Chicken 101

Justin and Kate Meddis of Rose's Market and Sweet Shop performed a chicken butchery workshop at the market this weekend.

Their shop opens in downtown Durham soon and will feature locally sourced cuts of meats, housemade sausages, charcuterie, soups and stocks. They will also offer rotating dinner options and desserts. In the meantime, they're offering butchery classes and teaming up with local farms to create themed dinners, like their upcoming whole hog dinner with Okfuskee Farm.
Justin offered great tips during the chicken workshop. Some of my favorites were:

- Salt moves through meat at the rate of one inch per day, so season your chicken early and generously.

- instead of tying a chicken's legs together before roasting it, cut slits between the leg bones and Achilles tendons and slip one leg through the opposite slit.

- Meat should be room temperature when you cut and cook it. Roasting it straight out of the fridge will reduce the oven's temperature and cook unevenly. it takes about 90 minutes for a refrigerated chicken to reach room temperature.

- After Justin eats roasted chicken, he puts the bones back into a saute pan and roasts them in a 425 degree oven again until they're brown. Then he removes them from the oven and makes a stock. He doesn't season the stock, since you're going to season whatever recipe you add the stock to anyway.

Watching Justin handle his knife during the demonstration reminded me what an art butchery is. Try his tricks next time you buy a bird and check out their shop!

A Sicilian Salsa Cruda

I wrote about the wonders of fresh tomatoes last summer, particularly in a raw tomato sauce, also known as salsa cruda. I've always viewed salsa crudas as exlcusive to the summer, but that's not always the case in Sicily. Just because tomato season is coming to an end doesn't mean you have to start cooking all of your sauces again.

A recipe for salsa cruda in a Messina News article published in August 2010 provides a variation that includes, but does not necessarily feature, the tomato. It calls for ten cherry tomatoes, but they are just the backdrop for bold flavors like pistachios, almonds, anchovies, capers and orange. It's great with pasta, bread or grilled meats and fish.

I've translated (with help from Google) and copied the recipe below:

SALSA CRUDA ALLA SICILIANA

Ingredients for 4 people:
 
2 tablespoons pistachio nuts 
2 tablespoons almonds
1 tablespoon capers
2 anchovies, in oil
10 Pachino cherry tomatoes 
some basil leaves 
½ an orange, peeled and cut into wedges
extra virgin olive oil
salt (if needed) and pepper.

preparation:
1. Drain the capers and rinse them again under running water.
2. Drain the anchovies.
3. Place capers and anchovies in a blender and blend together with all other ingredients. 
4. Add the oil and season with salt and pepper.

Recipe courtesy of Fragolosi