# Ballotine!!



## SpikeC (May 5, 2011)

My first attempt! And I only took the skin off of one knuckle in the process!


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## EdipisReks (May 5, 2011)

what do you have it stuffed with? it looks great!


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## SpikeC (May 5, 2011)

I made the stuffing out of kale, basil chicken sausage, onion, garlic and sour dough bread crumbs. Not much bread, though, I ran out of room!
Now I have to decide how to cook it!


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## EdipisReks (May 5, 2011)

that sounds really good!


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## SpikeC (May 5, 2011)

Oh ya, and bacon, too!


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## EdipisReks (May 5, 2011)

bacon makes anything better.


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## mano (May 5, 2011)

Lookin' good Spike! 

Show pics of the finished product.

KKF is becoming the ballotine forum. I'm making a duck ballotine this weekend with a duck pâté filling.


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## Jim (May 5, 2011)

Outstanding!

:cookingdinner:


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## SpikeC (May 5, 2011)

mano said:


> Lookin' good Spike!
> 
> Show pics of the finished product.
> 
> KKF is becoming the ballotine forum. I'm making a duck ballotine this weekend with a duck pâté filling.



OK, now THAT sounds like an amazing product!


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## SpikeC (May 6, 2011)

Roasted:






on the plate:






Wow. This tastes really good!


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## PierreRodrigue (May 6, 2011)

Hey! Wheres the dinner invite? I'm a growin' boy ya know!


Looks fantastic, yumm!


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## SpikeC (May 6, 2011)

The liquid in the pan is white wine, chix stock and drippings from the bird. I'm thinking that tomorrow I will blenderize the solids with the liquids to make a sauce.


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## Jim (May 7, 2011)

SpikeC said:


> The liquid in the pan is white wine, chix stock and drippings from the bird. I'm thinking that tomorrow I will blenderize the solids with the liquids to make a sauce.



Solid plan!


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## mano (May 7, 2011)

Your first attempt? I'm jealous.

Excellent job all around. Did you have a stuffing recipe or make it up yourself? 

It's a lot of fun, nice presentation and people are impressed.

Mother's Day duck ballontine for me. I'll put pics up on this thread.


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## SpikeC (May 7, 2011)

Thanks! I made up the stuffing. In retrospect I can see how I could have made it more involved, butt I doubt if that would improve it. I'm eager to take another whack at this. Doing it with duck sounds like big fun!


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## PierreRodrigue (May 8, 2011)

Where can I find how to prepare something like this?


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## mano (May 8, 2011)

PierreRodrigue said:


> Where can I find how to prepare something like this?



Start here:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAekQ5fzfGM

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php?899-Chicken-Galantine-Ballotine


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## SpikeC (May 8, 2011)

Since I did this I have been looking at more youtube vids of people de-boning chickens, and Pepin definitely has the deal down. I've seen some that appear to be taken at cooking schools, and I can see why some chefs are not impressed with the graduates!


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## Eamon Burke (May 8, 2011)

This dish has got to be the signature dish of KKF. I, personally, cannot stop wanting to make more. It's like a weekly thing at my house now.


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## SpikeC (May 8, 2011)

:cook:
Tonight is more slices of the ballottine (my mac book spells it this way) with the wonderful gravy I made and some roasted garnet yam and sauteed kale salad. Each component tastes great, (and is less filling!) so it should work our well together. 
(I got the recipe for the yam/kale dish from my new iPad at the allrecipe site, so that is what they are good for in the kitchen!)


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## UglyJoe (May 8, 2011)

I made one myself a couple of weeks ago. Stuffed with a mixture of duxelles and spinach plus tiny bits of bacon. For knife knuts, after watching Pepin work, I think it's hard to avoid trying this at least once. So yeah, official dish of the forum is just about it. Plus... it's CHEAP AS HELL!


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## SpikeC (May 8, 2011)

Next I'm going to try to do a KKF in bacon on top of the roll!


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## Rottman (May 8, 2011)

Great, I gotta try a chicken like that this week.


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## stevenStefano (May 8, 2011)

I think I might give this a go tomorrow, I'm off work all week so why not. Never tried it before and I'm not yet sure about the filling


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## SpikeC (May 8, 2011)

Fill it with things that you like.


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## mano (May 9, 2011)

Made two ducks for Mother's Day. One ballontine and the other was taken apart and used for confit, breast meat for pate stuffing, skin for crispy noshes, duck fat for the potatoes and the rest for stock.

Deboning a duck is different than chicken. Longer, stronger and tougher joints and bones, far less meat and all around trickier for a novice like me. It turned out great, though. 

I modified this pate a good bit for the stuffing. Per the wife's request, no bacon, and added cherries soaked in cherry heering along with the pistachio nuts. 

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Duck-Pate

Also modified this blackberry sauce. Used beef and chix stock instead of canned broth so I had to put in more fruit and other sweeteners. Needed a lot of roux to thicken it but the layers of sweet fruit and savory stock were rich and complex. Surprisingly nice:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Duck-with-Blackberry-Sauce-1265

1996 La Jota 15th Anniversary Release Cab is still showing nicely integrated tannins and acidity that stood up well to the duck. This was a winter meal in springtime. 




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## UglyJoe (May 9, 2011)

Wow that looks good


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## stevenStefano (May 10, 2011)

Ok here's my attempt/ Boning the chicken was pretty straightforward, but I thought I was gonna lose my sanity when it came to tying it. Did a sorta crappy job but it kinda worked. I used a simple stuffing of mushrooms onions and breadcrumbs and topped it with streaky bacon. Advice to others, put loads of breadcrumbs in it, I wish I had put much more stuffing in mine









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Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## MikeZ (May 11, 2011)

Oh man I dared not take a picture, jacques pepin makes it look so easy. I was UNsuccessful in deboning the chicken instead i butterflied the two breasted put cooked mushroom onion garlic with baby spinach and parsley ontop and then added whatever other meat I had... rolled it up. Took the leg\thiegh pieces still on the bone somehow seperate stuffed that with the mix as well. It came out super yummy but I was so disapointed in the inability to debone the chicken


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## stevenStefano (May 11, 2011)

When I did it I think I pulled a little too hard and totally destroyed the carcass and it split into a million little bits. It's amazing that such a short video can actually be so detailed. I put it on my phone so I could watch it whilst I was doing it


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## bob (May 11, 2011)

To the op, what temp did u cook the chicken to? Looks juicy.


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## WildBoar (May 11, 2011)

SilverHaze420 said:


> It came out super yummy but I was so disapointed in the inability to debone the chicken


Don't be so hard on yourself. It's not you, it's your knives. You obviously do not have enough of them! Time to shop! :viking:


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## SpikeC (May 12, 2011)

Here is #2, a bit more tidy, but still rome to improve! This one is going into the Big Green Egg.
I cooked the first one to 165, and then tented with foil for 10 minutes, it was nice and moist.


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## mano (May 12, 2011)

Looks nice and tidy. Pics of finished product. Also, what's the stuffing?


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## SpikeC (May 12, 2011)

The stuffing is an like the last one, butt with more bread and less kale. More dressing overall as my technique allowed me to jam more in! 
Bacon, basil chix sausage, garlic, olive oil, red onion, kale, sourdough bread cubes.
Can you see the liquid bubble?


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## SpikeC (May 12, 2011)

With cauliflower and red onion, garlic and white cheddar.


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