Dr. Biggles really outdid himself last week when he smoked a Chicken Cordon Bleu on the grill. In the comments, we discussed alternate ways of creating a smokey, gooey, delicious combination of chicken, ham and Swiss cheese. Dr. B noted that he lost quite a bit of cheese during the cooking process, so I thought about different ways of addressing that. Here's the approach I tried first.
Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu
Here's a shot of the finished bird. Normally, I would put this at the end just to torture you a bit, but it explains how I prepped the chicken for the grill. I discussed how to prep a chicken in this manner before, so I'll get right to the stuffing. After getting the chicken nice and flat, starting at the back of the chicken between the legs I loosened the skin, making sure to free up all around the legs and being careful to not lift the skin all the way off the front of the bird so that no cheese could escape.
Next, starting with about a 1/3 of a pound each of thick-sliced cheese and ham, I carefully tucked in layers of cheese, trying to keep it from bunching up, and being careful not to pierce the skin. I ended up with a double layer on top of the breast, thinking that gravity might let it flow down to fill any gaps, and also knowing that the extra cheese would keep the breast meat moist. After the cheese was in place, I layed the ham on top, wanting it closer to the skin than the cheese. My thinking was that it would serve to seal in the cheese a bit better, and preferring that it fry a bit as opposed to just steaming.
Once that was done, I could have tied up or stitched the skin closed, but out of curiosity I did nothing. As a result, the only cheese loss I had was at the back, but it was minimal and the ham did help keep the cheese in place, I think.
Seasoning? After a good bit of kosher salt and black pepper, as an experiment I rubbed the bottom of the bird generously with Survival Spice™, which I feel is the best thing for chicken since the egg, and seasoned the skin well with dried tarragon, nutmeg and rosemary.
I grilled this on indirect heat skin side down for about 40 minutes or so, then flipped it, holding the legs with a pair or tongs and gave it another 20-25 minutes with the skin side up. Normally, I would leave it skin-side down the whole time but I was curious to see if the ham had released any water (it had, a little), and I wanted to see if the cheese was leaking anywhere, figuring that I could clean up the skin before service if there was a cheesy lava flow that I couldn't see from above (there wasn't!).
It was really good- moist, with crispy skin and a nice balance of flavors. The classic Chicken Cordon Bleu is a stuffed breast that's breaded and fried, so I'm thinking I might try to incorporate some type of bread into the next version, and I think mustard needs to be involved. Stay tuned!
I also grilled some stuffed yellow squash, but that's another day.
OoOoo, I just had a thought. While I don't usually aim for brining meat, I think this might actually add a nice layer of flavors to the internal meat structure. Eh?
Biggles
Damn, that's some fine imagery there.
Sure, Biggles. It was moist, and it didn't lack for flavor in the meat because I was able to season both sides, but brining is a good thing. I had intended to make a supreme sauce for it, but that darned pool just wouldn't let me out.
Thanks, Biggles. Coming from a guy with a dual degree in BBQ and Photo-Kickassery, that really means a lot, buddy.
I'm finally starting to get a grip on moving beyond just getting a picture in focus. I guess all that composition and lighting junk is important after all...
OH that. Yeah and having ENOUGH light really helps too. I usually use a 500 watt photo uv balanced bulb with a few reflectors. That and a tripod will get you gold.
For that preview of the baby back rib tomato sauce I pulled out my old Metz handle-mount flash. It's got enough punch to light up subjects 60 feet away. It's a full manual exposure set up, but the results work. It's got this really cool secondary flash unit built in to the handle. This way you can bounce the main flash off a reflector and have the secondary give you a little head-on kiss of light. POW.
Biggles
I got a flashlight. And a rock.
Okay, it's not that bad. I do have a tripod, and on your advice last year I went out and bought a couple of cheap lights that I have 250W daylight bulbs in. I generally only use one, and I have it on a Variac so that the bulbs last longer. My camera is an old 2 MP Kodak that is automatic. My pictures did improve dramatically once I figured out the close up mode, which sadly turns off every time I shut down the camera.
I'm not one to blame poor performance on mediocre equipment, but I do think I'm finally good enough to justify buying some new gear. Someday.
Yeah, we're getting to it.
Actually, if you can stretch out your shutter time by closing down yer aperture, using a flashlight will work. Try moving it back and forth really quickly. It's fun.