Yum.
You probably have absolutely no desire to actually make this do you? Well, if that is the case, maybe I can just make it for you sometime.
If you are looking for something a bit easier my next post will be on how to render fat. The lard you find in the grocery stores is not the real deal. It is basically just shortening and contains hydrogenated oil. It is time you render your own fat! I didn’t name the blog Render The Fat for nothing!
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