Help with summer menu

[BPBNY]

Ok so at the restaurant we are transfering to a summer menu, and while i have most items in place there are a few items we are coming to halt in execution. These items are...

Savory

Cold fried chicken- we do small plates, sharing/appetizer portions, the idea is to do a buttermilk fried chicken thigh and serve it with a mini waffle, maple-tobasco, and pickled cauliflower.

THE PROBLEM

How do we execute this keep it cold and still be somewhat crispy? Im going to get some meat glue to keep the thigh uniform and cook evenly throughout. Im more just worried about the texture of the outside.

Feta sorbet- Used for a cold watermelon soup that im going to season savory.

THE PROBLEM

I have looked everywhere for a recipe to build off of. Some kind of cheese sorbet and i can find nothing. One chef talks about a feta sorbet he used but there is no recipe. How would this differ than any other high fat sorbet? Or would it differ at all

Sweet

Pliable Chocolate- We started with an idea to do a tootsie roll dessert using chocolate plastic and rolling it in cocoa powder, pairing it with buttermilk sherbert, and poached cherries.

THE PROBLEM

The texture is not fufilling. Too chewy and not creamy. I wanted to maybe to a pliable chocolate like stupak or achatz but i dont want to use any chemicals. Any ideas?

Thats about it. If i can figure these things out i can finish my menu and start it next week. Thanks in advance for the help.

[ChickenStu]

Perhaps a little corn starch in the dredge for the chicken?

[therippa]

For the chicken...I don't know if cold fried chicken could stay crispy due to the retrogradation of the starch molecules in the flour once you stick it in the fridge.

For the sorbet...I googled "cheese sorbet recipe" and found this - http://tinyurl.com/287rd5m

Edited June 17, 2010 by therippa (log)

[Doodad]

I would not worry so much about the fried chicken. I understand your concern and desire, but when we would go on picnics and grandma fried chicken, we knew what to expect. And it was always delicious.

The only other thing I could think to tell you is somehow work panko into the freshly fried chicken? That or only cool it on the uppper margin of food safety requirements.