Homework: Breaking down a chicken

Since our CI broke down a whole chicken in lab last week I thought I would give it a try myself.  With my $4 whole chicken and my filet knife I went for it.  I had my husband take pictures along the way but I decided not to post many of them because well honestly, it wasn't pretty.  My technique at this point is a bit brutal and with chicken juice and guts going everywhere I was just so grateful I didn't video tape it.  My end result was pretty good though as I ended up with the right parts and they looked like how you would get them at the store (sort of): thighs, legs, breasts (including tenderloins) and wings. 
A quick summary with the pictures I did keep:
To start I cut the wings off:

Then I cut the legs off with thighs attached as it's easier to separate them when they're off the chicken.  What you're looking for is the fat line that separates the thigh from the leg and cut that line to separate them.

Here I have my wings, legs and thighs and a pile of all the excess fat (yum). 

Then I took the back of the chicken off, just sort of pulled it and put this in a pot to make stock for soup.  Then I turned the chicken breast side up and cut down the middle. I was supposed to cut out the wishbone first and somehow mine broke in the process, so no wishes for me.  Cutting the breasts was probably the easiest part since I wasn't dealing with bones and could really see what I was doing.  I learned from class that under the breasts are the tenderloins which are often used to make chicken tenders.  I separated those and saved them for later.  The parts I would be using tonight were the breasts and thighs.

So the whole process is not too difficult but I'm not gonna lie - its freaking messy.  Next time I think I'll dry my chicken out more with paper towels to help reduce some of the liquid. 

I will tackle this again since this was very cost efficient and I used every part of the chicken making two meals and still have some leftover.  I also need to try again to take better pictures to share.  My next post will show you the delicious meal I made with the boneless thighs & breasts. 

Homework Assignment: Practice Cutting

Since I did not have class this Monday due to the Holiday, I decided to use the time off to do my homework assignment - to practice cutting with my knives.  I began my homework with 5 pounds of onions and a goal of onion soup and decided to slice them all. 

I remembered reading in my book that leaving one end of the onion in tact helps keep the onion together when slicing.  This helped quite a bit but I still felt awkward in my cutting as it took me a long time and my slices were not all uniform in size.  Lacking confidence I refered again to my book and read the part on the proper way to hold a knife - three fingers wrapped around the bottom with the top of the blade in between your thumb and fore finger.   Wait a minute?  I've been holding my knife wrong?  I have all my fingers wrapped around the handle - does this really make a difference?  So I tried it as the book suggested and yes, it really makes a difference.  I felt more control with the knife and finished up the last of my onions wishing I had 5 more pounds to slice with this new found knowledge. 

     With my 5 pounds of sliced onions I began to make my soup.  I added some bacon in for flavor and sauteed my onions keeping the pot covered.  As they started softening I took the cover off and let them carmelize.  I then added some white wine (Moscato of course as this is what I always have on hand) and then one can of chicken broth and one can of beef broth.  Lots of salt and pepper and a little thyme and that was it.  I toasted some bread with butter and melted cheese on top and I was set to enjoy. 

     So what did I learn from doing my homework assignment?

I learned the proper way to hold a knife - which right there is worth the cost of tuition.  I learned that the best flavoring for onion soup is apple cider instead of wine.  Wine is fine but my favorite onion soup was when I used cider as the liquid to deglaze the pan.  I learned that onions always reduce when cooked so if you think you have too many onions you likely don't - cook more.  And I learned that this assignment made me love onions even more.  I'm off to buy another 5 pounds and keep practicing my homework.