A dish best served cold

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This article was published 24/08/2013 (4616 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Galantine — it’s not really as difficult as it sounds and is quite impressive.

The word galantine refers to a deboned and stuffed meat dish that is served cold. It likely comes from the word galant, which means lavish and sophisticated. In the days of extravagant buffets, the galantine was covered in aspic to keep it from drying out while guest plowed their way through the mountains of food presented to impress them.

Nowadays, a slice or two with a green salad and a croissant or soft bread roll makes a light lunch or a tasty part of a cold buffet. Enjoy with some mustard preserves and a glass of Chardonnay.

The simplest way it to ask your butcher to debone the chicken, if you are not up for the challenge.

 

Chicken Galantine

Ingredients

1 whole 1.4 kg (3 lb) chicken, deboned

2 egg whites

150 ml heavy cream

120 ml (1/2 cup) black forest ham, diced

120 ml (1/2 cup) pistachio kernels

Salt and pepper to taste

Farce — the meat stuffing

Remove the leg meat, dice and put in the food processor.

Blend with a pinch of salt, egg whites and heavy cream.

Remove from the food processor and add in the rest of the garnish (pistachios & ham)

Lay out the deboned chicken.

Use a meat mallet to flatten out the breast to about 0.5 centimetre (1/4 in) thick

Lay out the farce in the centre of the flattened out chicken.

Roll up the chicken with the farce in the middle.

Wrap up the stuffed chicken tightly with aluminum foil.

Slowly bake in a preheated oven at 300 F (150 C) for about 1.5 hours.

Cool at room temperature and then refrigerate overnight.

The next day remove foil and cut into slices to serve.