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Basic Professional French Cooking

On www.melaniff.com since 2016

Introduction to Basic Techniques

Session 11

  1. 1.Poultry Classifications

basic techniques

  1. 2.Quality Characteristics

Chicken

  1. -Plump chickens with full, round breasts are the more valuable.

  2. -In younger birds, the breastbone is flexible, the spur is barely formed in the foot, and the neck is meaty.


Turkey

  1. -Female turkeys are generally more appreciated than males. To tell, females have an extra piece of meat under the throat, and black feet with spurs.


Duck

  1. -Ducks should have a flexible beak and breastbone - this indicates youth.


Pigeon

  1. -Pigeon or squab should have a rose colored stomach.


  1. 3.Preparing a Chicken for Cooking

Most restaurants purchase chickens already cleaned, but it is important to known how to clean them.


  1. -If the chicken still has pin feathers attached, hold it over a high flame to singe them off.

  2. -Cut off the feet and the wings.

  3. -Slit the skin on the back of the neck lengthwise. Cut off the neck as the body, and cut off the head. Trim the neck and save it for stock.

  4. -Cut off the circular anal opening in a clean cut and enlarge the opening.

  5. -Insert one finger into the opening and detach the two red lungs from the thorax. Clean out the interior cavity and remove the liver, heart, wind pipe, etc., intact. Separate them on a cutting board.

  6. -Trim the gizzard and separate the liver carefully from the bitter gall bladder.


  1. 4.Trussing

The purpose of trussing is to hold a chicken in a certain position while it cooks. This improved its appearance and helps hold in stuffing.


  1. -Place the chicken on its back. With a trussing needle and 24 inch string, pierce the hip joint on the right side. Cross the needle on the bias to come out under the left leg.

  2. -Bring the string up over the left leg and across the back to close the anal opening. Wrap the string around the right leg.

  3. -Pierce the chicken under the right leg and cross on the bias to come out at the left hip joint. The string should form an X through the torso.

  4. -Turn the bird onto its breast. Pierce the left wing (now on the right side), flatten and stitch the neck skin to the body and pierce the right wing. Tie the two string ends together in a firm knot.


  1. 5.Cutting a Chicken into Quarters

  2. -Place the chicken on one side, legs to the right.

  3. -Cut behind and around the thigh (the meaty part of the leg), separating it from the body along the natural separation of the muscle. Be sure to include the ‘oyster’, the tender oval of meat that sits in a hollow along the backbone.

  4. -Cut through the leg joint and remove the leg.

  5. -Eliminate the thigh bone.

  6. -Chop off the foot just below the joint and scrape down the flesh of the drumstick slightly. This is known as ;’manchonner’. It improves the appearance of the leg.

  7. -Repeat in the same manner for the second leg.

  8. -Place the chicken on its back.

  9. -Cut the filet away from the carcass.

  10. -Flatten the wing against the board, section the joint and cut the wing quarters off the carcass. Manchonner the wing tips.

  11. -Eliminate the thorax bones from the carcass and reserve the carcass and offal for stock.


  1. 6.Roasting

Roasted in a method of cooking a food product by means of direct, radiant heat in dry atmosphere of an oven. The item being roasted must contain a certain amount of fat (either naturally or is a basting) or it will become too dry. It is usually done to young poulyty, first grade, choice cuts of red meat, and game.


The item, whole or in pieces, os placed in a preheated oven between 400 and 475 F / 200 to 220 C. The length of cooking time depends on the shape, volume, and quantity of the item being cooked, and on the oven temperature. Generally smaller items are cooked for a shorter time at high heat, while larger pieces cook for longer as a lower temperature so the heat can penetrate to the center before the exterior becomes overcooked.


The coagulation of surface protein seals the nutritive elements and juices inside. This is an example of cooking by concentration. Products being roasted should never be pierced with a fork during the cooking period, since this would break the protein seal and allow juices to run out.


After the item is roasted, it is necessary to let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes on a wire reck in a warm place before carving. This allows the juices forced to center of the meat be heat to disperse evenly throughout the product.


  1. 7.Sautéing

Sautéing consists of quick searing in oil or other fat ove a very high flame, then the temperature to complete cooking. The high heat coagulates the protein on the surface to seal the juices inside, so this is another method of cooking by concentration.


Since sautéing is a fairly quick method of cooking, it get the best results with small items like quartered chicken pieces, steaks and chops. Thick pieces tend to be burn on the outside before the inside cooks. When sautéing, be careful not to burn the ‘sucs’, the solids the accumulate on the bottom of the pan. These are very flavorful and can be used as the basis of a sauce.


    RECIPES

    Poulet Rôti Grand-Mère

    Poulet Sauté Chasseur

Type

Age

Weight

Sex

White Fleshed Poultry

Chicken

Broiler / Fryer

9 - 12 weeks

3 - 5 lbs

M/F

Roaster

5 months

5 - 10 lbs

M/F

Capon

< 8 months

4 - 4.5 lbs

Castrated Male

Fowl / Stewing Hen

> 10 months

Female

Cock

> 10 months

Male

Rock Cornish Hen

5 - 7 weeks

1 - 2 lbs

M/F

Turkey

Fryer / Roaster

< 16 Weeks

4 - 6 lbs

M/F

Young Hen

5 - 7 months

8 - 12 lbs

Female

Young Tom

5 - 7 months

> 12 lbs

Male

Yearling

< 15 months

M/F

Mature

> 15 months

M/F

Dark Fleshed Poultry

Duck

Ducklings

< 1 year

3 -7 lbs

M/F

Goose

Young

12 - 14 months

3 -7 lbs

M/F

Pigeon

Young Squab

6 months

.5 - .75 lbs

M/F

Squab

12 months

1.25 lbs

M/F

Young Guinea Fowl

3 months

1 - 1.25 lbs

M/F

Guinea Fowl

6 months

2 lbs

M/F