Meaty things

I'm having a cheese eating party in mid-December to taste all the cheeses I've been making, and I need to serve something other than cheese. It's a daytime party and there will be children as well as adults. I'm thinking I'll make some pizzas and some of my smoked sausages, but I also want to make a terrine or two and had some ideas I wasn't sure about so I decided to do some experimenting on Monday night.

I wanted to try making a chicken stuffed with a pork mixture between its skin and flesh as well as traditional sage and onion stuffing in the middle, and I want to be able to just slice through the thing without worrying too much about bones.

I got this nice big chook from the supermarket …


… as well as some pork mince, ham pieces, and beef mince to make a meatloaf.

I removed the ribcage of the chicken by cutting the skin down its back and gently slicing the flesh away from the bones, cutting through the hip and shoulder joints so the legs and wings were still intact:


I always think a chicken like that looks like a baby's sleep suit ready for baby-insertion.

I chopped up the ham pieces roughly …


… adding half to the beef mince, which I set aside, and half to this pork mince.


Eddie cat was taking a great deal of interest in the proceedings, it's a good thing there's a window between the kitchen and my sunroom.


I chopped up some sage from the garden, reserving half for the sage and onion stuffing and adding half to the pork.


Ditto with a big onion:


I then added an egg …


… a good dose of salt, and about a quarter of a cup of flour to the pork mixture and squidged it thoroughly with my hands.

I inserted my fingers between the breast meat and skin, and between the thigh meat and skin, and pushed as much of the pork mixture into the spaces as would comfortably fit. There was a good half of it left over.


I salted the exposed chicken flesh ready for adding stuffing, and the carcass went into a pot with leeks, carrots, and celery and onto the stove to cook for stock:


I then made the sage and onion stuffing from a couple of bread rolls, some parsley from the garden, …


… the other half of the sage and the other half of the onion, binding it together with a little melted butter.


I then piled it into the centre of the chicken …


… and fastened it together with toothpicks.

Here's the finished article, dredged with salted flour and trussed ready for the oven:


It went into a roasting dish and into a 160°C oven.

Back to the beef mince!

Here's the beef meatloaf/terrine mix:


It has beef mince, onion, thyme from the garden, the other half of the chopped ham, an egg, some flour, and salt and pepper in it.

And here's the rest of the pork mixture, with some chopped and sautéed portobello mushrooms mixed in:


I lined my long loaf tin with foil, and plonked in about half of the beef mixture. I then placed the pork and mushroom mixture down the middle …


… and put the rest of the beef mixture around it.

I covered it all up with the edges of the foil, then put it in a bain marie in the oven with the chook.


I cooked them both to an internal temperature of ~70°C.

Here's the chicken:


Here's the meatloaf/terrine:


And here's the stock after the solids have been removed and the chicken's pan drippings have been added. It's going in the freezer.


Eddie, Lucas, and William finally got some of what they wanted - the exhausted chicken carcass.

Last night I cut up all of my meaty yumminess, so I could aliquot it and freeze it. Here's the meatloaf/terrine:


Here's the dismembered and sliced chicken:


See the three colours? White chicken surrounded by greeny stuffing and pinky pork. I think it looks quite pretty, and yes of course I tasted it. It's delicious.

And here are the slices all vacuum packed and ready for the freezer:


I think something similar along with some crusty bread and a few salad vegetables will do very well to feed my guests in December.