Pancetta is started. I began with a whole pork belly already trimmed of its outer layer of skin then I trimmed it to square it off and make a consistent thickness



Below is a rub of brown sugar, chopped rosemary & garlic. I applied this after the base rub of salt, sugar and pink salt was applied



Then I covered it with a mix of toasted black peppercorns, coriander seeds, star anise & cloves plus crushed juniper berries (not toasted) and threw in fresh thyme on top before I sealed the bag.





Sealed and ready for a 7-10 day cure in my fridge weighted down with 9 lbs of weight. I'm flipping them every day and until I start the next step.



I forgot to add nutmeg, hopefully it won't matter much, I pursued a few recipes and then kind of winged it with the garlic rub and whole thyme.

See any major F-ups here Jack?

Zucchini and onions cooked with wine and chicken broth. Topped with chorizo ​​and poached eggs.

Eggs is poached in plastic film. I forgot the oil, thats why 1 of the eggs died.

Looks good yimyammer. You'll be glad you did all that extra trimming if you decide to dry it rolled up.

As a general question, are there any people here who prefer the white meat of chicken? I've been buying whole chickens for over a year, and butchering them to use the carcass for stock and the thighs/drumsticks for an assortment of things, then generally being uninterested in the breast. Then it occurred to me that I should just buy thighs/drumstick packs, since they're cheaper and I only really care about the dark meat. Are there any fans of white meat that use them for awesome stuff? I'm not really looking for recipes because of can think of plenty of "uses" for them, it just seems like its generally there for the texture instead of the flavour.

I love chicken breasts and like you, I like to buy the whole bird and break it down myself because I can make a good stock from the roasted bones & wings (I sometimes use the drumsticks in as well)

You also get two chicken tenders on the back of the breasts which are great to cook on the grill on a skewer.

I also remove all the skins and then roast them in the oven on an elevated wired rack until the fat has mostly dripped out and they get real crispy like a potato chip, sprinkle them with kosher salt after you pull them from the oven and they're a great addition to a lot of dishes or good all by themselves.

I eat the crispy chicken skins with grilled or sous vide chicken breasts with mashed potatoes, celery root puree, cauliflower puree or parsnip puree. Make a sauce out of the chicken stock you made with the bones by reducing a couple of cups of stock until it intensifies and thickens, then add a dab of butter and salt to taste (at the end or it will get too salty after it reduces).

Chicken breasts can get dry, so I like to brine them for a few hours before I cook them. It makes a big difference and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I think I posted a brine recipe in this thread but here's one if I didn't: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/l...-fried-chicken. I'm sure you can find a million of them out there or just make your own using a 5% salt ratio to water (match or half the amount of salt with sugar--example 100 ounces of water will have 5 ounces of salt and 5 ounces of sugar and add whatever else you like like lemons, oranges, toasted peppercorns, fennel seed, coriander, anise, cinnamon sticks, garlic, cloves, etc)

Brined fried chicken is awesome as well. I soak the chicken in buttermilk over night after I brine it and then toss the chicken right out of the buttermilk into my flour mixture and fry

You can make a hell of a lot of food out of two whole birds and the stock can be used for sauces, chicken soup or the liquid for your risotto, rice, etc. Its a really great way to save money and feed yourself some tasty food in the process.

Here's a brined and sous vide chicken breast on parsnip puree, with chicken stock reduction, roasted zucchini and crispy chicken skin on top:




Here's a rolled chicken breast (wrapped in cellophane and twist ends until it creates a tube that looks like a sausage, sous vide and slice) on a bed of frisee salad and fresh herbs and smoked egg sauce:



Awesome fried chicken I had to stop making because I was getting too fat:




Simple brined chicken breasts grilled:



There's a lot you can do with chicken breasts and its a great source of lean protein if you happen to be on a weight loss regime, brining is the key to making lean, dry meats flavorful and moist, IMO.

Good Luck!

thx bud, that's the plan

Awesome post yimy...I really want to go grab a couple whole chickens now and learn how to break them down. I'm sure its rather easy and sounds like an awesome money saver while still getting to spend some time preparing and making elaborate dishes in the kitchen.

TY Sir

Below is a video on how to break down a whole chicken (there's more out there, I just chose a short one). I debone the breasts and separate the tender on the back side of the breasts, so if I cut the chicken breasts in half, I get 12 pieces but if I leave it whole, I get 10. I also don't bother to spilt the carcass since I'm not leaving the bone attached to the breast, your call though.

Once you get used to locating the joints, you're gonna laugh at how easy it was and wonder why you ever paid extra for broken down chicken, especially for boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you're losing all that great chicken skin and paying extra!)

Cool post yim, what i actually had been doing with the breasts was indeed making torchons (albeit with the skin on), sous viding and then either searing or deep frying, i still just couldnt get that into it though. I do eat mostly paleo though so i avoid a lot of sauces etc. The roasted skin sounds like an awesome idea though and something i'm gonna look into!

Funny that you bring up the oysters on the back, those are def my favourite part when i'm roasting!

Fried chicken recipe?

I think its similar to the ad hoc recipe I believe you said you liked.

here's my previous post where I detail out what I did:

PS..I've let the chicken sit in the buttermilk over night ad have noticed any downside to doing so

Ha, I'm terrible with nomenclature, that's what I was making but didn't know the name.

Well if you're doing fine work like torchons and still don't like chicken breasts, then I don't know what to say. Have you ever brined them? What don't you like about chicken breasts

I was going to point out the oysters on the back near the thigh you have to carefully cut out when breaking down the chicken, but didn't figure there was any way I could convey that in text, so I'm glad you know about them. I was talking about the little pieces of tenderloin on the back side of the chicken breasts, those are tasty as well.

Never tried brining (although i have wet and dry brined whole chickens before) but i just find them tedious. I'll gladly eat 2 legs and wings just roasted with salt, but finishing more than one breast just bores me really. I think the dark meat is just so much more flavorful.

Booooom stuffed pork loin is the ****. Peach, spinach, monetary jack is perfect!

Brining is really good for pork, just make sure when it's done brining to dry it off otherwise it will be messed up

Nothing on par with what you guys cook, but was at the store this afternoon and saw a sale on bacon AND a sale on cream cheese, so naturally I bought some jalapenos.

Most recipes call for like 1/3 slice of bacon when making stuffed jalapenos, but **** that. I got the biggest jalapenos I could find and am using 1 slice of bacon each. I made 8, and used a half pound of bacon total.

I may have a heart attack this afternoon but it's gonna be so worth it.

I do a similar FC recipe, but my brine is:

Water
Kosher Salt
Peppercorns
Lemon and zest
honey
garlic
thyme (or rosemary)

Probably some other stuff too. Boil it, cool it, then brine for 8-12 hours.

Pretty much the same dipping. Mixture to buttermilk to mixture then fried.

The only time I make this recipe is if I'm making like 20 pieces. It's so much trouble to do all of that, but it's worth it with such a large quantity. All legs and thighs.

Basically, "Ad Hoc at Home's" recipe to a T

Cooked up some balsamic roasted broccoli and spinach & ricotta stuffed chicken for dinner tonight. Served the chicken with a light mushroom sauce.

That broccoli looks fantastic (don't think those words have ever come out of my mouth). What did you do to it?

It was just tossed with half an onion, salt, pepper, balsamic and olive oil then put in the oven for ~20 minutes at 215c. Throw a bit of parmesan on it when it comes out and it's good to go - super easy.

Inspired by all the duck talk in the steak thread I cooked duck for the first time. Went with a duck salad w/ blue cheese dressing. omnom, will make again.

old bay + olive oil + chicken

Stage 2 of Pancetta: rinse, dry, wrap & hang for 2-4 weeks in curing chamber at 60 degrees & 60% humidity

completely creamed all over my computer OMG

Brilliant thread! Great links and superb food and pictures obv, really gave me some inspiration to try out some new cooking stuff. Hope you guys keep it up.