I broke down a full chicken, roasted and reduced the bones from stock to jus, dry brined a breast and thigh for 24 hours, blended the thigh with mirepoix and crimini mushrooms, stuffed that into the breast, and seared it in the smaltz that was rendered while making the jus.
While the ballotine finished in the oven, I made my carrot puree and finished the jus with butter, thyme, and shallots. Plated with some micro greens.
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Now THIS is food porn. Absoluely stunning
Appreciate the kind words! It’s so interesting to me the impact that plating has on the appeal of a dish. We really do eat with our eyes, haha.
Oh it’s absolutely crazy. I’ve found that just switching to me plating dishes for guests/family instead of letting them just pile on and playe increases their ratings and favorability of the dish noticeably, even when i use the same exact recipes.
Sounds and looks amazing.
Thanks you! It was some effort to make from scratch but it was really enjoyable.
I’m going to admit that I rolled my eyes a bit when I clicked on the photo because the plating and small portion size seemed a little pretentious. But then I clicked into the comments and saw OP was a pretty chill dude/dudette who was just excited about something nice they made, and promptly felt like a judgy asshole.
Anyway, this looks objectively nicer than 99.5% of what I eat and probably tastes delicious, so nice job and sorry if you caught any subconscious negative vibes!
(alcohol may have been involved in this comment 😅)
I appreciate this comment quite a bit. I make meals for myself and try to have fun with things and see what options exist for me at my current skillset.
Do I want to eat like an elf every day? Absolutely not, I’d starve or be chained to my stove all day. But is it fun to know how to do the fancy plating for special occasions? Definitely.
Regarding the portion size, if you were receiving these dishes in a fine-dining establishment, this would be a single course in a multi-course meal. Depending on the amount of courses, you might not even finish this. That’s why you’ll sometimes see dishes where you’re thinking “you’d need 11 more plates of this to actually feed someone.”
Well… that’s because it would, in fact, be part of a 12-course meal. 😊
This one would likely be part of a three or five-course meal, in my estimation. And of course at home, you usually eat the nice plate and then make a second plate with less concern for presentation. Or like I do when I have a dinner party: every guest gets elegant presentation; for myself, I blend up the food, pour it into a dog bowl, and eat it with a soup ladle at the stove. 🤣
What is a dry brine
It’s just a fancy word for salting the meat and leaving it to air-dry in the fridge. I put mine on a wire rack so the excess moisture drips away.
Was this inspired by the Jules Cooking YT channel?
I did that one a few times myself. It’s a little unnerving deboning an entire chicken while keeping the skin intact, but from there out, it was pretty simple. I like the addition of mirepoix as it would bring together puree.
Wonderful playing, also. Where did the jue go, or was it served in the side?It’s absolutely ispired by his dish, but simplified. This was only one thigh and breast of the chicken and didn’t include using the skin. I need to cook single servings since I just make these for myself.
Appreciate the plating compliments too! That’s my biggest focus lately. The jus was on the side but should be visible in the second picture I included.
wtf do you currently live in a michelin restaurant or what
Haha thanks; I wish I had a setup that nice but I’m just a home cook.
These sorts of dishes come together in about an hour with some preplanning. Once the ballotine is in the oven you’ve got enough time to do nearly everything else, then while it’s resting you get the plating worked out. If you can roll a cigar and have a mayo lid handy you can make this no problem.
Gorgeous!
You are really showcasing your presentation game. You have a great sense of balance. Even when you weren’t involving as much coloration, your dishes have always felt very thoughtful and poised–both in terms of flavor/textural choices and visual arrangement. Bravo!
I would consider plating the microgreens on the protein rather than in the sauce–it breaks the circularity (and risks soggy greens). And you over-poured the jus by just a teaspoon or so it looks like, but this is high-caliber work all around.
Thank you for the compliments and critique! I never realized how unlevel my floor and/or table were until I poured this jus haha. It all rushed down to one side and saturated the puree, allowing it to break the dam before I could correct.
