# Calvados Flamed Chicken



## AllenOK (Sep 12, 2005)

In reading this recipe, it looks like the chicken is cooked whole, in a roasting pan.  I don't think I have a pan big enough to cover the chicken with a lid while it's whole, and still be able to flambe.  If I ever try this, I'll probably cut the chicken up, so I can use one of my big cast iron skillets.

Calvados Flamed Chicken
Yields:  

3 egg yolks
7 T Butter, in all
1 lemon
¼ c French Calvados apple brandy
1 c cream, in all
½# mushrooms
1 whole large chicken

	Skin the chicken and then rub it inside and out with the lemon. Choose a pot (ovenproof) just large enough for the chicken to fit in snuggly with not more than an inch or two of space all around. The pot should have a tight fitting lid. Place the pot over medium frying heat. Melt 4 T butter in pot. Then brown chicken on all sides.
	Turn the heat full on under the chicken, but pull the pan half-way off the burner so that the side opposite the handle is in the center of the burner. Tilt the skillet so that the juices run to the handle side.  Pour in the Calvados, and carefully tilt the pan so the juices run to the side opposite the handle while at the same time sliding the skillet so it’s centered over the burner.  The brandy should ignite.  If it doesn’t, carefully shake the pan a bit so that a little of the liquid comes up to the rim or splashes over.  It will ignite, so be ready for it!  Be careful of the flames. Shake the pot to encourage the flames. As soon as the flames die down, clamp on the lid and turn down to simmer. Let the chicken absorb the brandy for 10 minutes.
	Meanwhile, cut the mushrooms lengthwise and sauté in 3 T of butter until just soft.
	Preheat oven to 350°F. After chicken has simmered for 10 minutes, add mushrooms. Turn up heat for a few seconds, then re-cover and turn off heat. Set pot in oven and cook until chicken is tender, about 50 minutes. If there is any doubt about the tightness of the lid, seal the pot with a paste of flour and water.
	Meanwhile, prepare the apple rings which traditionally accompanies this dish.
	About 10 minutes before serving, prepare the following cream sauce. With a wire whisk, beat ¾ c of the cream into the egg yolks. When the chicken is done, remove the chicken to a platter and surround with apple rings. Lift out mushrooms with a slotted spoon and sprinkle around chicken. Set in the oven to keep warm. Add a little of the pot juices to the egg cream mixture and then turn back into the pot, blend and turn on gentle heat, still beating, until sauce warms up and thickens to the consistency of heavy cream. If it gets too thick, add more cream. Taste, adjust seasoning if necessary, then pour over the chicken and serve at once.
	Serve with rice and apple rings.


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## Alix (Sep 12, 2005)

Oh Allen, this looks yummy. I have a version of brandied chicken that I do but this looks so tasty! Question...I am guessing this assumes a gas range for the flaming? I am thinking with an electric range you would have to do the old matches route, right?


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## AllenOK (Sep 12, 2005)

Yes.  I've never had good luck getting liqueurs and liquor to spontaneously combust using an electric burner.


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## foodaholic (Sep 12, 2005)

Hi Allen,hope you don't mind my honest opinion.,let us know how it turns out.

In reading that recipe I'm convinced the author has very little cooking
experience and has given flambe instructions that are down right dangerous.
And that sauce....


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## Alix (Sep 12, 2005)

Whats wrong with the recipe? It looks fine to me. Flambeing is never a particularly SAFE thing to do, but lets face it the kitchen is not a safe environment either. We all need to be a bit practical about this. I am going to try a version of this one this week sometime. I am not going to put the apple in though, as I am not fond of it like that. BUT...cream sauce, brandy, chicken mmmmmmmmmmm! Sounds like a winner to me!


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## AllenOK (Sep 12, 2005)

Foodaholic, Alix is right.  Flambeing (sp?) something, at home, is never very safe.  How clean in the exhaust hood over the stove?  How experienced is the cook?  Is there a fire extinguisher handy?

I took a little poetic license with this recipe, in writing down the tilting of the pan and such.  This is how I was taught in college.

Assume the handle of the pan is 6 o'clock.  The opposite side is 12 o'clock.  The reason the pan is pulled halfway off the burner and tilted slightly is so the pan juices drain away from the 12 o'clock side, while at the same time, that particular side of the pan is over the most direct heat, and get really hot.  Pour the liquor/liqueur into the pan juices, which is conviently located as far away from the flame as possible.  Now, this is kind of hard to explain.  You're going to do two motions at once.  Slide the pan back so it is fully centered over the burner, while at the same time, tilting the pan back to level, so the liquids come into contact with the extremely hot pan surface.  If you do this at the right speed, when the liquid ignites, your arm should be extended, and you shouldn't singe your eyebrows off.

My Chef Instructor had us practice this movement for about 30 minutes, with him watching, by using an empty pan over a cold guiridon.  Then, one-by-one, we would actually do a little bit of cooking.

Thank you, though, for bringing this up.  I just added a note to my cookbook outline to write a bit about kitchen safety, especially when you flambe.


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## foodaholic (Sep 12, 2005)

Alix said:
			
		

> Whats wrong with the recipe? It looks fine to me. Flambeing is never a particularly SAFE thing to do, but lets face it the kitchen is not a safe environment either. We all need to be a bit practical about this. I am going to try a version of this one this week sometime. I am not going to put the apple in though, as I am not fond of it like that. BUT...cream sauce, brandy, chicken mmmmmmmmmmm! Sounds like a winner to me!


 
Where do I start

I agree the kitchen is not a particularly safe enviroment.The
author want us to have a whole chicken which takes up 90% of the cooking surface according to his/her instructions *[Choose a pot (ovenproof) just large enough for the chicken to fit in snuggly with not more than an inch or two of space all around]* and then turn up the heat to high,tilt the pan towards you and pour 1/2 cup of calvados in the handle side.If the chicken doesn't slide towards you taking up all the space before you add the brandy,lets hope it doesn't do it while your pouring the brandy,and then the author says to tip the pan in the other direction splashing a little over the side to help ignite.Is that while the whole chicken is headed to the front of the pan while your tilting the pan,possibly creating one big slash.Sorry I've never seen a dish that was flambeed,and was taller and took up most of the cooking surface,this is totally unprofessional.

As far as the recipe itself is concerned I have a few issues

Removing the skin from a whole chicken then cooking in the oven covered or not will dry out unless it's braised which this is not.I would braise is some king of liquid after I have browned pieces of chicken to ensure the chicken stays moist.Browning a skinless whole chicken in a pan that barely holds it would not be the ideal way to brown a chicken,simply because gravity will dictate where the chicken will be browned from the weight giving dark brown areas where the the weight is the heaviest and a few centimeters away still raw.The best way is to cut up the chicken and brown.And for the liquid I would use a little chicken stock,some cider a few herbs and possibly a little garlic.Then I would reduce that and add some cream.This recipe calls for 3 egg yolks and 3/4 cups of cream to be added to the pan.After the fat has been remove there will only be a couple of tablespoons of brandy and jus,certainly not enough for 3 yolks to thicken.

If the sauce is the culmination of this recipe,which it is,then
you'll have just over one cup....which would include: 
4 tbsp of butter
3 egg yolks
3/4 cups of cream



I like fat probably more than most,but this is way off side.


Please don't take this personally Alix,again just my opinion.


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## foodaholic (Sep 12, 2005)

Thanks for the response Allen.I understand how to flambe
or at least I should know after all this time. It's about the big hunk-o meat rolling around under high heat with a home cook and a 1/2 glass of brandy looking for a place to toss it.
I would probably instruct people to add the brandy off the heat and just reduce without flambe.I would even instruct a chef to add the brandy off the heat.....common sense,I quess not.


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## AllenOK (Sep 13, 2005)

My apologies as well.  I guess I need to proof-read stuff that I cut/paste from my many recipe searches on the internet.

I do agree that the chicken needs to be cut up, as well as not skinned.


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## Alix (Sep 14, 2005)

foodaholic said:
			
		

> If the sauce is the culmination of this recipe,which it is,then
> you'll have just over one cup....which would include:
> 4 tbsp of butter
> 3 egg yolks
> ...


 
Don't worry, I don't take things personally on the internet unless they are pretty pointed. I appreciate you taking the time to clarify what I originally thought was just a slam. It helped me to understand better. Now to clarify my OWN statements. I rarely take a recipe like this and duplicate it EXACTLY in my own kitchen. I am far more likely to fiddle with it until I am satisfied. For example, with this recipe I would likely have cut up the chicken, and done it in a much larger pan than suggested. Flambeed without benefit of a gas range, and added to the sauce to make it stretch. (Chicken broth, cream, whatever took my fancy.) Thanks for your post. 

Allen, I am still going to try this one. Likely not for a few days though as life has become unexpectedly busy for the week. I will post my results, and any changes I make.


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## foodaholic (Sep 14, 2005)

No worries guys/gals......

I love calvados with chicken and cream,very French and when I was in Normandy
many moons ago we used it in what seemed like everything.Too bad we can't get the chicken like they do there,then we _would_ have something special.


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## Alix (Sep 14, 2005)

Sorry to hijack the thread Allen, foodholic, what is the chicken like in france? You can PM me with the answer, or start a new thread maybe. I don't want to confuse folks too badly.


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## AllenOK (Sep 15, 2005)

Alix, if I remember right, French chickens are really, really, tasty, much more so than the mass-produced stressed-out birds that Tyson raises.

Try to find a French Capon.  Be careful, they aren't cheap.


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## Alix (Sep 15, 2005)

Allen, thanks for the quick reply. I get my chickens from a farm nearby. Would they be like the french ones do you suppose? If French ones are better than THAT I think I need to plan an eating tour!


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## AllenOK (Sep 15, 2005)

I'm not sure, as I've never had a French chicken.


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## foodaholic (Sep 15, 2005)

Alix said:
			
		

> Sorry to hijack the thread Allen, foodholic, what is the chicken like in france? You can PM me with the answer, or start a new thread maybe. I don't want to confuse folks too badly.


 
Well,they taste like chicken  The French as you know love their food and like Italy,every region has it's speciality,so it figures the lowly chicken has quite the status in France. They have an appellation, a particular place where they come from, and they are a particular breed. Plus, they get to eat real food and walk around the countryside.In the south of Burgundy is where these birds are raised and I'm sure that coq au vin originated there.

I found this quote

"Following an initial period not exceeding 35 days, the birds are raised on a grassy area which provides their primary food. This is supplemented by local cereals and skimmed milk for a period of 9 weeks in the case of young chickens, 11 weeks for hens, and 23 weeks for capons. Each chicken must have a minimum of 10 square meters of space and a single flock cannot exceed 500 birds. The final phase of the growing process is done in wooden cages in a dim, quiet, and well-ventilated structure. The chickens are caged for at least 8 days and capons and hens for 4 weeks."

But if you live in Canada the old Gov has so many regulations regarding poultry and dairy that if you live in
Ontario that's what you eat Ontario chicken,can't even
cross province import.So what we get here is that hormone
raised then brined so it's nice and wet and tasteless.

Your lucky Alix to get your chicken from a farm,I have a secret place myself that gets me Mennonite free range hormone free poultry.


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## Alix (Sep 15, 2005)

foodaholic said:
			
		

> But if you live in Canada the old Gov has so many regulations regarding poultry and dairy that if you live in
> Ontario that's what you eat Ontario chicken,can't even
> cross province import.So what we get here is that hormone
> raised then brined so it's nice and wet and tasteless.


 
Hmmmmm, sounds like the voice of experience there. LOL. Thanks to both of you. I appreciate you putting up with my inane questions.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Sep 17, 2005)

I have to jump into this one as there is information given here that is just wrong.  And, I intend no disrespect to the person/s giving it.  I'll back up what I say with a bit of physics.

Removing the skin from poultry does not result in dry meat, regardless of the cooking method.  Let me explain.  Meat, all meat, is made up of cell tissue.  the cells are like water balloons, membranes filled with liquid.  These cells react to heat and acids in similar fashion.  When the cells are exposed to enough heat, they tend to rupture and release there liquids into the surounding environment, following the path of least resistance.  At the same time, the protien strands that make up the outer cell membrain begin to curl and tangle together, creating a tough, somewhat impenetrable layer.  

What does that mean with respect to the cooking process?  Heat, whether originating from contact with a hot surface, or radiated from a heating element, a gas burner, charcoal, or from absorption from contact with hot air or fluid, enters from the outer suface and travels by conduction and convection to the inner layers.  Remember that all things in nature seek ballance.  And the greater the imballance, the more forceful the energy exchange to correct that imballance.

When a bird, skinless or not, is placed in a hot oven, the temperature of the bird is vastly different than the high temperature of the hot oven air.  The surface quickly absorbs heat energy and begins passing that energy toward the center.  But the individual cells, all linked together have an insulating effect.  Thus, the outer surface gets hot quickly, while the inner tissue gets hot more slowly.  This results in the rupture of the outer cells, producing a very thin layer of tissue resistant to moisture loss.  This doen't occur until the meat tissue attains a temperature of around 165 degrees or so.

As the bird is cooking, the underlying tissue slowly warms to temperatures that affect the protiens and cells.  If they remain unbroken, the meat retains its juicy and tender texture.  But if you allow the inner meat to warm too much, it to gives up its liquid and toughens.

I have roasted chickens and turkeys both with the skin on, and off.  As long as I remove the bird when the internal temperature has come up to 155' F., the end result is juicy and tender.  When I have allowed the internal temperature to rise above 170' F., the end result is drier and more tough.  This is true even when boiling.  I never add raw meat to boiling liquid and just let it cook.  It toughens and dries the meat.  After all, the boiling point of water is 212' F.

Next time you make a chicken soup, take the time to really feel the meat as you bite it.  See what the texture is like.  You will find it less than perfect, usually tough and dry.

On the other hand, experiment with your poultry.  Cook one bird with the skin on to a temperature of 175' F. internal temperature and a second bird with skin off to an internal temp. of 160' F.  You will find the skinless bird to be much more succulent and enjoyable.

Removing the skin simply removes most of the fat.  But if you lightly bush the outer meat with a bit of oil, and lightly salt it, you will be rewarded with very tasty chicken.

Moist heat does not create juicier meat.  There isn't a moister environment than boiling water.  And it certainly can produce some  pretty tough meat.  

However, that being said, if you really enjoy well done meat, sufficient heat exposure for a prolonged time will cause the protien structures to finally break down, resulting in concentrated flavor from water evaporation, and tender meat.  But this litterally takes hours (think slow cooker or slow and low oven).  Why do you think true barbecuers cook their prize-winning meats for so long?  It allows the meat protiens to break down and for flavorings to penetrate the meat.  Juiciness is maintained by frequently brushing or mopping the meat with a flavored liquid.  There is less moisture evaporation in a very moist environment.

So, in summary, cook with skin on/skin off as you prefer.  But don't mistake the reason for meat drying out.  Heat is the all-important element that detemines the end quality of your dish.  Too little and the meat can be dangerous.  To much makes it tough and dry.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## foodaholic (Sep 19, 2005)

Maybe it's the way I cook.I always get better results
when I leave the skin on when I"m searing off chicken,
then roasting.Personally I find the melding of the surface layer of fat under the skin to maintain a good moist texture and the skin helps protect the protein.It seems when I sear off without
the skin the protein at the surface has caramalised (browned)
removing the moisture,so instead of crispy skin I get crispy protein,which is not what I want in a roasted bird.Each to their own.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Sep 19, 2005)

foodaholic said:
			
		

> Maybe it's the way I cook.I always get better results
> when I leave the skin on when I"m searing off chicken,
> then roasting.Personally I find the melding of the surface layer of fat under the skin to maintain a good moist texture and the skin helps protect the protein.It seems when I sear off without
> the skin the protein at the surface has caramalised (browned)
> removing the moisture,so instead of crispy skin I get crispy protein,which is not what I want in a roasted bird.Each to their own.


 
Ah.  I was commenting on the quality of the inner flesh, not the outer surface.  I agree that the crispy skin, with just a bit of salt, is far tastier than is the outer layer of meat on a roasted or fried bird.  I somtimes fry the skin in a dry pan to render out the fat.  Then slat and absorb as much fat off the skin as possible and serve like fried pork-rinds.  The fried skin is absolutely yummy.

You can avoid dried surface meat by applying a glaze or sauce to the skinless bird before cooking.  You just have to be careful to avoid burning the sugar in the coating.

Also, skinless poultry is great when breaded, battered, or dredged in egg wash, then in flour.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## foodaholic (Sep 20, 2005)

Goodweed of the North said:
			
		

> Ah. I was commenting on the quality of the inner flesh, not the outer surface.Goodweed of the North


 
Then I understand your confusion.A dry bird is all about temp and the easiest aspect to control,even though it appears to be a major problem in almost all restaurants.


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