I've really enjoyed the getting dickered and cook along threads so let's make some confit chicken...

The fat is almost ready.

Nice rich guy kitchen

Thank you. It's small but this house was renovated a couple of years ago and decently appointed. The kitchen at my last place was about twice the size of this one but not as nice.

Ok, the lard is at temp. It's murky because I didn't strain it last time. Throw in the herbs...

Added some extra garlic and the chicken. Back into the oven for a few hours. Gonna have to switch to wine cause if I keep drinking whisky I won't be awake when it needs to come out. Now we wait.

What a cute kitty, OP

He's a weird one. Thinks he's a pupper. When doggo and I go for walks he comes along to round out the entourage. There's a couple more around somewhere but theyre being bashful.

Since this chicken won't be done until well after midnight I decided to make a quick fry up for dinner. Onions, garlic, spinach and Brussel sprouts with a piece of sausage. Finished with a squeeze of lemon and some Aleppo pepper, not a bad quick dinner.

Oh, there's Mushu.

Apparently he's ready to go out.

And for the hat trick, this is Bitch Pudding. All the cats made it in tonight. Huzzah.

Does he always look sorta strung-out?

Nice OC thread, OP.
Look forward to seeing how it goes.
I'm sure Patti will be along sooner or later with a lovely comment.

Yeah, she's the oldest cat by several years Also she was really fat when I got her because she was stuck inside all the time. Once she started going outside she slimmed down but looks kinda crazy.

This is the last photo of the chicken I took last night. After about two and a half hours I pulled it, let it cool for a bit and then it went right into the fridge.

Apparently I also decided last night that I should bake some bread today, so I have this nice white no knead bread dough with caraway seeds sitting on the counter. I guess for lunch we'll do some chicken and white beans with fresh baked bread. That sounds alright.

I came for the cat, but the confit looks pretty good too. Good job OP.

The bread went in an hour ago at 450 in a dutch oven. j

and now it's out...didn't rise as much as I would have liked, it'll probably be a little bit dense but that's fine for sopping up white bean juice.

And now to exhume the chicken from it's fatty sepulchre!

This is why I keep a box of latex gloves in the pantry.

Turned on the broiler to high and wiped as much fat off the chicken quarter as possible. This'll probably take about ten minutes or so. Sadly with a weak electric broiler I won't get the lovely all over brown crispy that I would with a proper salamander (or even a torch but mine is at work). It's still gonna be delicious.

Finally we put the white beans in a pot with some onions and garlic cooked in butter and some of the fat from the confit. Add a little chicken stock and lemon then cook it down with the spinach.

Use the pan instead of broiler and put some weight on top to get a nice even sear?

I always manage to pull the skin off when I do that. The broiler will get the skin crisp, it just won't brown it evenly.

The finished product and a pretty damned tasty lunch. I don't think I put enough salt in the bread dough and if I had some more sausage it would have elevated the white beans. All in all it's pretty delicious and I'm glad that I'll have quick and easy chicken dinners through the week.

looks good

good work but the fat scares me off dishes like this

I cheat with a non-stick when I do that but honestly broiler sounds like less of hassle so I might do that in the future as well.

What about it scares you off? Is it a health issue? If you use actual animal fats like lard and schmaltz it's really not bad for you.

Loved your chicken and your cats. How did your bread get so crusty?

>the fat
None of which gets in the food. A leg of chicken is not a sponge. It doesn't matter if you pan fry in a thin coating of oil or confit in a tub of lard - the amount of fat that is in contact with the chicken is the same. And the chicken will actually contain less fat after cooing than before, because some melts away.

High heat in a pre-heated dutch oven for forty minutes and then about fifteen minutes more uncovered to brown. If you don't have a dutch oven to cook it in, add a hot pan to a lower rack of your oven and pour a cup of water into in when you put your bread in.

good thread, was interesting to see how its done since its not something i ever considered doing, thx, will repeat when i get a goose the next time

It is a useful technique. Left in the fat, the meat will stay good for weeks sitting out in a counter and even longer than that in the fridge. I do batches to keep me in quick delicious meals for the coming weeks.

the only thing i dont quite understand yet is how you keep the fat good, after the process of cooking, do you somehow strain/purify it, do you have to bring it to a boil periodically?
I just know from my experience that if i have animalfat in the fridge itll go bad after about 2-3 months, or do you just discard it and buy a jar of lard if you plan on doing a confit?

Is that true? Not that I'm doubting you, just honestly had no idea what confit was and I'm surprised that the meat doesn't soak up at least some of the fat.

That's how confit was developed. It was used to preserve foods from the days before refrigeration.

You cook the meat in the fat so the contents are sterilized via the heat. Then you let it sit. The fat cools down and seals the meat inside. It will keep good for a very long time, but eventually the fat will go rancid due to exposure to oxygen in the air.

god job op looks tasty, keep the OC coming

Every six months or so I buy a five gallon bucket of shelf stable lard and keep it in my pantry. After cooking with it I typically strain it after each use and refrigerate it to preserve it's longevity and I generally use it three or four times before I toss it and start with new fat. I also collect all the renderings of things I cook and mix and match fats depending on what I'm cooking and what preparation I'll be using.

Cool thx, learned sonething while sitting ob the couch, high quality oc.
Heres a pic of my chicken tonight

That's nicely done! Good sear and it looks juicy as hell. What are all your sides?

Oh yeah, for anyone who hasn't done confit before, it actually gets better as it sits for days. I highly recommend doing a batch a few days before you plan on using it. Pic related. Confit turkey legs for Thanksgiving from a few years back.

this sounds like waaaayyy too much work.

and reprocessing old dirty fat does not sound appealing at all...

It isn't really. It's literally just straining it while it's still warm. Worth doing if you cook on the regular.

thx man, its celeryroot+grapefruit+mint, baba ganoush (roast aubergines-left to drain juice after roasting,lemozest+juice,oliveoil,parsley+cilantro)+ cucumber left salted for 15min with some leftover roast szechuanpepper+chili i used to infuse an oil,mixed with chinkiang vinegar,garlic and soysauce.
chicken, its the first time i cut an "airline chickenbreast" from the whole chicken since my butchers dont do it, and i definitely prefer it over boneless breast,even more reason to buy whole chickens and butcher them yourself.
pansauce was just stock+gelatine+lemonjuice+zest finished with butter and parsley

nice thread OP looks tasty, will need to try this at some point i love fat

pls accept this rare carpenter patti

whys he so small?

He is smaller than the other two cats but both of the pictures of him are a little misleading. He is very skinny though, just how he's built.

Why thank you. Into the folder it goes!

Ah, you're the guy who made his own cutting board, are you not?

I'm not. I wish I was though. Both of my wood boards were made by a friend of mine a while back.

Oh that's neat. There is a guy who has a very similar cutting board to you around here though.

Your dog looks retarded

How long will the meat keep?

Depends on the environmental conditions, but several months shouldn't be a problem.

Just google confit for more information about how to make it, how to store it, etc.

Afriad I don't have any pics for it as it's already in the freezer, but I made a pretty good Catalan Fideos today. Braised pork cheeks browned with onion, lots of garlic and leeks, a heavy dose of smoked paprika, morcilla and pata negra. Add in some chopped beef tomatoes, then some pork/veal stock if you have it, if not chicken works too. Bring to boil, add in some trofie pasta, boil till cooked, serve. It was really tasty, the pork cheeks definitely made a huge difference as opposed to the relatively bland loin that I normally use.

Cute kitter and goodlooking food, OP, you're doing gods work to make this board better.

Comfy thread. Thanks OP, cute kitties.

I'm a big fan of pork cheeks. Especially if you can find 'em pre-scraped. I usually smoke them or braise them in chili stock and make tamales out of them. Pic related.