Have capon, how to cook?

[Dave Hatfield]

So, I a moment of foolishness I bought a frozen capon today. He weighs about 3.5 kilos.

We have cooking friends coming next week & I though it would be something different to try. Only later did I realize that I've never cooked a capon in my life. Plenty of other birds & I'm sure I can just roast it successfully.

But In honor of our friends first visit to the French countryside I'd like to do something local with the capon.

Any suggestions? Yes, I have Googled it & there are plenty of recipes, but none seem French.

Help!

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Not sure what would be better than roasting it. Maybe poaching it first, but that's still roasting.

A traditional christmas stuffing is with chestnut and foie gras. Marrons confits (from a box, confits in chicken stock) and dices of raw foie gras poelés. And of course, it's always a good idea to add truffle in the stuffing.

Another stuffing I like is simply leeks, onion and carrots also with the foie gras (equally vegs confits in chicken stock, dices of poelé foie gras)

Another one is lighter (which might be appropriate since Capon is so fat) where I use cilantro leaves (again mixed with the vegs after confiting).

Given the season, and the region, you might want to rely on mushrooms for the stuffing.

If you have an industrial size cocotte, you can also go for the salt crust.

[Ptipois]

Capon is, to simplify the matter, a very big chicken. So you should roast it like a big chicken, taking account of the larger mass and thus reducing the oven temperature as for a slow roasting. Do as you would for a Thanksgiving turkey of the same weight, only remember that capon is fattier and that the meat is more delicate.

Here is a recipe: preheat oven to 240°C. Rub capon with salt and pepper, and any herb you wish (a mixture of thyme and tarragon would be nice); cover it with good butter. Roast capon for 15 minutes to brown it slightly. Then put it on its back and lower the temperature to 180°C, and roast on a basis of 15 minutes per pound. If your bird is 3,5 kg, you should roast it for about 1 hour and 40 minutes, I would recommend 2 hours at a slightly lower temperature (170 °C), your capon should be more tender this way. The most important point is to baste the bird every 15 minutes with the rendered juices. And make sure you let it rest out of the oven for at least 30 minutes before carving, which will help settle the juices. Capon and chicken should not be eaten hot anyway.

Another (Italian) way of preparing capon is poaching it in a vegetable stock. You might want to stuff it like a poule-au-pot and serve it with the vegetables and a herbed vinaigrette or any sauce you wish. In Italy that would be served with tortellini cooked in the broth and mostarda di cremona. Cooking time: same ratio, 15 minutes per pound. Let the bird rest in the stock for a few minutes before draining it and carving it.

Whichever way you choose, I envy you.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Since we're at the roasting chicken counter, I would add that the most important thing, in my opinion, is to roast the chicken on its legs, flip it often, and only put it on its back for the last 10/15min, in order to have not overcooked white meat.

[Dave Hatfield]

A quick Thank you to both of you. You've given me some good ideas beyond simple roasting. O knew I could count on you!

I'm going to ponder a bit & cook this guy next week probably next Wednesday.

I'll try to actually take pictures as well as report on how & what I end up with.

Thanks again.

PS: Still open to furthersuggestions.

[Dave Hatfield]

Cooked the capon last night. Things got a bit hectic what with house guests, golf & general mayhem so I didn't take any pictures.

I followed the roasting suggestions given in the posts above. Slower roast for about 2 hours. Butter, lots of basting & turning. Worked well the white meat was still tender & moist & the dark meat delicious.

I had stuffed the capon with a mixture of minced garlic and chopped lightly sauteed ceps. When the bird came out of the oven to rest I pulled all of the stuffing out of the cavity and put it in the roasting pan (having drained off almost all of the accumulated fat) with a good quantity of regular mushrooms which I'd sliced up. Fried these for just a minute then added full cream and a bit of chopped fresh tarragon. Let this reduce a bit while I carved the capon.

I'll certainly do this again as the bird was very good. It served 8 people generously.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Yum. Call us next time.