Galantine de Poularde

Chicken Boning Instructions

Rinse and dry the chicken. Place the chicken breast down on a cutting board. Using a small sharp knife, cut along the midline of the back, through the skin and meat to the bone, from the neck to the tail. Remove and discard the tail.

Working on one side of the chicken at a time, starting from the tail, scrape the meat from the carcass. Use the edge of the knife to “push” the meat away from the bone as much as possible.

When the joint where the thigh bone (femur) attaches to the body is reached, gently push the thigh up and towards the breast bone. This should expose one of the two ligaments that attach the thigh to the body. Cut the ligament.

After the first ligament is cut, the second one should be visible when the thigh is pulled slightly away from its socket in the body. Cut the second ligament. This should free the thigh from the body, leaving it attached only by skin and a little muscle. Trim this muscle from the carcass.

Cut between the shoulder blade (scapula) and the ribs until the lower edge of the large breast muscle (pectoralis major) is reached. Cut the ligaments and tendons at the wing end of the shoulder blade to free it up from the wing. Do the same with the wing bone (humerus) where it attaches to the body. Finally, cut the cartilage that attaches the wishbone (clavicle) to the body. The wishbone will still be connected to the breast bone (sternum). This can be separated now or later.

The larger of the two breast muscles (pectoralis major) is attached at the ribs by a fine membrane. Carefully cut this membrane and the first centimeter of muscle away from the ribs along its entire length. Carefully slide a finger underneath the muscle, pressing all the time against the ribs. Use a finger, sliding back and forth from neck to tail, to separate both breast muscles from the carcass.

Continue working until the keel bone is fully exposed. At this point, one side of the chicken carcass should no longer have any meat attached to it except along the edge of the breast bone.

Bone the chicken carcass on the second side in the same manner as the first. Carefully pull the boned chicken meat and skin from the keel bone. Chop the carcass into small, about 5 cm, pieces and set aside for use in the poaching liquid.

Locate the two shoulder blades in the meat. Slide a knife under each bone and separate it from the meat. Set both bones aside with the reserved bones.

10.

Locate the wishbone in the meat. Cut along the edge of the bone to release it from the meat. Break the wishbone into two or three pieces and set aside with the reserved bones.

11.

Separate each wing at the first joint. Chop the wing tips and lower wing bone into a couple of pieces and set aside with the reserved bones.

12.

Cut the meat away from the head of one of the wing bones where it was attached to the carcass. Use the back edge of the knife to scrape the meat off the length of the bone. Holding the bone in one hand and the wing meat in the other, pull the bone from the meat causing the meat to turn inside out. Cut the meat from the end of the bone so that only a minimal amount of skin remains attached to the bone. Repeat with the other wing.

13.

Place one of the legs against the cutting board so the inner surface of the thigh (femur) and leg (tibia) is up. Cut along the center of the bones, through the skin and meat, to the surface of the bones. Using the back edge of the knife, or a couple of fingers, separate the meat from the length of the thigh bone. Pull the meat along with any cartilage from the head of the bone. Cut the cartilage from the meat and add to the reserved bones.

14.

Separate the joint where the thigh and leg attach to each other. Completely remove the thigh bone, chop into a couple of pieces, and save with the reserved bones.

15.

Free up any meat that is still attached to the leg at the thigh joint. Once the meat is free from the joint, hold the bone in one hand and the leg/thigh meat in the other. Pull the bone from the meat causing the meat to turn inside out. Cut the meat from the end of the leg bone so that only a minimal amount of skin remains attached to the bone. Chop the leg bone into a couple of pieces and save with the reserved bones.

16.

Repeat the above steps with the other leg.

17.

As the final step, using a small knife, carefully remove the tendons from the center of the two smaller breast muscles (pectoralis minor) by scraping along the tendons with the tip of the blade.