The first cut is the deepest

Today, we were let loose on an actual chicken, head and legs on and all! After meeting the Senior cheftutor, Stuart, who was going to teach us today, tomorrow and more throughout the course and having a re-cap of yesterday, we launched into the day. Wedid lots of things today, including more chopping, beef stock making and butchering a poor chicken. Here they are, in the box, ready for action. Look at those feet!

The chickens were really good quality and had a happy life, which I think all meat should have. They were 15 weeks old and had been dry plucked. We had to chop off the heads, which still had white feathers on (!) and whack off the legs and feet. Taking out the innards was interesting, to say the least! The lungs were bright red too, almost reddy pink. And spongy. Mmmm.

After taking off various bits and pieces, we ended up with two supremes of chicken. For all you the fact fans out there, a supreme of chicken is a chicken breast with part of the winglet bone still attached and a breast of chicken is on its own. No bone. Here's Stuart showing us what to do to the chicken.

This was then saved for later for a tasty supper. We were then shown how to make passionfruit sorbet and now I have recipes for gin and tonic sorbet and champagne and pink grapefruit sorbet. So anyone coming over for a dinner party can expect some lovely palette cleansers!

For lunch, we made a delicious caramelised onion soup with croutons, which differs from French onion soup because it was made with chicken stock, rather than beef stock and tomato puree. There was many a shed tear from the extremely strong red onions. My mascara was halfway down my face by the end of it!

After luncheon, we prepared our supper. There were many components to the meal, so lots to do! However, disaster struck when I was about to chop a shallot to make a white wine butter sauce to accompany the chicken. I was only chopping it in half, ready to slice (not even the dangerous bit) and the knife slipped and cut my left middle finger. The shock and the pain (it was quite a big cut) made me cry again, for the second time today. Oops! Stuart kindly helped me and wrapped up the injury in the bright blue food plasters. Three times! That darn shallot. What's worse, is that it was with the death knife. However, if that's the worst I can do with regards to cutting myself during the course, I'll be rather happy.

Anyway, everything came together for the supper which was supreme of chicken with a white wine butter sauce, glazed carrots, new potatoes, wild mushrooms and julienne courgettes. Absolutely delicious! And accompanied by some chilled white wine. Yum!

Finally, pudding which was a refreshing citrus fruit salad with passionfruit sorbet, using a pink grapefruit and and orange we had segmented earlier in the day. A good second day, apart from the slashing, but skin heals, and hopefully so will my confidence. Tomorrow is lamb. Baaaaa.