For Your Food Only

Just about two weeks ago I purchased six live roosters from a friend of ours. She had adopted the six roosters unaware of how much of a nuisance they would become to her flock of chickens. Needless to say the minute she asked me if I knew what to do with them, I jumped on the opportunity to bring a bird directly from the coop to the pot. My only requirement was that upon delivery the roosters be alive. I wanted to teach my interns, cooks, and line cooks the practice of dressing an animal for cooking.

After killing the roosters, pulling off all of the feathers, and butchering them, we started working on three different preparations.

For the first preparation, the classic “Coq au Vin,” I choose three roosters that we butchered into eight pieces. Each breast was still on the bone and cut in half so that we ended up with 4 pieces, and each thigh was cut in half so that you ended up with four pieces as well. Then we put these pieces into a red wine marinade following the tradition of “Coq au Vin”. For The Chef in the Hat twist you were waiting for, I served the stew with freshly made pasta that soaked up the fantastic gravy/sauce. This soul warming dish brought back fabulous memories of Nantes (my hometown) in the winter, and my dear mother tending the stew on the hearth.

The second preparation, a delicate poaching, incorporated the breast and thighs on the bones (but not the entire carcass) of two roosters. The poaching liquid was a fine poultry stock made ahead. The stock was brought to a boil first and then immediately reduced to a simmer. The meat was then added to the simmering stock and poached for about an hour and a half (the stock never returned to a boil). After the meat was cooked it was taken out of the stock. The stock was cooled rapidly and used later in a velvety poultry consommé. Before serving the meat was removed from the bones, sliced thin and added to the very hot consommé with farro. The flavors were very hearty yet delicate, especially after a sprinkling of fleur de sel over the white flesh of the meat.

The third preparation was another French classic, “Coq en Croute De Sel “ also know as “ Rooster in Salt Crust”. I simply filled the cavities of the rooster with a mixture of citrus and rosemary and padded the outside of the bird with a salt mixture. Baked in the oven for about one and a half hours, it came out absolutely gorgeous, with a beautiful citrus aroma. The last time I used this method was twenty nine years ago when I still lived in France. I was quite pleased with the results and I think Branden really loved that one. Contrary to what one might think, it was not salty at all. I am now motivated to keep practicing this method until I perfect it.

After all of this experimentation Tori was shocked at how tender the meat became especially in the Coq au Vin. Adam was very intrigued with the salt crust and Andrew was just amazed at the whole thing. I cannot wait to get in more roosters so that I can continue practicing with a meat that is quite rare in Seattle.