Blog Assignment # 1 - Purchasing Meat and Game.
I like to explore new places and purchase fresh ingredients and so for this assignment, I went to a small local butcher shop in Scarborough called “Zamzam”. I prefer to buy ingredients from local vendors and shopkeepers as this helps the local community and it also reduces transportation costs thus making it a win-win situation for me. I usually purchase meat from this butcher, as he gives me fresh meat and also gives me discounts. For the blog assignment, I choose Chicken breast as a cut of meat to be used for cooking and the dish that I will make is Butter Chicken.
Chicken Breast:
The chicken breast is a lean piece of meat obtained from the underside of the bird’s pectoral muscle. Each entire chicken has one chicken breast with two halves, which are usually separated during the slaughtering process and sold separately as individual breasts. In comparison to chicken thighs, wings, and drumsticks, boneless chicken breast meat is the most costly cut of chicken due to its desired white flesh and health advantages. . They’re made of white flesh and are rather dry. when a bone is attached to the breast the two portions of the breast are sold together, whereas, on boneless breasts, they are sold separately. When marketed boneless, the “breast” and two “tenderloin” are situated between the breast meat and the ribs on each side. Tenderloins are made from boneless breasts and sold separately. (1)
Background Information About Chicken :
The chicken, also known as (Gallus domesticus), is a red wilderness fowl subspecies. It is one of the most well-known and widespread Domestic species, with a population of over 20 million people and a lengthy history. Chickens are also known as omnivores. It’s a winged creature that belongs to the flying creature family. People raise chickens primarily as a source of nutrition, eating both their flesh and eggs. Different maternal origins have been identified through hereditary studies in Southeast Asia and East Asia. Depending on the breed, a regular chicken can live for five to 10 years. It is fully made up of protein, which is a very good source of energy. The domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl that originated in Southeastern Asia. A rooster or cock is a name for an adult male bird, whereas a cockerel is a phrase for a younger male. A castrated guy is referred to as a capon. A hen is an adult female bird, whereas a pullet is a sexually immature female. The first images of chickens in Europe were discovered on Corinthian pottery from the seventh century BC. Polynesian seamen brought chickens to Easter Island in the 12th century AD, where they were the sole domestic animal, with the potential exception of the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans). They were housed in extraordinarily strong stone chicken coops, which were originally reported to Linton Palmer in 1868, who also “expressed his reservations about this. (2)
The reason why I select chicken breast is :
Because chicken is a versatile piece of meat has a plethora of uses in a variety of dishes like Soups, Salads, Pan fries, and crumb fried and also because it is one of the most affordable meat and can be cooked in various cooking techniques like roasting, searing, frying, grilling, sandwiches, curries, stirfries and fried rice, etc. One of the important reasons I choose this cut of meat is due to its soft and juicy texture which makes it a great option to use in various dishes. I will be making Butter Chicken from the chicken breast which is considered to be soft, tender, and juicy meat and thus making it a perfect match for this dish as this will make the dish more delicious. Apart from this same piece of meat can be used to make a number of dishes and thus making it a suitable for changes in the menu. when purchasing a chicken breast just be sure to look for bruises and skin tears and foul Odor. To cook a chicken breast to proper doneness the internal temperature of the chicken must be at least( 75C to 165F). There was no wastage as I bought boneless breast pieces of chicken and there was no wastage like trimmings as the chicken was already cleaned.
Price of Chicken breast:
The cut that I purchased from the butcher shop was 5.49$ per lb and I purchase a total of 1.735 lb which cost me a total of 9.53$.
Various Methods of cooking Chicken breast:
Chicken Breast is a versatile cut of meat that can be used for grilled, seared, sauteed, baked, roasted, fried, barbecued, sous vide, and boiled in countless ways.
My Method of Making Chicken Breast/ Butter Chicken Recipe:
Traditionally chicken breast is cooked in Tandoor and then these pieces are added to the Makhni Gravy but as I did not have Tandoor so I baked my Chicken and Added it to the gravy and braised it in the gravy by doing this I moistened the chicken and the marination made it tender.
- Clean chicken breast and Cut into 2 cm Cubes and Place in a clean bowl and get the ingredients for marination ready
- Ingredients of Marinate: ½ cups yogurt,2 tbsp lemon juice,1 ½ tbsp ground turmeric,2 tbsp garam masala, 2 tbsp ground cumin, 2 pounds chicken breast ( boneless), 3tsp vegetable oil, salt to taste, 2 ½ Tbsp Kashmiri Red Chilly. 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
- Mix all of the ingredients together and let the chicken breast marinate for 3 hours.
4. Take a pan and bake the marinated chicken for 30 minutes at 180C.
5. Take a saucepot and add all these ingredients and cook them 4tbsp¼ pound unsalted butter, 1tbsp Oil, 2 yellow onions, peeled and diced, 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced, 3 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely diced, 1tbsp Honey,1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 medium-size tomatoes, diced, 2 red chiles, Kosher salt to taste, ⅔ cup chicken stock, low-sodium or homemade,1 ½ cups cream, 1 ½ tsp tomato paste, 3 tbsp ground Cashewnuts, or finely chopped Cashewnuts, ½ bunch cilantro leaves, stems removed.
6. Puree the gravy once it is done and then cook it until it leaves oil from the edge of the pan. Add the chicken pieces and finish with cream and honey.
Butter Chicken:
Garnish Ginger, Kasturi Methi, Cream.
Accompaniments: Onion slices, Chilly and Mango Pickle along with Garlic Naan.
References
(1) All about the chicken breast: Chicken breast nutrition and chicken breast recipes — 2021. MasterClass. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://www.masterclass.com/articles/all-about-chicken-breast-chicken-breast-nutrition-and-chicken-breast-recipes.
(2) Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, October 22). Chicken. Wikipedia. Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken.
