Smoked Chicken Galantine with Country Pate'

I want to thank the Judges and everyone that voted for me for this honor.

Chicken Galantines have a long history as a classic European " Elegant " preparation for the Royalties elaborate banquets...More recently Decorated Galantines are frequently presented on Grand Buffet's on Cruise Ships and in high end Hotels like the Ritz Carlton properties...Because of all this every young Chef is trained to make these...They are most frequently stuffed, poached, decorated and served cold but can be hot as well...I have made traditional Galantines before but since I came here I wanted to change it up and smoke one...Galantines can be filled with just about anything, think Fattie with Wings!

I chose to do a French Country Sausage (pate') stuffed Galantine so I started with an 8Lb Oven Stuffer Roaster and 2.5LBs of Ground Pork...The Boning of the Chicken is fairly easy and Chef Jacque Pepin has a great video on the technique so I didn't do a tutorial on it, but check it out...



There is a little bit of a variety of Herbs and Spices in this recipe as well as the Garnish in the Sausage...I chose to use garnish that would add color so I used Cooked Carrot, Roasted Red Peppers, Baby Spinach and Hard Boiled Eggs...I had this picture in my head where, when sliced you would see the 4 carrots in the corners of the filling with concentric circles of Spinach, then Pepper with the white and yellow egg in the center...I laid out the Bird then placed a layer of Sausage about 1 " thick, the 4 Carrots seperated by sausage a layer of Spinach, a layer of Red Peppers and the Eggs down the center...You can see in the final pics it didn't quite work out. We pulled the sides of the Chicken up and as soon as any pressure was applied them  Eggs...Shot out across the counter and on to the floor! Sorry I don't have assembly Pics, Cheffie Daughter Casey was home and helping me but both of us had Sausage and Chicken Juice covered hands so the next Pic is the Stuffed, Rolled and Tied Chicken...





I rubbed the outside down with a new Pate Spice Chix Rub...It is really different...Then the Bird went into the New MES 40 for a Smoke at 225*F with some Hickory flavored TBS...





This is about 2 hours in...I know I need to clean the Window!...At this point the Galantine weighs in at about 10Lbs it is 3PM and I figure 45 minutes per pound, to get to 165*F, so I should be Golden by 11PM...At 7PM I'm on schedule and the IT hits 138*F...we are on a roll...11PM and the IT is at 157*F and...STALLS!...12AM- 157*, 1AM-158*, 2AM- 160* at 3AM the Bird is at  an IT of 163*F, has been in for 12 hours and I'm TIRED!

The bird comes out of the Smoker, rests on the counter and into the Refrigerator until I get some Sleep...



Out of the refer the color is nice but not as dark as I expected...Time to make the Bird Pretty!...I used some left over Spinach and some Fennel Fronds with slices of Carrot cut into Flowers to decorate the top...The whole deal is then Glazed with Aspic to make it shine...Aspic is just Jello made of clear meat or vegetable broth...I added 2 envelopes of Knox Gelatin to 2 Cups of Vegetable Broth, let it Bloom for ten minutes, heated to 180*F then chilled in an Ice Bath to thicken to the consistency of warm Honey...Here I made a mistake, I should have Glazed the bird once before I decorated so it would stick better...I just made my pattern and poured/brushed the Aspic on...





Let it Chill for an hour to set...This is out side it was 32*F...Then slice and arrange for presentation and Service...







 Thanks for Checking this out...Recipes to Follow...JJ